REP43337

• Permit No: C1981018
• IBM Index Class Name: Report
• Doc Date: 5/1/1988
• Doc Name: MORMON GAP REVEGETATION PROJECT -DRAFT
• Permit Index Doc Type: REVEG MONITORING REPORT
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

Fi0R1~i0N GAP REVEGETATION PROJECT
Curt Leet, Alvin Jones, Gary Noller, Shirley Hudson
ABSTRACT
The 1•tormon Gap Revegetation Project was established in 1983 to find the best
performing species and most cost effective revegetation techniques in areas of
low precipitation in northwest Colorado. The most cost effective treatment
for plant establishment was herbicide application for weed control.
Phosphorous, mulch, and imprinting were not cost effective treatments. The
most successful species were 'Arriba' western wheatgrass, 'Critana' thick spike
wheatgrass, 'Rosana' western wheatgrass, 'Seca r' bluebunch wheatyrass, and
'Sodar' streambank wheatgrass.
PURPOSE
The t•lormon Gap Revegetation Project was established-in October 1983 under a
Cooperative Ayreement between the Bureau of Land 1lanagemerit (BLFI), Soil
Conservation Service (SCS), Douglas Creek Soil Conservation District, and the
Upper Colorado Environmental Plant Center (UCEPC). The objectives of this
project were to: 1) determine successful plant species and varieties that
would be useful in reciamation of harsh sites, 2) to provide information for
development of future reclamation stipulations applicable to land use
disturbances on similar sites, and 3) determine the most cost effective
revegetation and reclamation techniques for northwest Colorado.
LOCATION
The project is located between the towns of Dinosaur and Rangely, Colorado,
and 1.5 miles east of the Utah border (Fiyure 1). The site is on a sheep
driveway and the Mapco Rocky Mountain Liquid Hydrocarbon 10-inch pipeline
right-of-way. The pipeline was constructed in the fall of 1980 and there was
no record of any reseeding. The pipeline is approximately 1,172 miles long,
originating on the west Texas border and ending in Rock Springs, Wyoming. A
total of 7,101 acres were disturbed as a result of construction. The pipeline
crosses 48.7 miles of land administered by the BLP4 in Colorado.
SITE DESCRIPTION
The site elevation is 5,450 feet with an average annual precipitation of about
10 inches (Colorado Climate Center 1987). The project site is level so aspect
does not influence the vegetation studies. The area has an average of a
1~4-day growing season as defined by daily average minimum temperatures
greater than 28°F (SCS 1982).
The soils in the area have been delineated and described by the SCS in an
Order III soil survey of Rio Blanco County. The soil has Ueen mapped as the
Uffens loam which is deep, well drained, and formed on saline and calcareous
alluvium. It is classified as a fine-loamy, mixed me sic Typic Natrargid.
Soil variations were not evident in the project until the end of the second
growing season. Therefore, detailed soil sampling and testing was completed.
The northern end of the project has a sandy loam surface texture while the
southern end has a clayey surface texture. Another significant difference in