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• P~ 14 <br />June 18, 1985 <br />Daniel's Pit 2 <br />C. Farrell <br />We also disagree with your suggestion that crimped mulch will help <br />to protect the soil when the soil has had to be replaced much earlier <br />than a month before seeding. We would agree that such an application <br />would be very helpful if the soil is smoothed after spreading. But in <br />our experience, smoothing the topsoil, as is frequently done because it <br />"looks nice", is one of the worst actions that can be done if the seed <br />is to be broadcast. Leaving the surface rough, in our experience, very <br />significantly reduces blowing to practically zero for a period of about <br />4 months. After then, the rises and hollows have filled in and the <br />effectiveness is reduced to a point where it is as wind erodable as a <br />smooth surface. LJe therefore, will not commit to using crimped mulch to <br />protect the soil, but rather will leave the surface quite rough. A <br />rough surface is needed anyway for seeding and crimping mulch would <br />cause some smoothing which would have to be "undone" before seeding and <br />this would increase the cost of reclamation by at least 509. <br />Item 6 - I am very interested in the legume-grass ecology presented. <br />Please site the source from which you obtained this or similar <br />information. <br />RESPONSE: The original concept for our approach came from several <br />different sources. First, was the work of Dr. William Berg, formerly of <br />Colorado State University. His work on the Peabody Seneca I Kline rather <br />clearly showed the benefits of alfalfa in enhancing the grass growth <br />through the injection of nitrogen into the spoil material. <br />Second, Dr. Berg also planned the initial revegetation work at the <br />Castle Concrete Queen's Canyon Quarry. The vegetation in this area, <br />although very strongly dominated by sweetclover, is excellent and very <br />diverse containing well over 50 species. In fact, after a decade on <br />this very dry, wind-swept site, the bond was released and today it <br />constitutes a major area of Bighorn Sheep habitat. Several studies of <br />this vegetation have been done and all of them conclude that the clover <br />has played a major role in the development of the rich, dense, and very <br />useful vegetation cover. <br />Third, also drawing upon the reclamation work of Castle Concrete, <br />is their experience at their Hobson Ranch Pit west of Pueblo. On this <br />site alfalfa was used as the legume. Some subirrigation was available <br />to sustain the alfalfa, but it is highly unlikely that the irrigation <br />was available to the more shallowly rooted grasses. On that site, <br />within 18 months after planting, about a ton of hay was harvested per <br />acre. In-house studies conducted on this site, which uses a soil not <br />all that different from what is here, clearly showed that the <br />relationship between the grasses and the alfalfa was vital to the <br />success of the vegetation. <br />