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Savage and Savage <br />Memorandum <br />To: Donald W. MacDonald, Coors Energy Company <br />From: Michael Savage, Savage and Savage, Inc. <br />Date: June 11, 2002 <br />Subject: Second Quarter 2002 Pest and Disease Inspection; Keenesburg Mine <br />File #: C-81-028 <br />u <br />On May 30, 2002, accompanied by yourself and Danny Kipp, I conducted an inspection of <br />the reclaimed and revegetated areas at the Keenesburg Mine for evidence of plant pests or <br />diseases that could affect the re-established vegetation at the Keenesburg Mine. Of <br />particulaz interest was the area south of the sediment pond that had been burned last <br />spring to control cheatgrass, and subsequernly reseeded to the reclamation mix last <br />autumn. During the first quarter 2002 inspection the area was bare. During this <br />inspection the area was covered with a mix of Russian thistle, annual sunflower, and <br />perennial grasses. Based on our inspection and discussions, the cumber and amount of <br />perennial species do not warrant interseeding, or seeding to a sorghum cover crop. Danny <br />will mow the sunflowers this summer prior to flowering to prevent seed set, and the <br />Russian thistle will offer wind erosion protection. <br />The mine site has received approximately half the normal precipitation to this point (just <br />over two inches to date). Interestingly, we observed sigrri5cant growth of perennial <br />graminaids in the recently seeded areas. I attribute this to the adaptive nature of the native <br />warm and cool season grasses planted and the lack of competition from forbs and <br />cheatgrass that require spring and early summer precipitation to flourish. The droughty <br />conditions this season may actually help establish the perennial reclamation species. All <br />reclaimed and revegetated areas of the mine, including the 1985, 1986, 1987, 1995, 1998 <br />interseedings, azeas seeded to sorghum, B Pit, and overburden and topsand piles were <br />inspected by pedestrian and vehicle means. I did not identify any disease conditions at any <br />of the reclaimed and revegetated azeas. Nor did I identify any plant pests that had affected <br />the growth of the vegetation during the past growing season. No bare areas, or areas <br />which experienced any infestation or blight were found during the inspection. <br />C: Keenesburg Pest and Disease Inspection File <br /> <br />AHR-2002 <br />_42_ <br />