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15 <br />developing a "weighted average" to mine sites where the reclaimed areas can be combined and <br />compared back to the revegetation success technical standards that have been used for decades. <br />With respect to the proposed total perennial herbaceous cover value for the reclaimed lands within the <br />PR -7 Mine Expansion Area, the Mountain Shrub Range Site A revegetation success standard is chosen <br />because it is more stringent than the corresponding values for the Mountain Shrub Range Site B and Big <br />Sagebrush - Grass Range Site C areas. In using this technical standard, TMI would approximate cover <br />values in the reclaimed lands to that of the existing, predominant Mountain Shrub Plant Community of <br />the PR -7 Mine Expansion Area. <br />Applying revised methodology for the production drying methods favors using the defined methods of <br />CDRMS rather than the methods Interpreted from past field sampling. The air dry weights were <br />consistently larger than the oven dry weights for the same samples. Based on these results, it is <br />recommended that TMI follow the CDRMS drying methods to evaluate production samples. <br />With respect to potential threatened or endangered plant species, it was determined after a careful <br />literature review and intensive field investigations, that the unique habitat types associated with these <br />species are lacking in the study area. In addition, since all of these lands have had the natural vegetation <br />significantly altered by agricultural conversion practices, intensive long term grazing and winter feeding <br />activities, it would be essentially Impossible, for any of these species to occur on the study area. In <br />summary, none of these species were encountered and it Is highly unlikely, if not impossible, for them to <br />be found on this site. <br />