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• Page 5 December 7, 1987 M-87-171 Adequacy Responses Steven Renner There certainly is no easy answer to the problem. The environmental matrix dictates that when one factor is changed significantly, most other factors are also altered in some way. Mulch is highly useful in some situations, but it can also cause some severe problems, the effects of which can be as difficult to deal with as the problems produced by not using mulch in the first place. In our experience, where the vegetation is going to be highly managed, the use of mulch may be a wise investment. But where minimal management is anticipated, it is probably better not to throw the carbon/nitrogen ratio greatly out of balance through the use of high carbon mulches (straw, wood chips, wood fiber, etc.) and simply deal with the problems of a non-mulched condition as they occur. Fortunately, the climatic patterns in this area are quite favorable to revegetation. Prolonged drought periods during the growing season are not common. This is unusual for the Front Range Corridor where summer drought is the rule. The Colorado Springs area is one of a few isolated pockets along the Front Range where the precipitation/evaporation balance is quite favorable and more similar to what would be expected in the western portions of the mid-grass prairies in eastern Colorado and western Kansas. In short, we would be extremely reluctant to agree to use straw mulch on this site. However, when revegetation is started, it might be worth while attempting an experiment by mulching one area and not mulching another to determine whether the mulch really does much good or is worth the extra expense of mulch and additional fertilizer. We would agree to evaluate this matter in this way, but would not agree to use mulch without conducting an experiment to determine whether it has a suitable cost benefit ratio. QUESTION 5: The Division suggests that the operator substitute cicer milkvetch for yellow sweetclover in both the permanent and topsoil stockpile seed mixes. Cicer Milkvetch will supply many of the positive characteristics that yellow sweetclover does, but is not normally as aggressive as yellow sweetclover. Species substitution may enhance the long-term probability of establishing a diverse vegetative cover at the site. RESPONSE: We do not believe that Cicer Milkvetch is appropriate to this site. First, the soil is a sandy material and will probably become more coarse after replacement. This species does not do well on coarse soils. Second, the species can be quite difficult to establish and in many stands does not show good vigor for a considerable amount of time.