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Herbaceous cover data will be obtained by using the 10 -point frame method. The 10 -ponnt tra ae vJili L ~e plaeeU ev✓ry <br />5 meters along a 50 -meter transect (randomly located) yielding 100 points per transect. <br />Herbaceous production data will be obtained by use of a clipped - quarter meter - squared quadrat. The quadrats will be <br />placed randomly along the 50 -meter transect. <br />The visually dominant herbaceous species will be clipped by species, while the remaining species in the quadrant will <br />be lumped into lifeforms and clipped per lifeform. The plant material will then be oven -dried at a temperature of <br />100 °C for a period of 24 hours and then weighed. <br />Shrub density will be evaluated with a 2 x50m belt transect. The species within the transect are recorded and the data <br />is used to compute a stems /acre value. <br />Cropland <br />For areas that are used in the production of crops, production will be the only parameter evaluated. This information <br />has been obtained from the farmers; records for both the hayfields and dryland wheat fields for the five- (5) growing <br />seasons and is presented in Tables 69 and 70, respectively. For the grain crop, average amraal production for the five <br />(5) year period is 17.1 bushels /acre. Therefore, when measured production from the reclaimed area equals or exceeds <br />this amount or is 90 percent of 17.1 bushels /acre with a 90 percent statistical confidence, then the area will be <br />considered successfully reclaimed. The cropland success standard will be for the entire field and would be recorded <br />as bushels harvested from the field. The field will be cut and the grains loaded onto tnieks and hauled from, the site. <br />The trucks will be weighed and their weight will be used in determining the bushel per acre yield after the appropriate <br />lbs /bushel is determined. The farmer will supply the production data to RAG EC. <br />Likewise, for the irrigated hayland (cropland) located near the No. 5 portal, production will be considered a success if <br />it meets the combined average production from the North and South Fields, reduced to 165 acres, obtained from the <br />period of 1979 through 1983. The average production for the two fields is 2,100 lbs /acres. <br />Nor. 9 Portal Area/Refuse Pile <br />In the event that the No. 9 portal and refuse pile are not returned to cropland, they will be returned to pastureland. <br />If this is done, then the fields immediately adjacent to the site referred to as cropland on leap 20 will be used as the <br />reference area. This cropland area has been returned to pastureland. <br />If the area is returned to pastureland, the area will be seeded with the mixture and at the prescribed rates presented on <br />Table 66. The areas recently returned to pastureland have been seeded primarily with an alfalfa seed mixture. <br />However, the fields immediately adjacent to the portal area have been seeded previously with an alfalfa and <br />wheatgrass mixture. Therefore, this area will be used as the reference area; the location of the reference area is shown <br />on Map 20. <br />The same statistical and sample adequacy calculations and revegetation success standards presented in the <br />Rangeland/Wildlife Habitat section of the text, which follows immediately, will be adhered to during the sampling <br />process. In reference to determining if species diversity has been achieved, this parameter will be satisfied by having <br />two -(2) species make up 70% of the relative percent composition in the reclaimed plant community. No single <br />species will contribute more than 50% of the relative composition. <br />In the event that the area is returned to cropland, the same standards presented above for croplanr�_' s ill be applied to <br />this area. <br />'Fj lt R iFc; %Jr -i T10. 4 _ =F__' _ <br />