2021-11-23_INSPECTION - C1981010

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Parcels A-13-09 and A-13-09 Oak are located adjacent to the main haul road and a large rip-rapped drainage ditch, on the north facing slope under power lines (Photos 15 & 16). The vegetation was firmly established with tall grasses and mixed pockets of sage and shorter bunch grasses. We passed through the area immediately south of the ditch, outside of the inspection area,to access these parcels to be inspected. tq er f fir PIK Photo 15 Photo 16 Just before our final inspection of the designated parcels was complete, we stopped at the Pyeatt pond (Photo 17) area which was being cleaned out with an extended boom backhoe. Following our inspections of the A-13-9 parcels, we stopped to look into the last pit being mined with the ,s- dragline, as well as the pit being set up to be re-mined using the Add-Car High-Wall mining system. Our final stop was to the storage area south of the mine office where the Add-Car equipment was being readied for use. We then had a brief closeout meeting and departed the mine at about 4:30 p.m. Photo 17 Conclusion: The vegetation observed throughout the lands under consideration of the SL-23 bond release showed well- established and self-supporting plant populations in various stages of succession consisting of a wide variety of grasses,forbs, and shrubs. The grading rolled smooth and consistent throughout the parcels with stable slopes, and any observed rilling was very minor. Game and livestock trails appeared throughout the reclaimed parcels and showed recent activity as evidenced by scat and tracks. DRMS will analyze the sampling data collected in 2020 and 2021 to determine if the vegetation surveys properly support Phase III bond release. Also,the DRMS inspector has been notified of the grey-soiled area in parcel F-AB-09 for any needed follow-up. 5