Growing Media 



Premining: Silty to sandy 

 soil, shallow to moder- 

 ately deep over sandstone 

 and shale; pH 7.1-8.3; 

 blue-gray partings in coal 

 appear to be to.\ic to 

 plants. 



Postmining: High sodium 

 content in pre- 1973 mix- 

 ed spoils; after 1973, 

 spoils topsoiled, and 

 partings buried minimum 

 of 8 ft. 



Premining: Mostly prairie grasslands merging with 

 ponderosa pine; scattered mixed shrub and grass 

 on upland slopes and mesas. Silver sagebrush, 

 needleandthread, wheatgrasses, and blue grama 

 dominant. 



Postmining: Thickspike, western, and crested 

 wheatgrasses; smooth brome; alfalfa; and 

 sweetclover dominant; some native and exotic 

 woody plants. Cover ranges from 5 to 40 percent . 

 Russian-thistle dominant in some areas. Some lit- 

 ter development on 1974 and 1975 spoils. Some 

 large transplanted junipers and pines have sur- 

 vived; ponderosa pine beginning to seed-in on 

 adjacent reclaimed slopes. 



Species Diversity 



Premining: Over 21 



species. 



Postmining: Mostly 

 limited to a few 

 grasses and non- 

 native legumes. A 

 few native trees be- 

 ing transplanted. 

 Seedings no longer 

 contain nonnative 

 species. 



Productivity 



Premining: 420 to %8 lbs/acre; 

 900 to 1,400 lbs/acre poten- 

 tial. 



Postmining: Prior to 1973, 248 

 lbs/acre. Topsoiled spoils 

 greater than 2,200 lbs/acre 

 (for northeast exposure). 

 First mowing of western 

 wheatgrass, smooth brome, 

 and yellow sweetclover yield- 

 ed 3,000 lbs/acre. 



Premining: Sandy loam to 

 clay, moderately deep to 

 deep over parent shale 

 and sandstone; average 

 soil depth about 20 in.; 

 high sodium content in 

 clay material; pH 

 6.6-8.9. 



Postmining: Some areas top- 

 soiled with sandy loam to 

 depth of 18 to 20 in.; fer- 

 tilized, mulched. High 

 sodium content of some 

 spoils deters plant growth 

 in nontopsoiled areas. 



Premining: Mainly mid-shortgrass prairie; prairie 

 sandreed, little bluestem, blue grama, needleand- 

 thread, Sandberg bluegrass, and junegrass; cover 

 20 to 30 percent. Riparian vegetation includes 

 western wheatgrass, Japanese brome, green 

 needlegrass, big sagebrush, and silver sagebrush. 

 Some riparian areas contain black greasewood, 

 blue grama, bluegrass, bluestem; cover averages 

 50 percent. 



Postmining: Slender, western, and thickspike 

 wheatgrasses, and smooth brome. Ground cover 

 ranges from uniform (37 percent) to variable and 

 is as much as 95 percent in grassland-sagebrush 

 zone. In areas of fourwing saltbush and 

 sagebrush, cover of volunteer seedlings averages 

 65 percent. 



Premining: About 18 

 species; mostly 

 grasses and forbs, 

 both annual and 

 perennial. 



Postmining: 1 1 species 

 in seed mLx; 3 species 

 hand planted; 13 

 volunteer species. 



Premining: 1,1(X) lbs/acre aver- 

 age, up to 2,000 lbs/acre in 

 good years; highly variable 

 with aspect (exposure). 



Postmining: 1,834 lbs/acre aver- 

 age yield after 2 years. 

 Ranges from 500 to 5,230 

 lbs/acre. 



Premining: Deep to moder- 

 ately deep sandy clay 

 loams to shallow loams; 

 locally rocky; pH 

 5.3-7.9. 



Postmining: Ripped and 

 covered with 2 ft of 

 sandy loam topsoil; fertil- 

 ized, mulched. No toxic 

 soil problems. High 

 sodium content in some 

 spoils. 



Premining: Grassland-sagebrush; big sagebrush, 

 western wheatgrass, junegrass, and Sandberg 

 bluegrass dominant. Some riparian vegetation. 



Postmining: Alfalfa dominant on older (1974) topsoil 

 stockpiles which have been seeded with tall 

 wheatgrass, smooth brome, alfalfa, yellow sweet- 

 clover, and crested wheatgrass; summer-cypress is 

 also abundant. Cover ranges from to 40 per- 

 cent, averaging 15 percent. On more recently re- 

 claimed areas, summer-cypress dominates, 

 providing up to 75 percent cover. Several tree 

 species planted experimentally and to provide 

 cover, usually associated with reclaimed stream 

 channels or artificial rock piles. Winter wheat us- 

 ed as nurse crop. In 1973, small spoil area had 

 fourwing saltbush, wheatgrasses, and green 

 needlegrass. 



Premining: About 12 

 species. 



Postmining: Variable, 

 but limited; test plots 

 under study. Several 

 seed mixes used. A 

 representative seed 

 mix contains 20 

 species. 



Premining: 185-625 lbs/acre 

 (overgrazed); 1,000-2,000 

 lbs/acre potential. 



Postmining: 170-566 lbs/acre on 

 1-year-old seeded areas; 820 

 lbs/acre yield for a small test 

 area seeded in 1973 without 

 topsoil. 



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