The Forest Service is proposing a two phase plan to restore the Mount Emmons Iron Fen and repair the cut bank on the Kebler Road below the fen. The proposed project is located roughly three miles west of Crested Butte CO. Legal location of the project area is: T14S R86W Section 6 NMPM: NW1/4 SE1/4 in Gunnison County.
The purpose of this project is to restore the ground-water and surface flow hydrology and native vegetation of a portion of the Mt. Emmons Iron Fen that was impaired by an emergency action that reopened and extended an existing ditch in 2015. Before the ditch can be rehabilitated a rockery wall spillway and rip-rap on Kebler Pass Road will be constructed to protect the road yet allow for natural surface and sub-surface water flow from the fen.
The proposed action includes two phases:
Phase 1
The first phase of this project will include restoring the cut-bank on Kebler Pass road below the iron fen. This will include removing the precast concrete structure above the road cut removing the PVC pipe that was installed in the fall of 2014 building rockery walls spillways and armoring culvert outlets (Figure A).
Phase 2
To rehabilitate the extended ditch portion the native peat that was removed (and left onsite next to the ditch) will be placed back into the ditch. To rehabilitate the reopened ditch material that was removed during the spring of 2015 will be placed into the ditch. Since much of the fill was removed during the original construction in the early 1980s native local material will be transported in to fill the ditch completely to replicate the surface level of the surrounding area. The goal of rehabilitation is to ensure that water no longer flows through the ditch.
Beth Anderson
