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Based upon these experiences, Castle Concrete began to explore steps that could be taken to import soil as an amendment to use with the limestone waste. MRAC aclmowledged during its deliberations that the limestone waste material was not a suitable growth medium for achieving the objectives of the enhanced reclamation plan. MRAC supported the idea of importing topsoil and organic material to create a suitable growth media. As a result, a location was set-up for receiving donations of topsoil and organic material at Queens Canyon Quarry. More than 110,000 cubic yazds of such material had been donated by the end of 1999. A study compared vegetation development rates and patterns on topsoil with the development rates and pattern on mine spoil. It was determined that the topsoil accelerated the rate of development three to five times over what occurs on mine spoil. However, the topsoil tends to reduce the rate of successful invasion by native species and creates lower diversity of vegetation and a much higher number of annual species, especially weeds (I-Ieifner, 1998). Revegetation of the Disturbed Areas Revegetation objectives targeted four types of plants to be strategically located on the site. To achieve the objective of Bighorn Sheep habitat, the upper portion of the quarry is to be planted with mostly grasses and a few shrubs to provide for the meadowland acreage. To achieve the texture objectives, the lower portion of the quarry is planted with trees, wildflowers and grasses. It is expected that shrubs will eventually invade the lower part of the quarry. As of September of 1998, 122 plant species have been identified on the site. This is probably no more than 80% of the species that occur on the site. Only about 15 of the species on the list were planted. The rest have invaded from surrounding lands, from the imported topsoil or from long-distance wind or animal dispersal. The planting objectives are discussed below. The "forest" that is being created is not an attempt to replicate the condition of the land before mining, because although the dry, thin soils on the slope's original surface supported shrnbs, few trees were established. With the addition of the topsoil and the re-contouring of the surface, the land and the materials being worked today aze not the same as those prior to mining. The tree planting pLin has been designed to soften the appearance of the scar and blend the mined area with the surrounding azea, where patches and lines of trees are mixed with grassland. Trees were first phmted at Queens in the late 1960s. Nursery-grown Juniper and Ponderosa Pine seedlings and Pinyon Pines transplanted from a road construction site were planted in quarry spoils, with varying degrees of success. There also were test plantings of non-native Russian olive, shrubs and yucca, much of which did not survive. When the CMRF began planting trees in 1995, much more was known about the conditions that would be needed to promote tree survival to meet the enhanced reclamation objectives. Topsoil, as discussed above, was needed to provide a better growing medium; improved water retention around the seedlings was necessazy; the seedlings needed to be protected from the dry winter winds to prevent desiccation; and competition from other plants needed to be reduced. These requirements led to the creation of a method used by the volunteers to plant the seedlings during the annual tree planting. The method is as follows: 1. Around hole is dug at least 1 foot in diameter and 9 inches deep. (10)