Coal Creek

May 29, 2014 I went on a field trip to Coal Creek.  

We have hundreds (if not thousands) of old mines here and this may well be a solution for returning those scarred slopes back to what they once were- alpine meadow and grassland.

Photo Brian McMullen 

Soil Scientist- White River National Forest

No, you probably haven't heard of it but I hope a lot more people will hear about it and we can start this process throughout the Western US.

Here's an overview of the  Coal Basin Project

…. or as  Scott Snelson calls it "the biochar grazing nexus" .  Scott was District Ranger of the White River National Forest at the start of this project.  

Youtube is being uncooperative this morning- so you'll need to click. If you want to read the Aspen Times article on Scott without feeding the marketing machine then go to the link on a tablet or a smart phone. aspentimes.com/article

The group yesterday was impressive. We had representatives from Pitkin County, the Town of Carbondale, The National Forest, the Roaring Fork Conservancy, Roaring Fork Water Shed Plan  and The Crystal River Cattlemen's Association to name a few. Soil Scientists and Geologists who have been monitoring the project were also there. The short version- this represented a lot of cooperation between Federal Government, County Governments (both Pitkin and Garfield), City Government, Private enterprise and non-profit Organizations.  Cooperation and collaboration between agencies and individuals for mutual benefit - what a concept. That may well be the most heartening part of this story.

We met at the Coke Ovens at Redstone.

and we carpooled up the Coal Creek Basin.

Here's Wayne Ives of the White River National Forest giving us an overview at our first stop. 

This was an area which was covered in mining "slag" 

Photo Brian McMullen 

Soil Scientist- White River National Forest

much like the Hope Mine on Castle Creek. 

Unlike the Hope Mine this area had traditional grazing on it until about 30 years ago.

So what did the "Coal Basin Restoration Project" do? They used Cattle, Compost, Cattle Stomp and Biochar to restore something which used to look like this:

into something which looks like this

What you're looking at is an acre which has 2 different treatments. Both involve cattle and both involve "seed stomping" one has biochar the other does not.

Here's the process. 

noxious weed control.

photo from the Roaring Fork Conservancy pdf

Houndstongue, 

a 17th century cure for baldness, dog attacks and hemorrhoids but still a noxious weed.

(Weeds of the West- excellent book)

Then they spread 3" of compost  and then covered it with hay, "White River National Forest seed mix" and straw.  

Photo Brian McMullen 

Soil Scientist- White River National Forest

On half the compost had an additional 5% biochar  other than that the process was the same. 

Then came the cattle. 

Photo Brian McMullen 

Soil Scientist- White River National Forest

The cattle "stomped" the White River National Forest seed mix in, ate the hay and left the straw for cover (aka "litter). The cattle also left behind fertilizer and hoof prints (I'll get back to that later)

Take a closer look….

You see the distinct change in color in the soil?

That's the biochar.

That's moisture retention.

That's gold.

Compost, Hay, Straw, Seeds and Cattle *without* biochar.

Compost, Hay, Straw, Seeds and Cattle *with* biochar.

Each hoof print creates a microclimate which provides shade and a place for water to pool.

Here's the microclimate without biochar.

Here's the microclimate with biochar.

Photo Brian McMullen 

Soil Scientist- White River National Forest

Got it?

Okay…. up the road a bit… and this time take the cattle out of the process...

Start with what's left over from an avalanche on the road (shale washed down from the cliffs above)

..bring in the machines

photo from the White River National Forest  and  Roaring Fork Conservancy pdf

to give you some furrows to impede erosion and give the water someplace to settle…

3" of compost with no biochar

3" of compost with 5% biochar

Photo Brian McMullen 

Soil Scientist- White River National Forest

in case you were wondering...

 what 1" of compost with biochar will do…

what 3" of compost and biochar will do

There are a lot of elements to this experiment. 

There are plots growing native grasses and forbs under controlled conditions. 

Photo Brian McMullen 

Soil Scientist- White River National Forest

(These "bioislands" were planted by Garfield County prison inmates.)

There are sediment monitors on the creek

(There is a lot of sediment in that water- I mean a lot…) 

photo from the Roaring Fork Conservancy pdf

and soil moisture monitors in the ground.

The tubes go into the ground for control,  non-biochar and biochar compost sections.

Soil moisture monitor at 2", 8" and 20" of depth.

Here's the data- the process doubles the moisture content 

(or more- I'll give you exact figures as soon as I get them).

It's our choice, slag and erosion or

Grass.

Here's more information on the Cattle Stomp and  using the Savory Method to reverse desertification in the links; and here's info on Biochar from Morgan Williams at the 2012 ACES talk (youtube- get your act together please….) click here for the video.

Thanks to Mark Lacy for letting me use these reports from the White River National Forest and The Roaring Fork Conservancy:

White River National Forest and Roaring Fork Conservancy pilot pdf

Roaring Fork Conservancy update pdf

Thanks to Brian McMullen for letting me use images from his PowerPoint presentation.

Nov. 2015 update

Mulch

How many uses are there for Mulch? I'm finding out.

It all started with our local Fire Chief stopping by to take a look at how difficult it would be to keep my house from burning down.

His assessment was that it would be very difficult due to the "ladder fuels" aka sage brush, juniper and pinion which were covering the slope up to the house.

3 teenage boys + one trimmer + one chain saw = poodle junipers and sage stumps

(This plan works best if you hire 40 year old women to walk behind the teenage boys and pick up after them. It's considerably easier to get them to cut things down than to pick things up. Moms or Goats- either would have worked...)

Of course that meant I had piles of sagebrush and juniper.

We spaced the piles about 50' apart (in case of fire) and they sat there over the winter. 

There are multiple choices about how to get rid of piles of brush. You can burn it which is the traditional way of dealing with brush piles. You have to have a burn permit and burn when there isn't a burn ban. This is always a risky business.

What I really wanted to do was make it into biochar with one of the new biochar tents from Carbon Cultures. The portable kilns are experimental and they're pricey; but it's a great solution for helping out my dense clay soil. I haven't ruled this one out yet and I may try it - after someone else does the first test drive.

There's a third choice, you can chip it.

Two teenage boys + one chipper + one pickup truck =

Mulch, a lot O' Mulch.

You can throw mulch in old perk holes below the septic tank

You can fill erosion tubes with mulch...

... a lot of erosion tubes.

You can mulch apple trees.

You can Mulch potatoes.

You can Mulch tomatoes.

You can Mulch the Groasis Waterboxxes (and then throw rocks on top of the Mulch)

You can make a Mulch Basin.

Mulch chairs.

Mulch Art.

Mulch volutes

and... a flying straw bale kickstarter...

Of course there is a wikipedia of Mulch... and Juniper Mulch debates... and Mulch blogs. I have no idea if this sage/juniper/pinion Mulch will help or hurt but so far it's doing a great job on the potatoes, it seems to be helping the tomatoes and the apples are spouting little leaves around the base of the trunk.

Yes, I still have a pile of Mulch, but it's a smaller pile.