2015-10-13_REVISION - C1981014 (12)

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"Guidelines Regarding Selected Coal Mine Bond Release Issues" issued April 18, 1995. The corresponding vegetation maps showing the location of the four reference areas sampled in connection with this sampling effort were taken from the current Southfield Mine Permit, Annual Reclamation Report Maps and the recent information submitted in connection with Technical Revisions Numbers 39 and 45. The boundaries of the specific reclamation units sampled were taken from the 2012 Annual Reclamation Report Maps for both the Southfield Mine and the Southfield Loadout areas. Prior to commencing the field sampling, the permit monitoring requirements were carefully reviewed and discussed with Mr. Patterson (EFCI) and Ms. Janet Binns of the Colorado Division of Reclamation Mining and Safety (CDRMS) regarding the proposed sampling and data analysis methods to be used in this evaluation. Verbal approval for these sampling methodologies was given in various conference calls, as well as written approval in the form of e-mails. In this evaluation, the vegetation parameters of plant cover, forage production, species diversity, and woody plant density were sampled. These data were then utilized to evaluate the successfulness of revegetation efforts with respect to these parameters as required by the Southfield Mine Permit. Transect Locations. To ensure all areas within the various reclamation and reference areas being sampled, had an equal chance of being selected, each proposed sample area was treated as a single sample unit and a randomized sampling effort was implemented. Utilizing the mine maps; showing the specific reclamation and reference area locations, the 2012 Annual Reclamation Report maps prepared by EFCI and GPS units, the extreme north, south, east and west boundaries of each site sampled were converted to the 1983 Colorado State Plane Central Zone (NAD 83) coordinate system or the original Southfield Mine coordinate system. The interval used in the state plan coordinate system is based on foot increments. Given the typical real-time accuracy of the Trimble Model Geo XH GPS unit of plus or minus 50 cm (1.67 feet) used by IME, their transect locations were field located at a sub -meter accuracy. Mergen Ecological Delineations, Inc., used a Garmin GPS Map 76S model GPS unit which has an accuracy of approximately 10 meters. Once the boundaries of the reclaimed and reference areas were delineated, transect coordinates located within the study area boundaries were randomly determined using computer software which generated random coordinates in the study area. These coordinates were then entered into the GPS unit and the transect location starting points were located in the field using the navigate feature of the GPS unit. At each transect location starting point, the transect alignment was determined by selecting a previously determined random direction based on the degrees of the compass (1 to 360 degrees). Once the transect bearing was determined, a 50 -meter long tape was then laid out across the site. All transects were kept within the designated sample unit boundaries. If the transect placement resulted in the transect alignment crossing a sample unit boundary, the transect line was backed up 180 degrees until it was all within the sample unit boundary. Where the transect tape could not be placed within a narrow reclaimed area due to boundary constraints, then the transect line was bent approximately 90 degrees at the point where the boundary line was crossed to ensure that the entire transect alignment was located within the designated area to be sampled. This can be seen on the enclosed maps.