Laserfiche WebLink
or so of tinkering amidst the rising swarms of gnats, we gave up, <br />and he decided to back the truck down to a "wide spot" in the road. <br />This was kind of exciting, because it was several hundred yards <br />down the road, his brakes were pretty marginal (I walked alongside <br />with a rock to block the tire if they gave out), it was a several <br />hundred foot drop off into the canyon, and his horse was bucking <br />and rearing, and making nervously excited horse noises the whole <br />time. <br />I have enclosed a rough sketch of the immediate vicinity. Note the <br />"unknown site" which appeared to be another reclaimed drill pad <br />located on the ridge top, above the main road, a few hundred yards <br />west of what I assume was F-18-81. There is an unreclaimed "loop <br />road" that provides access to within 70 yards or so of the ridge <br />top, with what appears to be a fully reclaimed road segment leading <br />from the loop road up to the apparent reclaimed drill site. Again, <br />I was unable to find the well casing, or any conclusive evidence of <br />drilling activity, but there was a roughly circular, 150 foot <br />diameter area which had obviously been disturbed at some point <br />within the last 20 or 30 years. The site was fully stabilized with <br />vegetation, much of it apparently due to recolonization by native <br />shrubs and grasses, although there were a few reclamation indicator <br />species such as pubescent wheatgrass, orchardgrass, blue flax, and <br />green needlegrass. This site, and the short road spur off the loop <br />road is also adequately reclaimed. The only question would be the <br />loop road, if it was constructed by the drillers and should have <br />been reclaimed. This road extends for approximately 600 yards, <br />averages 12 feet wide, with exposed cutslopes 2:1 or steeper <br />ranging from 4 to 12 feet in height. The road appears to receive <br />occasional use, probably by four wheelers and hunters to access the <br />ridge top. The outslope is well vegetated, and there is no rutting <br />or rilling on the road itself. <br />To sum up, I think I found Site F18-81, which was my assignment, <br />and it appeared to be adequately reclaimed. I also found another <br />apparent drill site (maybe or maybe not associated with the Fruita <br />Lease NOI) which was reclaimed, but an access road which may or may <br />not have been constructed by the drillers was not reclaimed. It <br />was an excellent adventure. <br />Please let me know how I can be of further assistance. <br />