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while cottonwood increased and in the drier areas cottonwood remained fairly stable and willow <br />increased. The intermediate zone (mesic relative to both ends of the local scale, but still actually <br />moist) showed a mixture of increases and decreases. <br />It appeazs that as development proceeds, soil texture and groundwater flows deeper in the soil <br />creates a more blended habitat where cottonwood and willow can coexist rather readily while on a <br />Lakeshore they tend to overlap only a little. Much of that blending on an ephemeral stream like Coal <br />Creek probably has to do with a fluctuation of the groundwater. At one time, the groundwater favors <br />cottonwood, but then it changes and favors willow. The result is that although the environment is not <br />ideal for either it is adequate for both. <br />The question that comes from this though is whether, in time, this blending will degrade to a <br />point where the somewhat more elevated areas end up favoring cottonwood with little willow and <br />the lower areas favor willow with little cottonwood. This kind of blending is cleazly evident in the <br />two older exclosures (North and South Exclosures), but the development of that pattern was never <br />recorded in the analyses. By the time those areas where more critically examined, the pattern had <br />already developed. In Exclosure 1, though, the processes of development are evident and over the <br />next two yeazs should be followed closely. <br />It is also now evident that if one wished to rapidly develop cottonwood forest in a damaged <br />riparian corridor, it is best not to rely on seedlings to do the job, especially if there is any grazing <br />influence. As Exclosure 3 shows, if cottonwood branches aze buried a short distance under the <br />surface in a moist but not continuously wet environment rapid recovery can be achieved. In a sand <br />and gravel mining situation where at least some trees aze often lost, it would be very wise to utilize <br />that resource rather than waste it as is often done. Usually the trees aze burned or cut for firewood. <br />But if the mining is designed properly to create areas ready to receive the live wood when the trees <br />are removed, quickly "planting" the wood in patterns that approximate what is desired in the final <br />growth can be a very fast and inexpensive way to restore riparian forest. All that is needed is to <br />insure that the healthiest nodes (where branches depart from the main stem of the trunk or branch) <br />are on the upper side of the buried wood and that the wood not be buried too deeply or in a place <br />where it is so wet it will simply rot rather than sprout. Using this approach, one can probably save <br />about three to five years over relying on seed or planting whips. Such an approach could be used to <br />recover overgrazed and damaged riparian forests by pruning a few branches off of vigorous, middle- <br />aged local trees and planting them in the ground. Pole planting, which involves vertically inserting <br />cut branches deeply into a hole is often used along perennial rivers and streams, but that will <br />probably not be very successful in ephemeral streams. There, shallow burial in moist sand and <br />gravel, a technique often referred to layering, would be useful. But the point of this commentary is <br />that using these techniques, along with proper management of or protection from grazing, can greatly <br />accelerate the re-establishment of riparian forest. The evidence found in these five exclosures clearly <br />supports this conclusion. <br />2007 Annual Report Coal Creek Wetland Mitigation Permit DA 198811488 Page 26 <br />