Taiga Plains Sand Pit Restoration Plan for Pit Lake End Use

Abstract

The purpose of the project was to develop a reclamation plan for the closure of the Village of Fort Simpson (VOFS) sand pit, a quarry lease located within the Mackenzie and Slave Lowlands Mid-Boreal Ecoregion of the Taiga Plains in the Northwest Territories. A relevé plot was selected in an undisturbed jack pine (Pinus banksiana) stand located on a partially excavated sand dune. The purpose of the relevé was to classify the site and to document a sample of the vegetation and soil structure prior to the excavation of the sand pit. A small vegetation plot was selected along the shore of the flooded sand pit.
Major site disturbances were identified: (1) sand pit excavations that extended below the summer water table are now flooded, (2) steeply sloped active working face is potentially unstable and vulnerable to the effects of erosion, (3) invasive White Sweet-clover (Melitotus alba) and Yellow Sweet-clover (Melilotus officinalis) satellite population located in the active excavation area, (4) revegetation of disturbed areas by native species is limited due to the lack of topsoil, (5) access roads have compacted soils, (6) and dumped wastes were located on the leased property. Lease requirements and recommended land-use guidelines for the reclamation of quarries were reviewed concerning existing site conditions. I recommend that an end-pit lake be selected as the reclamation ecosystem objective.