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Keenesburg Mine 2018 Vegetation Monitoring Report <br />2.1 Sampling Design <br />Thirty sample points were located prior to going into the field using mapping software to create a <br />square grid overlaid on each Reclamation Area being sampled. The sample points were located <br />at the intersection of each square created by the grid. The grid size was adjusted to create the <br />appropriate number of sample locations within each Reclamation Area. Sample numbers (1-30) <br />were randomly assigned to each generated sample point along with a randomly generated <br />azimuth (Figure 2, Figure 3, Figure 4, Figure 5, and Figure 6).. A minimum of 15 vegetation <br />cover samples were collected in each Reclamation Area with additional samples collected if <br />necessary to meet sample adequacy per DRMS guidelines. The maximum of 30 herbaceous <br />production samples were collected from Reclamation Areas 29, 30, and 31. <br />2.2 Sample Timing <br />Vegetation monitoring occurred on August 13 — 17, 2016 which was consistent with the timing <br />of monitoring in previous years. Monitoring also coincided with maximum vegetation <br />development of most plant species found in the reclaimed and adjacent native areas. <br />2.3 Vegetation Cover <br />Point -intercept methods were used to collect vegetation and ground cover, as well as species <br />composition data. Each 25 -meter transect represents a single sampling unit. Two data points <br />were recorded at one -meter intervals along each transect, 0.5 m to each side of and at a right <br />angle to the transect. A laser bar was used to determine intercepts, with the beam projected <br />vertically to the ground surface. Each point -intercept represented an absolute cover value of 2%. <br />"First -hit" point -intercepts (the first item that the laser beam intercepts) were recorded as either: <br />live vegetation (by plant species), litter, rock, or bare ground. Litter includes all dead plant <br />material. Subsequent "hits" on vegetation (prior to interception of the ground) were also <br />recorded. Vegetation cover was reported in absolute percentages from the point -intercept data <br />using all 50 first -hit observations for each sample point. Additional interceptions were used to <br />calculate relative cover of individual plant species and life forms. The quantitative cover data <br />also provided the basis for calculation of species composition and relative importance. <br />2.4 Herbaceous Production <br />Herbaceous production was sampled only in Reclamation Areas 29, 30, and 31 using 0.5 -square <br />meter circular plots. For samples where cover data was also collected, the plots were located <br />adjacent to the start point to the right of the transect. Additional production samples were <br />collected with the plot centered on the sample point. <br />All herbaceous non -noxious growth within each plot's vertical projection was clipped, separated <br />by growth form, and placed in labeled paper bags. Current year's herbaceous growth of shrubs <br />was collected in the same manner, but no woody tissue was harvested. The bags containing the <br />clipped material were returned to the Habitat Management office and dried at 30 degrees Celsius <br />until weights stabilized to within 0.1 gram. Herbaceous production was reported in grams per <br />square meter. <br />Habitat Management, Inc. 4 October 2018 <br />