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r~ <br />U <br />2. Native Grassland Community <br />As mentioned above, this community type is somewhat <br />arbitrarily defined. It has probably resulted from exposure to <br />slightly different management techniques (or herbicide success <br />results) from strict sagebrush rangeland areas. However, to <br />fulfill the law, it was decided to separate it out and to establish <br />a native grassland reference area. The main community occurs in <br />four portions within the disturbance area, as noted on the enclosed <br />map. Finding a matching reference area was complicated because <br />this community type is largely restricted to the area that will be <br />disturbed. Furthermore, where native grassland was found in areas <br />that will not be mined or impacted by mining activities, it was <br />often in quantities less than two acres or of marginal quality. <br />. However, two areas were selected that, when used in combination, <br />statistically mirror the cover, production, and woody stem density <br />parameters of the main community. <br />The native grassland community is dominated by <br />needle-and-thread grass. In the main community, it contributed <br />56.5 ~ of the relative vegetative cover. The reference area did <br />not have as even a species composition, with needle-and-thread <br />composing 78.3 ~ relative cover. The main community was dominated <br />by the same six perennial grass species that were found in the <br />understory of the sagebrush areas. Overall, they contributed 82.0$ <br />of the vegetative cover. Reference area sampling did not encounter <br />galleta or Indian ricegrass (though they were seen and thus are <br />- 10 - <br />• <br />