Laserfiche WebLink
Straw wattles were placed at the crests of each outslope on the overlying mine bench. <br />These twenty-five feet long wattles were dug into the mine benches so that they were <br />oriented perpendicular to the fall of the slope of the bench. This was done to slow water <br />velocities, and disrupt flow paths so that concentrations of water in gullies above the <br />slopes was discouraged. Multiple tiers of the wattles were placed in order to maximize <br />flow path disruption. <br />Because the wattles will degrade over time, a longer term, more persistent flow <br />disrupting mechanism was desired. To accomplish this, additional trees were inter- <br />planted with the straw wattles. Four hundred trees were planted at the crest of the Mine 1 <br />east outslope, 200 at the crest of the Mine 1 west outslope, 400 at the crest of the Mine 3 <br />upper outslope, 200 at the crest of the Mine 3 lower outslope and 200 at the crest of the <br />Mine 5 fan outslope. <br />Public Outreach <br />Public outreach was incorporated into the reclamation process. Local citizens visited the <br />site on a number of occasions in order to witness the construction process as it <br />progressed. A newspaper reporter also visited the site on two separate occasions, and <br />published a story in a local paper. A tour of the site was conducted in 2004. The public <br />and the Forest Service toured portions of the site, and viewed the mine bench outslope <br />revegetation project. This provided an opportunity to shaze the project goals with our <br />project partners and interested local residents. <br />Monitoring <br />Monitoring of the site occurred in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Monitoring indicated that the <br />2004 effort was more successful than the 1999 project in terms of reducing the volume of <br />sediment moving from most of the outslopes. Germination on the slopes increased <br />notably at each location; excepting the Mine 5 Fan outslope. Measurements of vegetative <br />and total cover were made, and gully stability was estimated at each outslope. The result <br />of the monitoring is reflected in the sediment yield data tabulated in Tables 3, 4 and 5. <br />An evaluation of gully activity was conducted at the Mine 1 outslope gully monitoring <br />points in August 2004. Observations and measurements indicate that the gullies have not <br />changed or degraded in any substantial manner since August 2003. The monitored <br />gullies appear to be fairly stable. The side slopes of each are broad and exhibit moderate <br />slope angles, no active channeling observed. Fairly significant stands of Calamagrostis <br />purpurascens and Aster glaucodes were observed at each location. <br />The tree planting azea located down slope of the gully monitoring points was also <br />monitored. These trees were planted in 1999, in an effort to slow down-slope migration <br />of neaz surface soil particles. Observations indicate that fifty to sixty percent of the trees <br />had survived. The survivors are about equally divided between protected and <br />unprotected trees. Engelmazm spruce and Douglas fir comprise the majority of the <br />surviving trees. Few Sub alpine fir appeaz to have survived. <br />12 <br />