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Page 2 April 16, 2004 Suitable topsoil is available on this site. Efforts need to be made to save all topsoil and stockpile it for use during reclamation of the site. 2) VEGETATION - The site falls within the Saltdesert Breaks and Loamy Saltdesert range sites. The dominate species found on these sites are big sagebrush, greasewood, galleta, western wheatgrass, winterfat, Indian ricegrass, needleandthread, bottlebrush squirreltail grass, prickly pear cactus and cheatgrass. The vegetative ground cover is approximately 20 percent. The annual vegetative production is about 400 pounds/acre air dry. 3) RECLAMATION RHCOMMENDATIONS - The following reclamation recommendations should be considered at the time the gravel pit is closed, to insure a more successful revegetation of the site: The site should be contoured and smoothed to slopes no steeper than 2:1 and preferably flatter wherever practical. The flatter the slope, the better the opportunity for revegetating the disturbed area. Areas which were compacted during mining should be ripped. Topsoil which was stockpiled should be spread evenly over the base area to a minimum depth of 6 inches. The site should then be tilled and firmed to prepare a suitable seedbed. The proposed site is located in area having around 9 inches of annual precipitation. Timing to replant the site will be critical to vegetation establishment success. Seeding of the site should be done in the late fall (October 15th or later) prior to the soil freezing. The seed should be drilled with a grass drill having double disk openers and packer wheels. Drilling should be performed as much as possible on the contour, avoiding drilling up and down slopes, which would increase the risk of erosion. The planting depth should be approximately 1/2 inch. If the seed is broadcast instead of drilled, then the following recommended rate must be doubled. Tf broadcast, the area should be harrowed or dragged after the seed is spread to incorporate the seed into the soil. Mulching the site is recommended with clean, weed free straw. However, unless the mulch is properly crimped into the soil with a disc or mulch crimper, mulching would be a waste of time and expense, as the wind will likely remove the mulch. The following grass species are recommended to be used to reseed the site. Native shrubs are expected to invade the site in a relatively short time after pit closure. The following mixture is in pounds of pure live seed (PLS) per acre: Specie Variety Pounds PLS/Acre Western Wheatgrass Arriba 3 .2 Thickspike Wheatgrass Critana 2 .2 Streambank Wheatgrass Siberian 2 .2 Russian Wildrye Vinal 2 .0 Crested wheatgrass Ephraim 2 .0 TOTAL Pounds PLS/Acre 11 .6 Proper and adequate weed control measures will be necessary the first year, to insure the establishment of a sufficient stand of grass and prevent the invasion of weeds, especially noxious weeds. If weed competition is reduced the opportunity for grass establishment is increased significantly. Appropriate herbicides should be applied the first growing season during the early spring and summer to control weeds if present. The herbicide label should be followed. The site should have all livestock excluded for a minimum of at least one and possibly two full growing seasons after planting, depending on the success of vegetation establishment.