Grand Teton National Park Salvage
Grand Teton National Park - Jackson Hole, WY
The Grand Teton National Park Moose-Wilson Road Project resulted in significant ground disturbance along the road corridor. Plants occurring within the limits of disturbance of the road construction project were manually salvaged and stored for replanting by our crew. Plant salvage activities for this scope included: using a skidsteer-mounted tree spade to salvage shrubs and trees with larger root balls and excavator extraction for smaller root balls, in conjunction with plenty of hand labor to best handle sensitive root systems. We transferred materials to ball and burlap cages or pots; thoroughly watered transplants; and transported materials to a temporary holding facility in the park where the materials will be held until out-planting years later.
WRG has had a long relationship with Teton National Park and have proven ourselves to be a valued contractor. We are 1 out of 5 companies on a national pre-qualifier list for revegetation within our national park region. We were extended to opportunity to bid on this job because we are on that list.
In the process of salvaging the plants, we had to establish traffic control measures as we moved plants through the park from the place of extraction to the nursery location where the plants would be housed until they are replanted. We were required to keep detailed records for reporting to the park.
Salvaging of plants included:
Excavating a root zone around each plant that was the appropriate dimension and size to maximize survivability of each plant.
Securely placing excavated root mass and associated dirt in a container (pot or ball and burlap) such that damage to all roots including small and fine roots was minimized.
Watering excavated root mass within the first few hours following excavation to firm soil up in the container and prevent root exposure to air and allow the material to recover from excavation.
Transporting all salvaged plant material to the Beaver Creek shade house storage facility, approximately 15 miles from the Granite Entrance Station, unloading, and winterizing material.
We carried out the plant salvage project with great success relative to all parameters within the contract. The survival within the storage facility has been beyond what was expected.
