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' 5.2.1 Revegetation Success Criteria <br />' The revegetatioo standard that is best suited for judging the success of reclamation efforts for <br />the Yankee Gulch Project is total plant cover. To establish total cover success standards, the <br />average potential productivity associated with the range site descriptions and their respective <br />' soil series found within the proposed disturbance have been transformed into total plant cover <br />standards (Table 13) using aproductivity-plant cover nomograph (Figure 14). Data used to <br />develop the nomograph was taken from studies of revegetated lands associated with oil shale <br />development in the Piceance basin (Redente 1980 & 1981, Sabey 1980 & 1981). The total <br />' plain cover success standards values in the table have been adjusted for vegetation age and soil <br />handling impacts. Productivity values expected under normal precipitation paaems for mature <br />vegetation communities that are properly managed in good or better condition have been used. <br />' Cover values have been derived for each range site using the following methodology: <br />1) The average productivity for the soils within each range site was obtained from the NRCS <br />soil surveys for the county. The productivity for the soils was averaged based upon the <br />number of soil series per range srte description and their estimated contribution to soil <br />reconstruction volumes. Actual contributions may be calculated and the standards adjusted <br />once the extent of disturbance is detemrined in the field. <br />' 2) A nomograph was plotted using expected productivity and associated total plant cover data <br /> taken during previous vegetation surveys performed within the Piceance basin (Figtrre 14). <br /> Festering the nomograph on the left-hand side with the productivity value for the soil, a <br />' percentage of total cover value may be obtained for a given range site. This value <br />i <br /> ty <br />represents the estimated average cover for a mature, well-managed vegetation commun <br /> for the given range site or soil series. <br />' 3) The derived mature vegetation community total cover value from the nomograph is adjusted <br /> for the less than mature growth stage of the revegetation at three to five years through <br />' multiplying by a factor of 0.5. <br /> 4) A soil productivity adjustment is made by multiplying by a factor of 0.8. This adjustment <br /> is made to compensate for impacts to soil structure resulting from salvage and <br />' reconstruction handling and volume losses, which affects productivity capability. <br /> The total plant cover success standard values presented in Table 13 have bcen derived using <br /> this methodology. It may become necessary to adjust these values for local conditions at the <br />' Yankee Gulch Project site because: <br />' the productivity values were derived from county-wide data; <br /> • field experience and only a limited data base were used to develop the productivity-cover <br /> nomograph relationship for this site), and <br />' the relationship between productivity and plant cover may vary significantly from one <br /> vegetation community to another. <br />' Adjustments may be accomplished by wnducting total cover calibration surveys io the range <br /> sites prior to their disturbance or io adjacent similar range sites following disturbance. <br />' A habit diversity goal has also been indicated for each range site (Table 13). For each range <br /> site, diversity goals have been set that represent the relative contribution of each plant habit <br />' American soda LLP. 5-11 <br /> $oil Cn69eM1'a110a Goslon and $edlmtnl <br /> Convol, rtclawuon and Revegeratiao Rm <br />' Onnber 28, 1998 <br />