PERMFILE43327

• Permit No: C1981012
• IBM Index Class Name: Permit File
• Doc Date: 4/4/2003
• Section_Exhibit Name: Exhibit 36 1992 Reclamation Area Revegetation Success Study
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

3.0 Results
. appeaz to have had an appreciable effect on the overall productivity.
The Mine Permit established an herbaceous production standard for the Picketwire Mine.
Herbaceous production in reclaimed areas must equal or exceed 90 percent of the Reference Area at
the time of revegetation success analysis. To meet this standard, total production would have to
equal or exceed 468 Ibs/acre in 1999 and 2821bs/acre in 2001. Total production for the Survey Area
currently meets the production standazd from data collected in 2001.
3.3 SPECIES DIVERSITY
A standazd for species diversity is also established in the Mine Permit for the Picketwire Mine.
Species diversity is considered adequate when a reclaimed azea consists of a minimum of 2 cool
season grasses, 2 warm season grasses, and 1 forb. These species aze required to comprise at least 5
percent, and no more than 60 percent relative cover. Non-perennial species or noxious species
cannot be used to meet this standard.
Species diversity for the Survey Area met the standard for the cool season grass and perennial forb
categories. Cool season grasses comprised 43.6 percent (western wheatgrass) and 10.3 percent
(Arizona fescue) of the mean relative cover. Penstamon sp., a perennial forb, comprised 5.13 percent
of the mean relative cover. For warm season grasses, only blue gramma comprised more than 5
percent of the relative cover (5.64 percent). Other warm season grasses only comprised 1.5 (sideoats
• grama) and 2 percent (sand dropseed) of the mean relative cover.
The Survey Area may not meet the standard for warm season grasses because only one warm season
grass (blue gramma) was included in the Ponderosa Pine seed mixture. Blue gramma comprised
only 8 percent of this seed mixture. Warm season grasses were better represented in the Pinon-
Juniper seed mixture, comprising approximately 19.5 percent of the seed mixture. However, a fi8y-
fiftymixture of each seed mixture was used to seed the Survey Area. Once the seed mixtures were
combined, warm season grasses represented only i3.7 percent of the combined seed mixture. In
contrast, cool season grasses represented 70 percent of the combined seed mixture.
3.4 WOODY STEM DENSITY
Table 12 summarizes stem density data for the 13 surveyed transects located within the Survey Area.
Total woody stems per acre within the Survey Area ranged between 0 stems per acre (Transect 11)
to 5,842 stems per acre (Transect 3). The average number of woody stems pet acre for the Survey
Area was calculated to be 1,709. This average exceeds the standards established in the Mine Permit
for the New Elk Mineof 1,000 stems per acre.
3.5 SOILS
A total of 6 soil samples were collected and analyzed as part of this study. Soil sample collection
locations aze shown on Figure 3. The results of the agronomic analyses aze presented in Table 12
and aze discussed in the following sections.
Rev<getationSurveyReporo-RPr(626)RevLdodSeptember 6, 2001 t t