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• 2. The importance of irrigation in aspen establishment is uncertain given the <br />adequate natural rainfall the first two years of this experiment and the conflicting <br />adverse effect of saline irrigation supply water. Some growth parameters and survival of <br />aspen were inversely related to the amount of supplemental irrigation, likely a <br />consequence of the high salinity of the irrigation water. <br />3. Initial findings of this study suggest that the best opportunity to obtain aspen <br />reproduction on reclaimed surface- minded lands is by using fresh roto - cleared top soil <br />from original aspen stands to obtain sufficient natural root sprouts. Fresh dozer - cleared <br />soil may also provide sufficient root sprouting, but -we were not able to examine that <br />possibility in this study. <br />4. Weeding appears to enhance growth and survival of aspen, suggesting weed <br />competition for available soil moisture. Available soil moisture was higher in weeded <br />plots, and these trees generally grew better and had higher rates of survival. <br />5. Transplanted sprouts, regardless of irrigation treatment, showed considerable <br />transplant injury during 2005, but little additional injury or mortality was evident during <br />• 2006. Planted aspen requires additional number of plants for survival and additional <br />time for recovery from transplant shock. <br />6. Potted aspen from nursery stock with a small amount of weed block fabric <br />grew well on dozer - cleared /stored soil without irrigation during these two years with <br />adequate rainfall. <br />Application of research results: <br />This study was designed to provide information to compare survival, growth, and <br />water status of irrigated aspen saplings at a single site on the Seneca Coal Mine, <br />Hayden, Colorado. The study also compared survival, growth, and water status of <br />transplanted aspen with planted potted nursery-grown stock and with natural sprouts. <br />Application of study findings is limited to the study site, but should be useful to provide <br />information for the design of future replicated experiments for determining specifics of <br />irrigation treatment required for survival of aspen sprouts. Important in application of <br />these results is insuring that irrigation supply water for future plantings has low salinity. <br />The study also found that potted nursery-grown stock with weed block grew well even <br />17 <br />