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soils are distinctively saline and limiting. As a result they are fairly easy to spot as they are the <br />fine soils at the toe of the slope where vegetation growth is limited. In general, the Razor soils <br />are below the expected depth of mining and therefore will be only moderately affected by the <br />gravel extraction. However, even when covering these soils with better soil, good, long term <br />growth may be difficult to achieve as the salts in the Razor soil will tend to rise by capillary <br />action into the better soils resulting in a pattern of very good initial growth followed by declining <br />growth as a result of salt increase. <br />Soil Salvage Recommendations for the Site <br />It is quite clear that the only real salvageable soils on the site are the Fort Collins and the <br />Stoneham soils in the uplands. Once the gravelly soils are reached there really isn't much to <br />salvage except perhaps in a few isolated pockets. No Razor soil should be salvaged at all, under <br />any circumstances as mixing the saline soils would only harm the better soils. This should not be <br />a problem as the Razor soil is generally outside the area to be mined. <br />As both the Fort Collins and the Stoneham soils are as much as five feet thick and rest on top of <br />the gravel, removal and stockpiling all of these soils will occur. On the level pit bottom, re- <br />soiling should be to a depth of at least one foot. The saline Razor soil will likely be encountered <br />at the bottom of the pit. Therefore, even though the pit may appear to have a clay soil bottom, <br />Fort Collins or Stoneham soil should be used for reclamation on the bottom of the mined out pit. <br />Seeding with primarily native warm season grasses and only limited amounts of cool season <br />grasses is appropriate for these soils. Drill seeding should be done except where slopes are too <br />steep for safe equipment operation. A rangeland drill will probably be required if hairy seed is <br />present in the mixture. Fertilizer will not be included as it will only encourage weeds and is <br />usually unnecessary for native, warm season grasses. Mulch will not be used, but topographic <br />tilling will be used to control runoff. <br />Fountain Pit M- 1982 -155 <br />DRMS 112 Permit Amendment Page 21 <br />