Growing Media 



Premining: Silty clay, silty 

 clay loams, clay loams, 

 loams, and fine sandy 

 loams over sandstone 

 and shale parent mater- 

 ial; pH 5.9-8.3. 



Postmining: All leveled 

 spoils covered with top- 

 soil or subsoil; no top- 

 soiling done on shales or 

 sandstones; older spoils 

 topsoiled at mines with 

 considerable amount of 

 subsoil. Contour furrows 

 and berms constructed to 

 control erosion. 



Vegetation 



Premining: Energy No. 1 — sagebrush, mountain 

 mahogany-scrub oak, and aspen. Primary plants 

 are oak, serviceberry, chokecherry, snowberry, 

 smooth brome, mountain brome, and forbs. 

 Energy No. 2 — sagebrush ground layer 

 dominated by western wheatgrass and weedy an- 

 nuals. Local stands of dense aspen and cultivated 

 wheat fields. 



Postmining: Ground cover on sites 3 years old ex- 

 ceeds 35 percent; on sites 5 years old, exceeds 50 

 percent. Clumps of aspen, serviceberry, and oak 

 set out on smoothed spoil before topsoiling. 

 Rockpiles added for habitat. Energy No. 

 1 — wheat and rye nurse crop was highly suc- 

 cessful. Energy No. 2 — surviving species are in- 

 termediate wheatgrass, smooth brome, and 

 alfalfa. Annual grasses and forbs now crowded 

 out by planted perennial species. 



Premining: Over 20 

 species. 



Postmining: Range of 7 

 to 34 species in 1979. 

 1977 and 1978 plant- 

 ing mix of 24 spe- 

 cies; 1979 planting 

 mix of 27 species. 

 Wide variety of 

 grasses, forbs, and 

 shrubs. 



Produaivity 



Premining: 



Energy No. 1 — 507 lbs/acre for 

 aspen type to 2,500 lbs/acre 

 for tall sage-grass type (ex- 

 cluding aspen and shrubs 

 over 4.5 ft). 



Energy No. 2 — 917 lbs/acre. 



Energy No. 3 — 347 lbs/acre. 



Postmining: 



Energy No. 1—280 to 2,467 

 lbs/acre for nontopsoiled, 

 seeded spoils; 1,260-1,900 

 lbs/acre for topsoiled, 

 seeded spoils. 



Energy No. 2—3,000 lbs/acre 

 after 4 years. 



Energy No. 3 — 826 lbs/acre in 

 1978; 1,700 lbs/acre in 1979. 



Premining: Deep loams, clay 

 loams, silt loams, and 

 minor clay pans over 

 sandstone and shale; pH 

 6.6-7.9. 



Postmining: Seneca No. 

 1 — spoil tops flattened 

 but not topsoiled. Seneca 

 No. 2 — spoils of clay, 

 shale, sandstone; some 

 locations not topsoiled. 

 Straw mulch. 



Premining: Mixture of grassland-shrub; big Premining: About 18 

 sagebrush, big bluegrass, needleandthread, snow- species, 

 berry, Gambel oak, serviceberry. Cover 40 to 70 

 percent. 



Postmining: Seneca No. 1 — revegetated with air- 

 seeded alfalfa; smooth brome; crested, interme- 

 diate, and pubescent wheatgrasses. Orchardgrass, 

 cheatgrass, and brome dominant. Survival of 

 transplanted, mostly introduced deciduous 

 shrubs and trees good. Vegetation sparse on 

 some slopes, rocky areas, and coal fines. 

 Sagebrush volunteers common in some areas. 

 Seneca No. 2 — no areas successfully revegetated 

 by native species through 1976, but some alfalfa 

 cover. Revegetated areas dominated by yeUow 

 sweetclover, smooth brome, crested wheatgrass, 

 and intermediate wheatgrass. Cover ranges from 

 27 to 34 percent. 



Postmining: About 13 

 species of grasses 

 and legumes, most 

 not native. 



Premining: Seneca No. 2 — 

 1,200-2,500 lbs/acre. 



Postmining: Seneca No. 

 2—1,000-4,500 lbs/acre 

 (seeded); mainly alfalfa, and 

 crested and intermediate 

 wheatgrasses. 



Premining: Sandy loam and Premining: Pinyon-juniper, big sagebrush, 

 clay loam. grasses, alone and intemiLxed. 



and Premining: Probably 

 diverse. 



Postmining: Mbied coal fines Postmining: On lower, north-facing slopes, some Postmining: Mostly 

 and shale. colonization by sagebrush and ricegrass; other- limited to plants 



wise bare. On leveled oldest (approximately 50 tolerant of high soil 

 years) workings, heavy sagebrush growth. temperature. 



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