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species were cool season. Eleven of the woody plants were deciduous, and two were <br />evergreen. The character of one unknown forb was undetermined. <br />3.2 QUANTITATIVE EVALUATION: POST-SMCRA RECLAIMED AREAS <br />The eligible post-SMCRA reclaimed areas within this report have been reclaimed for a <br />minimum of nine years. Specific vegetation information for the post-SMCRA reclaimed areas <br />is contained in Tables 1, 3, and 5. <br />3.2.1 Total Vegetation Cover: Post-SMCRA Reclaimed Areas <br />Thirty-two quantitative cover samples were collected in the post-SMCRA reclaimed areas <br />eligible for Phase III bond release. Total mean vegetation cover of the post-SMCRA reclaimed <br />areas was 65.25 percent. Graminoids provided 38.00 percent mean vegetation cover and 58.02 <br />percent relative vegetation cover, forbs accounted for 24.06 percent mean vegetation cover <br />(35.68% relative cover), and woody species contributed 3.19 percent mean vegetation cover <br />and 6.30 percent relative cover. <br />The most frequently encountered species was Agropyron smithii (western wheatgrass), present <br />in 72 percent of the 32 transects sampled for vegetation cover. Poa sandbergii (Sandberg <br />bluegrass) was sampled in 66 percent of all transects. Bromus marginatus (mountain brome) <br />was present in 56 percent of transects. All other species were encountered in fewer than fifty <br />percent of the vegetation cover transects. <br />Within the post-SMCRA reclaimed areas the perennial native grass Agropyron smithii was <br />dominant, contributing 12.25 percent total vegetation cover and 18.33 percent relative cover. <br />Poa sandbergii contributed the second highest vegetation cover, with 8.31 percent total mean <br />cover (12.36% relative cover). Bromus marginatus contributed the third highest cover, with <br />7.25 percent total mean cover and 10.97 percent relative cover. Remaining species <br />contributing significant vegetation cover (> 2% relative cover) were; Onobrychis viciafoliae <br />(sainfoin) providing 4.00 percent mean vegetation cover (6.71% relative cover), Achillea <br />lanulosa (yarrow) contributing 2.44 percent mean vegetation cover and 3.85 percent relative <br />vegetation cover, Astragalus cicer (cicer milkvetch) with 2.00 percent total mean vegetation <br />cover and 3.60 percent relative vegetation cover, Agropyron spicatum (bluebunch wheatgrass) <br />contributing 2.25 percent total mean cover (3.44% relative cover), Elymus cinereus (Great <br />Basin wildrye) providing 1.63 percent total vegetation cover (3.27% relative cover), <br />Agropyron dasystachyum (thickspike wheatgrass) accounting for 1.81 percent total cover and <br />2.62 percent relative cover, and Aster chilensis (aster), Medicago sativa (alfalfa), and Poa <br />bulboua (bulbous bluegrass) each contributing 2.13 percent relative cover and 1.63, 1.50, and <br />1.44 percent total mean vegetation cover, respectively. <br />Vegetative litter (prior years growth, dead wood, and other biologic organic material) <br />comprised 22.25 percent ground cover overall within the post-SMCRA reclaimed areas. Bare <br />soil comprised 9.06 percent of the ground cover. Rock accounted for 3.44 percent of the <br />ground cover sampled. <br />Oxbow Mining, LLC Elk Creek Mine Page 7 <br />2019 Phase III Bond Kelease Po5t-5MCKA Vegetation Report <br />