2019-04-16_REVISION - C1981019 (3)

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RULE 4 PERFORMANCE STANDARDS Rule 4 Performance Standards 4-64 Revision Date: 4/16/19 Revision No.: MR-200 lands on the original permit area that evolve into a Sagebrush Steppe community* will be directly compared to the 1981 Sagebrush reference area. In the South Taylor reclamation areas, grazinglands (grasslands) shall be compared to weighted parameters from the 1980 Mountain Shrub referenence area (52% weight), the 1981 Sagebrush reference area (25% weight), and the 2005 Collom Aspen reference area (23% weight) in accordance with 4.15.7(4)(b). Any reclamation unitsdeonted as South Taylor reclamation areas that evolve into a Sagebrush Steppe community* will be directly compared to the 1981 Sagebrush reference. 4.15.8 Revegetation Success Criteria Colowyo will meet the requirements of this Subsection to insure that the post-mining vegetation will be adequate for final bond release. As delineated under Subsections 4.15.7 and 2.05.4, Colowyo will utilize established reference areas (see Section 4.15.7 above) for the purpose of comparing vegetation information between the reclaimed area and the undisturbed area for the variables of ground cover and production. For the variables of woody plant density and species diversity, Colowyo shall compare revegetated area parameters against defined standards detailed later in this section. Data to be used in these comparisons must be from statistically adequate sampling (where necessary) as indicated in Rule 4.15.11. In instances where grazingland targeted reclamation areas exhibit the characteristics of the sagebrush steppe areas and can meet the release standards for core or ecotonal sagebrush steppe, Colowyo will seek release and credit for the creation of those areas towards fulfillment of the minimum habitat development requirement post- 2008 (450 acres). In the unlikely but not impossible event that areas targeted for sagebrush steppe display community characteristics that will not meet the sagebrush steepe area release criteria but do for the grazing land criteria, Colowyo will designate those acres as grazing land. Colowyo will have to specifically designate the location of both grazing land and sagebrush steppe areas prior to the initiation of phase III bond release data collection. For descriptive purposes, “evolved” sagebrush steppe areas refer to lands originally seeded to grazing land that exhibit sufficient community characteristics of the sagebrush steppe community to be fully released as either core or ecotonal areas. Areas defined as “targeted” sagebrush steppe are by definition the areas originally seeded to the sagebrush steppe plant community that exhibit the characteristics of that community and meet either the core or ecotonal requirement for full release. Herbaceous Cover For both Pre-2008 and Post-2008 revegetation targeting (and achieving) the rangeland land use subcomponent of grazing land, herbaceous cover of the revegetated area will be considered adequate for final bond release if it is not less than 90% of the herbaceous cover as determined from the reference areas with a 90% statistical confidence utilizing a standard students statistical t-test comparison of the means. As allowed under the rules promulgated on 9/14/05, these comparisons may utilize one of three methods detailed under Rule 4.15.11 (2) [(a), (b) or (c)]. Also as allowed by Rule 4.15.7 (4), either weighted-average or individual protocols will be * Areas that evolve into a sagebrush steppe community cannot be determined with certainty until several years following seeding, emergence, and maturation of shrubs. Emergence of this community may occur in both areas where sagebrush steppe is targeted as well as those grassland targeted areas that receive significant sagebrush seed. Any sagebrush steppe that evolves in either of these areas will be delineated with GPS techniques, sampled accordingly, and tested against the 1981 Sagebrush RA.