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GENERAL <br /> The winter of 1995/1996 was characterized by fairly mild conditions <br /> through the first of January. The wash plant area was accessible <br /> by vehicles until New Years. The upper portions of the mine had <br /> been snow bound since about Halloween. Shortly after the first of <br /> the year, snow accumulations precluded access to the wash plant. <br /> However, Pitkin County crews plowed the first mile or so of the <br /> mine access road from Redstone throughout the winter. The mine <br /> site was accessible only by snow machine or skis from mid-January <br /> until early April . By April 10, 1996, the access road to the mine <br /> gate was clear of snow, while up to a foot remained on the ground <br /> at the Rock Tunnel. Areas of the mine beyond the Rock Tunnel <br /> remained inaccessible due to snow accumulations until mid- to late <br /> May, dependent upon slope aspect. Total snow accumulation and <br /> moisture content over the winter were described as about normal by <br /> local residents. <br /> The warm and dry spring conditions proved to be detrimental to the <br /> 1995 revegetation efforts at the Sutey and Old Refuse Disposal <br /> Areas. Immediately after snowmelt, growth on the revegetated areas <br /> was readily apparent. However, an approximately six week long dry <br /> period apparently diminished the quantity of growth on the piles. <br /> Not until a long soaking rain in late July did the growth again <br /> begin to become apparent. Even with the addition of this moisture, <br /> the disposal area revegetation did not live up to expectations. <br /> Unlike the summer of 1995, the summer of 1996 was relatively wet. <br /> Late day showers occurred almost daily from about mid-July through <br /> early September. This created a number of delays in construction <br /> activities, particularly at the high altitude Mines 1 and 2 <br /> construction project. <br /> By the middle of September, snow had begun to fall. Snow storms <br /> significant enough to halt construction for three to five days <br /> occurred on at least three different occasions over a three week <br /> period from mid-September through early October. <br /> The remainder of October was relatively dry, but fall snows <br /> prohibited access beyond the Rock Tunnel by mid-November. Although <br /> the demolition crew continued to plow the main road from Redstone, <br /> access beyond the main facilities area was all but impossible after <br /> a storm dropped eighteen inches of snow in Coal Basin on December <br /> 6 and 7. <br /> This year the Division had a greater presence and role in the local <br /> community than in previous years. We also were more active and <br /> involved with other concerned agencies in a productive format than <br /> in previous years. <br /> At the beginning of 1996, the Redstone Caucus was in the process of <br /> trying to gain a community consensus regarding designation of an <br /> 2 <br />