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<br />Daub & Associates, Inc. Page 3-52 2015 NS Mine Plan Modification <br />1/5/2016 Section 3 General Site Conditions <br />convallarius), hood phlox, robust spurge (Euphorbia robusta), and cushion <br />eriogonum (Eriogonum ovalfolium). <br />Grasses are not abundant in this type and comprise approximately 9 percent of the <br />vegetative cover. Slender wheatgrass (Agropyron trachycaulum), Indian ricegrass, <br />prairie junegrass, Sandberg bluegrass (Poa secunda), and bottlebrush squirreltail <br />(Sitanion hystrix) were commonly encountered. Additionally, elk sedge and Douglas <br />sedge (Carex geyerii and C. douglasii) were commonly found in this vegetation type. <br />Chained Pinyon-Juniper <br />The Chained Pinyon-Juniper type was created during BLM range management <br />activities in the 1960s by knocking down many of the of the pinyon-juniper trees <br />using large bull dozers with large chains stretched between the two as they moved <br />across the landscape. The general appearance of the chained areas is that of a <br />shrub-land with many fallen trees. Chaining, however, may be quite variable and <br />leave a large number of standing trees. The Pinyon-Juniper trees in these areas <br />have been re-established and new growth has taken hold. The LGL study showed <br />that the chained areas had from 30-115 percent of the tree density found on non- <br />chained pinyon-juniper woodlands (LGL 1981). Although, no cover data was <br />collected for this type, the density data shows that the shrub layer is dominated by <br />big sagebrush, Antelope bitterbrush, rubber rabbitbrush, grey horsebrush, and <br />snakeweed. <br />Forb cover is low in this type area, comprising 1.4 to 3.4 percent of the vegetative <br />cover. Nutall's goldenweed, dwarf rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus depressus), hood <br />phlox, narrow-leaved aster, plains prickly pear, ballhead gilia, cryptantha, and many <br />flower twinpod were commonly found in the understory. <br />Graminoid cover was much higher--15 percent--than in the pinyon-juniper type. <br />Common grasses included: Indian ricegrass, western wheatgrass, slender <br />wheatgrass, bottlebrush squirreltail, blue gramma, Sandberg bluegrass, and needle- <br />and-threadgrass.