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<br />INTRODUCTION <br />This report is a supplement to "Soil and Vegetation Inventory and <br />Revegetation Research ak Keenesburg, Colorado," which xas submitted in <br />November 1978. <br />Plot observations and measurements were continued in 1979 and, to a <br />limited extent, in 1980. The 1978 report shored good establishment of grasses <br />on irrigated plots. and a failure on non-irrigated plots. In 1979, xe <br />found very good herbaceous cover and producticn, but discovered a serious <br />problem of sand compaction where top soil xas removed and replaced xith a <br />front-end loader. <br />In 1980, sand compaction xas measured and demonstrated to Coors <br />employees, because this problem should be recognized and either prevented <br />or corrected before seeding. To demonstrate the feasibility of ripping to <br />correct compaction after seeding, one set of mulch-comparison plots xas <br />ripped xhen the soil xas moist (May 14, 1980), and another set xas ripped <br />when the sand xas dry (June 18, 1980). Ripping to a depth of 20 inches xith <br />ripper teeth spaced 19 inches loosened the soil very xell, but also destroyed <br />some of the grasses remaining. Thus, the effectiveness of ripping after <br />seeding can not be determined for another year or more. <br />A U.S. Department of Agriculture Soil Scientist xha is an expert in <br />vegetation-soils relations advised that compaction in very fine sand that <br />contains small percentages of clay (3 to 10~) is the xoxst kind of compac- <br />tion due to severe restriction of root penetration, reduced infiltration <br />and increased losses of rater by evaporation from the soil surface. Our <br />observation of severe drought and death of some plants leads to the conclu- <br />soin that compaction is a potential disaster that could prevent successful <br />reclamation after mining. <br />Because project funds are nor exhausted, this is the final CSU report <br />of revegetation research at Keenesburg. <br />u <br /> <br />