ENFORCE23208

• Permit No: M1979206
• IBM Index Class Name: Enforcement
• Doc Name: NOV & CEASE & DESIST ORDER
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

z.
M1~M:
~~. ~ i
rti .
N :~ .,
~`
~~ ,~~,..
~ ~.

u
economic value, they prove to be the best stabilizing cover
for water sheds and recreation.
In order for the community to arrive at the
dynamic equilibrium of the climax community described, it
has undergone a series of progressive developments that
include: 1) differentiation of the soil toward the final
community composition 2) plant community diversity and
differentiation 3) increase in overall productivity.
The Woodland Shrub community is a stable but also
a fragile one. It has taken a lengthy time to establish
the climax community; particularly in environmental conditions
of little rainfall throughout the year in the Chaffee County,
Colorado region.
It is known that this successional process may be
reversed by disturbing a community.
The quarry operations have created overburden
which is a subsoil from various depths. This overburden has
been placed over existing top soil and has therefore subsitu-
ted a weathered, mature soil with one less affected. The
chemical analysis of the soils involved reveals this fact.
Concentrations of sodium in the overburden will effect plant
growth deleteriously. But weathering processes will cause
the sodium to migrate to lower layers. The nitrogen content
is obviously absent or in very low concentration in the
overburden. And nitrogen is a necessary primary nutrient for
plants. The other elements examined were generally similar
in concentration. Because the vegetative reconstruction is
occurring in an arid region with a community that has taken
many years to become stable and established, any plan for
reconstruction must take this into account. Native vegeta-
tion of juniper or pin~n pine is not practical if community
stability is sought. With these thoughts in mind, the
following recommendations are presented:
1) The overburden on the east and west should be
contoured or terraced to diminish the possibility of erosion
before vegetation can stabilize the soil.
2) A seeding program, employing a native grass
perhaps Blue Gramma grass should be initiated to help provide
cover for the first few reasons during the reconstruction.
3) A native shrub, perhaps oak, should also be
planted to help the inherent natural progression of plant
life proceed more quickly into the disturbed area.
Left to itself, plant life will re-enter the
disturbed area. Siqns of this are present in areas less than
a year old with the invasion of certain weed varieties.
-5-