Laserfiche WebLink
of these terraces paralleling the ridge line, although the extent of high quality flagstone is <br />" uncertain and all 10 terraces may not be required. Terracing will not extend down slope past the <br />] heads of the rock slides. Access to the ridge top for this part of the operation will be from an <br />existing road that angles up the east side of the ridge. Flagstone removed from a terrace will be <br />loaded into a haul truck with the front end loader and taken down the existing road to the staging <br />area for sorting onto pallets for shipping. Weeds could invade the terrace areas after mining is <br />" complete. Topsoiling and reseeding with a desirable plant mixture will help prevent weed <br />] infestation of the terrace areas. <br />1 The only other surface disturbances will be improvements to existing roads and extension of the <br />new road along the base of the slides. There has already been approximately 500 ft of new road <br />constructed as part of the 110 operation and this road will continue to be used for the i 12 <br />operation. The road will be extended to reach the bases of other slides south of the existing <br />operation so that they can be mined during the lst and 2nd phases of terracing. The road will be <br />extended to the base of a slide to the north during the 3rd phase. This road will be reclaimed <br />after rock removal from the slides is complete. Other reclamation activities are described in the <br />112 Permit Application including seed bed preparation, seed type, seeding rates, etc. <br />The staging area is approximately 4.5 acres and the ranch owner has requested that the area <br />remain as is after mining operations are completed. He has other plans for the area and does not <br />want to use the area for grazing in the future. Thus, no revegetation is planned for [he staging <br />area. This area is at the greatest risk for weed infestation and wilt require an aggressive approach <br />to prevent establishment of weeds. <br />The activities described above have potential to introduce new weed species and accelerate the <br />spread of existing weeds across the mining permit area. Specifically, the use of heavy equipment <br />at the staging area, along haul roads and at the mine site present the most obvious potential for <br />1 spread of weeds. Additionally, transfer of rock from the staging area to market also has the <br />1 potential for vehicle transport of weed seeds to and from the site. Wind and water are also <br />1 10 <br />