PERMFILE70423

• Permit No: M2006008
• IBM Index Class Name: Permit File
• Doc Date: 1/19/2006
• Doc Name: Application Package
• From: Russell Ranche General Partnership
• To: DMG
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

Page 2
December 16, 2005
Soil Mapping Unit 108 - Zoltay clay loam, 15 to 25 percent slo es, has a
minor occurrence in the north eastern corner of the proposed pit area. This
is a deep, well drained soil on the edges of terraces and valley sides. It
formed in alluvium derived from sedimentary rock. Typically the surface
layer is a clay loam 4 inches thick. The upper 5 inches of the subsoil is
clay loam and the lower 9 inches is a cobbly clay loam. Clay loam extends to
depths of 60 inches or more. Permeability is moderately slow, with a water
holding capacity of moderate to high. Runoff is medium and the hazard of
erosion is moderate to high. Effective rooting depth is 60 inches or more.
Suitable topsoil is available on this site. Efforts must be made to
save all topsoil and stockpile it for use during reclamation of the site.
The stockpiled soil should be vegetated with the recommended seed mixture if
the mining operation extends for more than one year.
VEGHTATION - The site falls primarily within Rolling Loam and Stony
Foothills range sites. The dominate species found on these sites are big
sagebrush, western wheatgrass, prairie June grass. Rabbit brush, needle and
thread grass, Indian rice grass and blue bunch wheatgrass may be present.
The vegetative ground cover is approximately 35 percent. The annual
vegetative production is about 1200 pounds/acre air dry.
RECLAMATION RECOMMENDATIONS - During mining, practices should be
implemented to prevent overburden and/or mined material from spilling down
slope of the pit area, covering vegetation and impacting the irrigation ditch
below.
The following reclamation recommendations should be considered at the
time the gravel pit is closed, to insure a more successful revegetation of
the site:
The site should be contoured and smoothed to slopes no steeper than 2:1
and preferably flatter wherever practical. The flatter the slope, the better
the opportunity for revegetating the disturbed area. Areas which were
compacted during mining should be ripped.
Topsoil which was stockpiled should be spread evenly over the
mined area to a minimum depth of 6 inches. The site should then be tilled
and firmed to prepare a suitable seedbed.
Seeding of the site should be done in the late fall (October 15th
or later) prior to the soil freezing or in the spring before May 1st. The
seed should be drilled with a grass drill having double disk openers and
packer wheels. Drilling should be performed as much as possible on the
contour, avoiding drilling up and down slopes, which would increase the risk
of erosion. The planting depth should be approximately 1/2 inch. If the
seed is broadcast instead of drilled, then the following recommended rate
must be doubled. If broadcast, the area should be harrowed or dragged after
the seed is spread to incorporate the seed into the soil. Mulching the site
is recommended with clean, weed free straw at 3,000 pounds air dry per acre.
However, unless the mulch is properly crimped into the soil with a disc or
mulch crimper, mulching would be a waste of time and expense, as the wind
will likely remove the mulch.
The following grass species are recommended to be used to reseed the
site. Native shrubs are expected to invade the site in a relatively short
time after pit closure. The following mixture is in pounds of pure live seed
(PLS) ger acre:
Specie Variety Pounds PLS/Acre
Western Wheatgrass Arriba 4.0
Intermediate Wheatgrass Amur 3.8
Russian Wildrye Vinal 2.5
Meadow Bromegrass Linclon 4.3
TOTAL Pounds PLS/Acre 14.6