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3.1.2 Total Herbaceous Production <br /> Mean total herbaceous production within the Reclamation Areas in 2019 was 217.13 g/m2 <br /> (1935 lb/ac). <br /> 3.1.3 Species Composition <br /> Cover sampling identified three lifeforms and thirty-seven plant species within the <br /> reclamation areas. <br /> The lifeforms included seven species of perennial grass, one annual grass, twenty-one <br /> perennial forbs, one biennial forb, three annual forbs, and four perennial woody plants. Of <br /> the species encountered on the reclaimed areas, twenty-seven were native and ten were <br /> introduced. Perennial species outnumbered annual species by thirty-two to four, with one <br /> biennial species. All species were cool season. The woody plants were all perennial and <br /> deciduous. <br /> Quantitative vegetation cover sampling this year revealed nine species contributing greater <br /> than three percent relative cover. Those species included four perennial grasses, four <br /> perennial forbs, and one woody shrub. The species and their relative cover included <br /> Agropyron smithii (23.50%), Bromus marginatus (18.67%), Agropyron dasystachyum <br /> (12.27%), Astragalus cicer (10.05%), Poa pratensis (5.61%), Artemisia tridentate (4.44%), <br /> Aster glaucodes (3.79%),Achillea lanulosa(3.39%), and Penstemon linarioides (3.26%). <br /> Fourteen additional native forb species were encountered in the cover sampling accounting <br /> for an additional 10.6 percent relative cover and 37.8 percent of the total number of plant <br /> species sampled. Three additional native graminoids provided an additional 0.65 percent <br /> relative cover and 8.1 percent of the total number of species encountered. The three <br /> additional woody species accounted for 0.52 percent of the relative cover and 8.1 percent of <br /> the total number of species. <br /> Fourteen of the native forb species encountered and the four woody species encountered <br /> were volunteers (not in the seed mix), accounting for 48.6 percent of all species sampled. <br /> This indicates that the reclamation practices employed are favorable for re-establishment of <br /> volunteer species from adjacent undisturbed areas. <br /> 3.2 COMPARISON OF RECLAIMED AREAS WITH FINAL REVEGETATION <br /> SUCCESS CRITERIA <br /> Comparison of the reclaimed areas values for total vegetation cover, total herbaceous <br /> production, and species composition with the final revegetation success criteria indicates <br /> whether revegetation has been successful and compliant with requirements for Phase III bond <br /> release. <br /> CDRMS Rule 3.03.1(2) provides for release of bond, "upon the establishment of <br /> vegetation which supports the approved post-mining land use and which meets the approved <br /> success standard for cover pursuant to 4.15.8..." The tables below allow the comparison of <br /> Mountain Coal Company,LLC West Elk Mine Page 8 <br /> 2019 Vegetation Report:West Bench,Sylvester Gulch,Shaft Canyon Road,and Saddle Road Reclamation Areas <br />