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Cover standards for the SL4 application were discussed above in the Phase II section of this document. <br /> Vegetation Production <br /> The pre law area of the Strip Pit has no production standard. Herbaceous production for the post law area <br /> of the Strip Pit and the Utah Tract was measured by placing randomly located half meter circular plots <br /> along each cover transect. A minimum of 30 production plots were sampled. The plots were clipped by <br /> life forms as follows: <br /> Native Annual/Biennial Forbs Introduced Annual/Biennial Forbs <br /> Native Annual Grasses Introduced Annual Grasses <br /> Native Perennial Forbs Introduced Perennial Forbs <br /> Native Perennial Grasses and Graminoids Introduced Perennial Grasses <br /> Lichens,mosses,noxious weeds and shrub production were not clipped. Following clipping,the harvested <br /> plant material was oven dried and weighed to determine average production for the bond release blocks. <br /> For success, cover and production for the "post law" Strip Pit must be above 90% of the reference area <br /> herbaceous cover and production, with a 90% statistical confidence as per rule (Rule 4.15.11(2)(a)). The <br /> reverse null hypothesis is utilized should sample adequacy not be met, and a t test is employed should <br /> cover and/or production not achieve the 90% standard. <br /> For the Utah Tract Range Site A, a technical standard is utilized. For each of the last two years, <br /> herbaceous production must be greater than the 90%revegetation productivity success standard; 500.9 <br /> pounds per acre (lbs/acre), for years 2014 and 2015. For Range Site B production success is determined <br /> by comparison to Reference Area 3; 331.3 lbs/acre for 2014, and 433.6 lbs/acre in 2015. The total <br /> herbaceous production in the reference area in 2014 was 368.1 lbs/acre, and 481.8 lbs/acre in 2015. <br /> Woody Plant Density <br /> The pre law area of the Strip Pit has no woody plant density standard. For both the post law area of the <br /> Strip Pit and the Utah tract a minimum 30 samples is required along 50 in transects. All shrubs and <br /> subshrubs with root crowns located within the boundaries of 2 X 50 in quadrats(belt transects),were <br /> tallied according to species and life stage as either seedling,mature,or dead. The presence of dead <br /> individuals was recorded but did not contribute to woody plant density calculations. <br /> Woody plant density establishment is demonstrated when the entire Utah Tract area (range sites A and B <br /> combined) exceeds 90 percent of the 1,000 stems per acre standard. The Strip pit utilizes the same <br /> technical standard. <br /> Species Diversity <br /> In conjunction with cover sampling, species occurring within one meter of either side of the sample <br /> transect were recorded. Frequency of species observed is determined by dividing the number of transects <br /> Permit Number C1981044 Page 12 of 25 <br />