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points on roads and transported by vehicle to drill pads where personnel would organize <br />materials, handle equipment, and dispose of used/unusable materials. This task would <br />be completed within about 5 days after conclusion of the data acquisition task. <br />Support Operations <br />All equipment, including the drilling rig, would be initially brought to the project area by 2 <br />to 3 transport trucks/tractor trailers as part of project mobilization. Operation of most <br />support vehicles, including pickups, would be limited to existing roads and planned <br />travel routes. <br />Restoration / Reclamation <br />As feasible and determined necessary by the BLM, travel routes would be closed to <br />public use following completion of the proposed project. If determined necessary by the <br />BLM, when exploration operations are completed, signs and barricades would be <br />placed within sensitive habitats (including areas supporting biological soil crusts and <br />wild horse habitat) within the project area to discourage OHV use on established travel <br />routes. All areas compacted by vehicle tracks would be scarified (the breaking up of the <br />compaction to improve water infiltration, reduce surface runoff, provide a seedbed for <br />the establishment of vegetation, and discourage subsequent OHV use) by hand-raking <br />when determined to be necessary by the BLM All scarified areas would be re-seeded <br />with native plant seed mixtures determined by the BLM. Reclamation costs associated <br />with the project are estimated at $10,000.00. <br />If determined necessary by the BLM, in areas where vehicle tracks dissect biological <br />soil crusts, the crusts would be hand-raked into the tracks from the sides of the tracks. <br />If BLM determines it necessary, some undisturbed biological soil crusts would be <br />carefully raked into the disturbed soils in order to provide an inoculation source for <br />regeneration. <br />Project Activities and Schedule <br />Project activities would proceed systematically through the project area. Specific <br />activities in order of occurrence would include: <br />1) The construction of travel routes, fourteen drill sites with associated pits; <br />2) Mobilization of the drilling equipment, air drilling of the fourteen exploration holes, <br />recording and demobilization of the equipment; <br />3) Plugging of the fourteen holes, backfilling and reclamation of the pits and reseeding <br />of areas receiving incidental damage. <br />Construction and drilling is expected to take approximately one month utilizing a 3 <br />personnel crew. The duration of the complete project is projected to be about three <br />months including mobilization and demobilization.