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~~. United States i~)F Department of iiiFF Agriculture Soil Conservation Service RECE~4:'`=~ MAR 101982 V. R. PFl,PJ~J'ti~TI:L Vii. _~ Vern Pfannenstiel March 8, 1982 k?ange Scientist Peabody Cosl Co. Campus 6, Office Suite 600 12015 Eaet 46th Ave. Denver, CO. 80239 Dear Vern, I have reviewed your mine reclamation plan on the Mesa Gravel Pits. I I have only a few questions for your consideration: ~_.f - lihat is the time table from the planting of the POA and alfalfa mix to the time of crop production? Alfalfa will take about tvo years to give you any real cover unless you irrigate. Germination 1 on Big Blue, although acceptable, will still give you that two year time lag, longer on North and East facing slopes. Ia there a reason that an introduced species could be used since you will be farming the ground in the future? - I might suggest that because of uncontrollable factors such ae ~~~' shortened growing season, drought, or excessive moisture taet you tie your stubble and not the wheat yields to the reclamation requirements.. As an example, an early frost may damage your stand ~ ~ where it looks like forty bushel wheat. Instead you get ten bushel wheat and forty bushel straw. So even with a low wheat yield, you would still have ground cover protecting against erosion. A 28 bushel yield will produce between 2800 to 3000 lbs. of mulch/acre. E - Your perennial seed mixture will not control Canada Thistle. It takes from 2-4 years of good growing conditions for a solid stand of alfalfa to compete with Canada Thistle. Even if the Big Blue and the alfalfa did compete with the thistle, the seed would be in the soil until you began the farming operation and show up when you began cropping the ground. I might suggest a weed control pro- gram using both cultural and chemical control to help in weed control. --•~ Sincere y O ohn Valentine, District Conservationist cc:file