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INV~NTORY ~ EVALI~-TION Requested By: Ace West Trucking, Inc. Date: January 23, 1997 Req. By: Donnie Rooks Assisted By: Alvin L. Jones Location: NW1/4SE1/4 & W1/2 Resource Conservationist NE1/4, Sec 5, T1N R102W SITUATION: You requested an inventory of existing soil and vegetation, and reclamation recommendations for the planned expansion of the existing McLaughlin gravel pit located west of Rangely. INFORMATION PROVIDED: The following information is provided, based upon the previous inventory and evaluation of the site on July 9, 1991. 1) SOILS - Two soils have been mapped on this location. The first soil is Soil Mapping Unit 1117 - Chipeta silty clay loam, 3- 25 percent slopes, eroded. This soil typically does not contain any gravel resources as inclusions as normally mapped. The typical profile of this soil is the surface layer is a silty clay loam about 2 inches thick with the underlying material being a silty clay having fine shale chips and seams of crystalline gypsum about 10 inches thick. The depth to shale will range from 10 to 20 inches deep. Permeability of this eroded soil is slow and the water holding capacity is very low. Runoff is rapid, resulting in a very high erosion hazard. The second soil is Soil Mapping Unit #21 - Cliffdown gravelly loam, 5 to 8 percent slopes. Typically the surface layer of this soil is a gravelly loam 5 inches thick. The underlying material to a depth of 60 inches or more is a very gravelly sandy loam. The permeability of this soil is moderately rapid and the available water holding capacity is very low. Surface runoff is medium to slow and the hazard of erosion is slight to moderate. The topsoil that exist on this site should be saved and stockpiled, to be used during reclamation. While the pit is being excavated, provisions should be taken to limit deposition of overburden and gravel on slopes below the pit area and above the county road. 2) VEGETATION - Existing vegetation on the proposed site is within the Saltdesert Breaks and Clayey Saltdesert Range Sites, and at the time ofi the inventory was still presently in a relatively native condition. Dominate species found on the site were western wheatgrass, needle-n-thread grass, Salina wildrye grass, crested wheatgrass, bottlebrush squirreltail, Indian ricegrass, shadescale, big sagebrush, and greasewood. Other species found on the site include bluebunch wheatgrass, cheatgrass, galleta, saltbush, rabbitbrush, spiny horsebrush, halogeton, prickly pear cactus, and winterfat. Vegetative cover