Pipelines (flowlines and sales lines) will be removed. Above ground components of electric supply systems will be removed. Buried electric lines may be removed or left in place, but if they are left in place, everything within 12 inches of the surface will be removed. Depending on the circumstances, gates may be removed, replaced by another vehicle barrier such as boulders or left in place. The surface contour will be restored to the original conditions to the extent possible.

Well pads, pipelines and the Charlton 4 CPF are located in a variety of forest types. Most of these sites have some vegetation on them and often there are exotics mixed in with the vegetation present. The goal is to return these sites to a forested state. In some cases, a site or part of a site may be maintained in a non-forested condition. Each site needs to be evaluated and addressed individually but the general direction to take with each site is to remove the exotic component and plant trees.

In general, well pads and the facility site should be treated with herbicide. This has two purposes, first to kill exotics, second to prepare the site for planting tree seedlings. The herbicide used and the number of applications necessary will be dependent on the types of plants at each site. After the herbicide has been applied, trees should be brought in from the surrounding forested area using a tree spade with a minimum 36" diameter. Depending on the size of the spade and the size of trees available 20 – 30 trees per acre should be moved. (The preferred size class of trees to be moved is 2" – 3" dbh.) This will have the effect of not just moving a larger tree onto the site but will bring in pieces of the native flora and spread them throughout the site. The species of trees moved will be decided at each site based on what is available but should be representative of the tree species in the area. The spaces between the trees should then be planted with tree seedlings with 15 by 15 foot spacing or about 200 trees per acre. Tree seedlings planted will be dependent on the site but will be combinations of red or black oak or red, white or jack pine and should be no smaller than 2-0 stock. If bare root seedlings are used, roots should be treated with a water absorbing product such as Terra-Sorb to increase chances of survival.

Vegetative restoration for flowlines that run parallel to roads and where clearing was 10 feet or less will generally be limited to spot herbicide of exotics. Vegetative restoration for pipelines that do not run parallel to roads or where clearing was 10 feet or more (if they run parallel to roads) will be accomplished as described above for well pads except herbicides will be used only in those areas where exotics are present.

Vegetative restoration success will be monitored and will not be considered successful until 70% of the planted trees on each site have survived for two (2) years. Mortality due to fire, insects, disease, browsing, drought, etc. that extends to the adjacent stands will not be included in the per cent success calculations.

Some details such as tree species, planting density, etc. may be modified when the actual restoration plan for each site is developed. The objective of providing this information is to define the scope of anticipated restoration activities on the Pigeon River Country Management Unit.

Document prepared by Brian Mastenbrook, Wildlife Habitat Biologist

Joe Jarecki, Unit Manager, Pigeon River Country Forest

August 2004