2011-08-11_PERMIT FILE - M2011042

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Yuma County Conservation District 247 N Clay N Wray, CO 80758 January 31, 2011 Dear Howard, r' Howard McGinnis Yuma County Road and Bridge Wray, CO 80758 United States Department of Agriculture 2011 O ` n�� FEB 0 1 2011 � K Helping People Help the Land An Equal Opportunity Employer and Provider Natural Resources Conservation Service [ looked at the potential road bed site in the SW4, SW4 7 -4S -42 for reclamation purposes after mining is completed. There are two soil types in this area. Soil 10 — Colby silt loam, 3% to 6% slopes is on the south 500 feet or so. Soil 9 — Canyon -Rock outcrop complex, 9% to 25% slopes makes up the rest of the proposed site. The 25 acres in the SW corner have been farmed at one time, as visible on the aerial photo. Of those previously tilled acres, 15 acres were in a CRP contract that expired on October 1, 2010. Colby silt loam is a calcareous soil, which makes both cropping and reclamation challenging. This soil is quite susceptible to blowing and water erosion. You may want to pile the `top' soil to the south so it can stop the soil from blowing across the county road. Because this soil is so erosive, care will need to be taken to avoid creating gullies or washing into the drainage to the east. Diversion type obstructions or other breaks in the slope may be needed. The Canyon -Rock Outcrop soil is a complex of soils. The map unit is 50% canyon, 20% rock outcrop, 20% Bayard fine sandy loam, and 5% each of Valent sand and Eckley gravelly sandy loam. The Canyon soil is shallow and well drained with a calcareous loam in the top 12 inches. Below that is white, calcareous sandstone. Diversion type obstructions or other breaks in the slope may be needed to avoid creating gullies in the water runoff areas. Any top soil that may be present should be kept aside, as there is little chance of getting a successful seeding with the lower soils layers. The vegetation on the Colby soils not in the CRP field and on the flat part of the Canyon consists of blue grama and buffalo grass. These is also some western wheatgrass, sand dropseed, snakeweed and three awn scattered across the area. The Canyon slopes are 50% or more sideoats grama and little bluestem with blue grama, western wheatgrass and sand dropseed. Yucca, sand sagebrush, three awn and various broadleaf plants are also present.