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.00 <br /> In 2007, after years and many thousands of dollars of legal fees, the fair market value <br /> was set by the courts. The reservoir portion of the property now belongs to the City of <br /> Golden, but the t 24 acres still belongs to the Bucklands/Guanellas. <br /> Aggregate production ceased about 15 years ago. <br /> In 2013, the City attempted to revegetate the ± 24 acres of waste material without the <br /> aid of native topsoil and without the aid of supplemental water. <br /> In 2017, the MLRB released 110 acres (the reservoir portion) of the 139•acre permit. <br /> Twenty-four of the remaining 29 acres is the subject of this memo. Some of the land <br /> was senselessly contaminated with salt from storing salted sand on the bare ground. <br /> The City is presently in the process of remediating that portion of the site. <br /> This situation is unjust and unfair because even though mining has long since ceased, <br /> the site is still governed by a reclamation/mining permit and the Bucklands/Guanellas <br /> cannot freely use their own land. This cannot be allowed to go on indefinitely. <br /> In 2021, the Bucklands/Guanellas hired me to determine and document the quality of <br /> the vegetation on the 24-acre site. Vegetative cover and diversity are the key factors <br /> reflecting the quality of a stand of vegetation. <br /> The following are the methods and results of the sampling: <br /> Introduction and Methods <br /> Vegetation studies were conducted on 24 acres of land still included in the mining <br /> permit. The site was measured at the peak of the growing season on July 20, 2022. <br /> The intent was to determine the quality of the vegetation. <br /> Vegetative cover was determined using the Point Intercept Method with the aid of a <br /> scope. This method provides accurate and reproducible results. <br /> Transects: Four random 50-meter transects were measured on the site. Statistical <br /> significance was not an objective and small areas of exceptionally good or bad <br /> revegetation were considered inconsequential. Representativeness was the objective. <br /> Transects were laid out with a meter tape. Transects were located randomly throughout <br /> the site. The goal was to measure the vegetation at the approximate peak of the <br /> growing season. Photos of the site are attached at the end of the report. <br /> Cover: The two types of vegetative cover commonly measured are Absolute Cover and <br /> Relative Cover. Absolute Cover measurements reflect overlap of leaves and, in a heavy <br /> growth area, can sum to values greater than 100 percent. Relative Cover values reflect <br /> 2 <br />