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• <br />EXHIBIT E -RECLAMATION PLAN <br />The mining areas contain the following types of vegetative cover and habitat. <br />• Sagebrush and Rabbitbrush with grasses <br />• Cottonwoods, willows, shrubs with grasses <br />• Imgated pasture and hay fields <br />• Aquatic habitat primarily along the river and creeks and some wetland areas <br />• Wetlands including a slough area <br />The primary land uses are rangeland and agricultural. Some recreational uses such as fishing and <br />hunting occur. The area also provides habitat for deer, waterfowl, eagles, herons and other <br />wildlife. <br />The reclamation plan concept is to create recreational areas centered on a lake and restored <br />wetlands areas. This concept was chosen because the sand & gravel extraction will remove more <br />volume than is available in topsoil and overburden salvage. The pit areas are expected to fill with <br />water to an average elevation in the river adjacent to each respective mining area. The assumed <br />lake surface elevations are shown in Table E-1. The Renewable Resource Area will be reclaimed <br />as a backwater area if the existing main river channel does not inundate the area first. <br />The post mining slopes going into the lakes aze essentially 3H : 1 V from the pit crest to a point <br />approximately 10 feet below the estimated lake surface elevation and from that point a 2H : 1V <br />slope is used to the pit bottom. Any excess fill material will be used to create an uneven lake <br />bottom. Large tree roots may also be anchored to the bottom of the lakes with big rocks to <br />create underwater habitat. <br />Disturbed areas from the pit crests to the mining area boundary will be graded back to the <br />approximate original contour and in some areas replacement wetlands will be created to replace <br />the majority of those disturbed by mining. (See Exhibits F-1 and F-2) <br />The basic revegetation concept is to seed similar vegetation types to those that presently occur in <br />the mining areas. The basic types of vegetative cover are: <br />• Sagebrush and Rabbitbrush with grasses <br />• Cottonwoods, willows, shrubs with grasses <br />The distribution of vegetation/habitat type by mining area proposed for reclamation is shown in <br />Table E-2. These types of reclamation were chosen to provide post mining land uses similar to <br />the pre-mining recreational and wildlife habitat use and to replace the majority of wetlands <br />disturbed by mining. The post mining recreational land use is not expected'to conflict with <br />surrounding land uses which are ranching and agricultural, wildlife habitat, and gravel mining or <br />reclaimed gravel pits that are lakes. <br />