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SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION <br />The reclaimed land at Seneca IIW mine is highly productive and diverse. Grasses and forks grow in <br />abundance providing ample livestock and wildlife forage. One challenge faced by the reclamation team is the <br />re-establishment of woody plants, especially aspen, lulus tremuloides. In 2004 Seneca Coal Company., the <br />Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety, the US Department of Agriculture Forest Service, <br />Colorado State University and the Office of Surface Mining ventured together to study techniques for <br />establishing aspens on the mined land at Seneca II West. <br />Aspen Establishment Study <br />Dr. Wayne Shepperd and Robert Mussehnan (Research Silviculturalirt, USFS, Bocky Mountain Kesearch Station, Ft. <br />Collins, CO), recognized authorities on aspen regeneration and management, and SCC entered into a <br />cooperative agreement to investigate aspen reestablishment through a series of sequential experiments to be <br />conducted in a test plot on reclaimed ground at Seneca II-West The objectives of this experimental test plot <br />are to determine the feasibility of using irrigation to improve initial transplant survival, and if successful, <br />subsequently investigate the other questions of growth and ultimate clonal reestablishment of aspen. <br />Aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) reproduces primarily by root suckering in the western U.S. Although aspen <br />produces abundant crops of viable seed, dry western climates do not provide the constant moist conditions <br />required for seed germination and first-season growth often enough to result in reliable seedling <br />establishment This problem is avoided when existing aspen clones vegetatively regenerate, because the <br />extensive pre-existing root system provides ample resources to new sprouts and nurtures them for several <br />years until new roots can develop. Transplanting greenhouse or nursery-grown aspen seedlings into the field <br />has similar problems to those of natural seedlings, indicating that the small root mass of transplanted <br />seedlings is insufficient to absorb enough moisture to maintain the seedlings during periods of summer <br />drought in the wild. In contrast, transplanting sapling-sized aspen in irrigated urban landscapes has not been <br />a problem, because the abundant supplies of water enable the transplants to thrive. <br />Four blocks of 50 trees each were planted in the fall of 2004 in regular topsoil and four blocks of 50 trees <br />were planted in modified topsoil containing ground vegetation. Soil type was not randomized because of the <br />difficulty of placement by large equipment Instead, regular and modified topsoil were placed side by side on <br />the slope and the study plots positioned over the two soils. The soils were placed approximately 4 feet deep <br />over the entire study plot Three watering treatments and an un-watered control were randomly assigned <br />within each topsoil type. Weed control was conducted in accordance with approved mine reclamation <br />practices, with the exception of hand spot-spraying of broadleaf weeds to avoid damage to the aspen <br />transplants. <br />Trees to be transplanted were selected from along the edges of successfully suckering clones on Seneca <br />property. Aspen suckers growing at the edges of existing clones are more likely to have smaller, more <br />independent roots than those that arise along older connecting roots between large trees. Transplant <br />candidates were four to six feet in height, without forks, disease, or damage that might affect survival. The <br />trees were monitored throughout 2005, 2006, and 2007 to obtain survival and growth data for comparison <br />between watering treatments, soil handling differences, and competing vegetation effects. <br />4 <br />