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i <br /> <br />Cooley Gravel Company has undertaken a unique experimental <br />reclamation program at its Morrison Quarry site. <br />The program is "experimental" because very little has been <br />done in the past to reclaim quarry sites in the semi-arid <br />Colorado Front Range environment. Therefore, little, if any, <br />past experience can be drawn upon in an undertaking of this mag- <br />nitude. <br />In our efforts, Cooley Gravel Company hopes to establish <br />a role model for Quarry Reclamation in this area. <br />The important features of this program include: <br />1. Utilization of indigenous species to avoid introduc- <br />tion of foreign, competing species of vegetation. <br />2. As much as possible, planting in patterns which simu- <br />late naturally occurring vegetation on surrounding <br />lands. <br />3. Variation of heights of plants and backfilling levels, <br />along with planting of vines to break up the horizon- <br />tal high walls. <br />4. A recognition that plantings that are too dense would <br />create a high die-off rate and a need for a tremendous <br />amount of irrigation. <br />5. Rock faces occur naturally and an attempt to cover all <br />rock areas would result in an unnatural pattern of <br />vegetative cover. <br />6. A need for plantings to become independent of artifi- <br />cial irrigation over a period of time so they can <br />thrive on natural water supplies, and finally; <br />7. Our Contractor, Skelley and Loy, will maintain the <br />plantings for a two-year period and guarantee a suc- <br />cess rate of 85% of all plantings under this program. <br />This experimental program will be utilized as our basis for <br />further reclamation work at the quarry. <br />Exhibit #1 shows the aerial limits of this experimental <br />reclamation program with the general planting pattern and a con- <br />ceptual drawing of the mature plantings. <br />Exhibit #3 shows the bench detail and lists plantings being <br />utilized, 1700 plantings in all. The vine detail is not shown <br />simply because of the difficulty in graphically displaying this <br />feature. <br />-6- <br />