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ENHANCED RECLAMATION OF QUEENS CANYON QUARRY History and Descriptiop of Queens Canyon Quarry Queens Canyon Quarry began operations in 1955. Reclamation began in 1967 when the mined- out area on the upper portion of the quarry was planted with sweet clover and various grasses. At that time the post-closure land use objective was to create wildlife habitat to support the resident Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep herd. The lower portion of the quarry was mined until 1990, at which time Castle Concrete decided to cease mining operations. The reclamation objective approved by the Mined Land Reclamation Board for the lower portion of the quarry is also Bighorn Sheep habitat. Overall the disturbed azea is relatively steep with predominantly south and southeast facing slopes. The environment is semi-arid with sparse trees, shrubs and grasses. Tree and shrub species include Pinyon Pine, Juniper, Mountain Mahogany and Scrub Oak, typical of what one observes in the foothills along the Colorado Front Range. Reclamation of the quarry has progressed since the initial work in 1967. The plan was updated in 1976 to meet the requirements of the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Act and the reclamation permit was issued in 1980. The upper portion, known as Tract 1, was reclaimed and released. from bond by the Mined Land Reclamation Board 1981. In I989, Castle Concrete was given an award from the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board and the governor for the work performed on Queens Canyon Quany, which included the creation of the habitat for Bighorn Sheep. The Queens Canyon Quarry Visual Impact Issue Queens Canyon Quarry is highly visible in the foothills landscape when viewed from downtown Colorado Springs and from the south. The quarry once stood out in stark contrast to the surrounding undisturbed landscape. It is this quarry that elicited the remark about the "scar" on the mountain from Secretary Udall. Recommendation of the Mining Rechunation Advisory Committee MRAC rramined the base reclamation plan approved by the Mined Land Reclamation Board and became familiar with the underlying technical issues. These included the need to control erosion on the steeper dip slopes, the challenge of establishing vegetation in the and environment, and the characteristics of Bighorn Sheep habitat, to name a few. Once the committee had an understanding of the environmental conditions at the quarry, it explored measures to improve the aesthetic resuhs of the reclamation efforts. The MRAC report states that the "...enhanced reclamation plan seeks to maximise visual qualities consistent with a big horn sheep habitat by producing dense grass cover, a moderate shrub cover, and a scattered distribution of trees, in greater numbers than contemplated by the existing plan." The plan emphasized the use of texture to reduce the visual impact rather than attempting to change the form or topography of the site. It was realized that topographic variation for this site resulted in minor changes to the visual appearance of the quarry relative to the surrounding area. The desired texture was to be achieved by planting diverse vegetation and distributing the vegetation strategically azound the site. The (8)