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The second stage of the revegetation will be the replanting of trees on the slopes. The original vegetation of the slope was • composed largely of trees. Tree planting will be done using Colorado State Forest Service containerized trees and planting will occur at the rate of about 125 trees per acre in a roughly randomized pattern. Species to be used will be Douglas Fir and Ponderosa Pine. Although Pinyon Pine might be appropriate in some respects, it is felt the north facing aspect would be marginal for Pinyon Pine in wet years, but suitable for Douglas Fir and Ponderosa Pine in most years. The forest above the road is composed of Douglas Fir and Ponderosa Pine with minor amounts of Pinyon and Juniper. It is believed that this site will be somewhat wetter than that above the road and therefore not using Pinyon Pine would be appropriate. It is a common natural pattern on surrounding lands that steep north facing slopes display an interesting blend of the four tree species at the top of a hillside. This usually becomes a more pure Douglas Fir and Ponderosa Pine forest on the lower portions of the slope. This pattern is probably a response to a pronounced moisture gradient in summer that is somewhat augmented by a temperature • gradient in the winter months. However, there is a tremendous amount of variation in the north slope natural forests depending upon aspect, slope gradient, soil type, and residual invasion pat `. erns. In the planting mixture, approximately 2 Douglas Fir will be planted for every Ponderosa Pine. This blend seems to be roughly the pattern seen on similar areas. Tree planting will occur in the spring (roughly late April or early May) following the grass and forb seeding. Delaying the tree planting to the second year after grass planting would only be appropriate if the grass and forb density in the initial seeding is low (less than about 3 plants per square foot). In that case, it might be necessary to interseed the grass mixture and plant the trees the next year. However, such a low seed germination rate of the grasses and fortis would occur only under prolonged and severe drought. In this local area such intense drought periods are apparently quite rare, although moderately dry years can and do occur. The steep, north facing slope helps counteract the effects of dry periods. i Page 6 of 8 SNVDER ROAD CORRECTIVE ACTION PLAN