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David L. Buckner, Ph.D. <br /> ESCO Associates Inc. <br /> P.O. Box 18775 <br /> Boulder, CO 80308 <br /> Comments on Revegetation at the Coal Basin Mine, <br /> Pitkin County, Colorado <br /> 16 March 1999 <br /> The following is based on a review of site conditions on 8 September 1998, review of the <br /> "Lewicki and Savage" reports, accumulated understanding of coal reclamation regulation since <br /> 1975, and experience in revegetation of high altitude disturbed sites since 1969. <br /> INTRODUCTION <br /> Any consideration of revegetation of high altitude sites must fully respect the <br /> nature of the physical environment and the constraints that it places on <br /> biological activity. Perhaps the greatest among these is cold. Inasmuch as <br /> biological activities are basically chemical processes, temperature is a driving <br /> variable underlying the rates at which these processes can occur. Of course, <br /> the long winters with short days and very cold average temperatures restrain <br /> most biological activity to the metabolism crucial to survival. Even in the <br /> summer months, cold night time temperatures bring chemical processes to a <br /> very slow pace. The net effect of this is to cause overall plant growth to be <br /> extremely slow. Any evaluations of human undertakings to foster plant growth <br /> at high altitude must be seen in light of the inherent slowness at which stages <br /> of plant development can possibly be reached in this very cold environment. <br /> Among other factors restricting revegetation are erratic moisture availability, <br /> high ultraviolet radiation exposure, abrasion of tissue by wind-borne soil/rock <br /> 1 <br />