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CLIMATE IN THE LAST YEAR: In the past a fairly detailed climate examination was presented in <br /> these reports because revegetation work was being done. This year, now that all the reclaimed areas <br /> have been released, only general comments are provided. <br /> The winter was a wet one with above average snowfall, but it also included some dry spells where little <br /> snowfall occurred. Under such conditions it is likely a good deal of the subsoil water content increased <br /> considerably. But after April 2020 the climate shifted to a more dry pattern that only intensified as time <br /> went on. By July, abnormal to moderate drought came to the region and many of the benefits from a <br /> wet winter vanished. This site may have had a bit more moisture than areas to the west and north. <br /> As a result, a strong early growth of the grasses and wildflowers quickly came to an end as hot, dry, <br /> and windy weather arrived. By July the prairies were beginning to head toward brown as the early <br /> strong growth slowed. Premature drying of the vegetation was noted on July 7 with only deep rooted <br /> plants still doing fairly well. But even a lot of them failed to set seed because of the lack of regular <br /> rainfall as often happens on this site. It is probably good that no revegetation was done as it may have <br /> very well failed to produce adequate first year cover. Of course, it is not known how long this drought <br /> condition will continue or whether it will intensify. The weekly drought maps and drought predictions <br /> by NOAA are not very hopeful. But then few expected such a wet winter either. As the NOAA <br /> scientists indicate, the atmosphere has changed a great deal in the last few years and past patterns that <br /> helped with prediction are often unreliable because the consistent and reasonably predictable patterns of <br /> the past have gone from good indicators to only seasonal generality indicators that are of little help with <br /> predicting the future. Even the jet streams that guide storm tracks have shifted northward leaving places <br /> that formerly had reliably predictable storm intensities and tracks in a situation where the usual is a rare <br /> event and the unusual becomes more the rule. <br /> RECLAMATION PERMIT STATUS: No changes were made to the permit in the last year. <br /> However, the release request made at the end of the last lease year was ultimately approved. So all <br /> previously mined land is now released from bond and the permit. All that land is now available for <br /> other uses. In fact, the author of this report recommends grazing be ramped up a bit on the reclaimed <br /> land. The current grazing lessee has proven very well that they respect the land and treat it well in their <br /> management. The prairie lands look so much better now than they did when the prior lessee was <br /> grazing(overgrazing?) the property and rapidly degrading everything. Having a bit more grazing on the <br /> reclaimed lands will ultimately improve the total cover on the land which will reduce erosion and also <br /> reduce sedimentation into Coal Creek that damages the wetlands. The principle is that if the wetlands <br /> are having trouble with sediment burying them look at the uplands that dump into the stream channel. <br /> Often improving uplands is a better solution to fixing degrading wetlands than taking action in the <br /> stream channel itself. <br /> MINING ACTIVITY IN THE LAST YEAR: None. <br /> RECLAMATION ACTIVITY IN THE LAST YEAR: <br /> 1. Climatic summary of previous year- Please see earlier discussion on the climate. That pretty <br /> well sums it up. <br /> Status report for 2020 due July 15, 2020 Page 2 of 4 <br />