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• vegetative community is established, controlled grazing can be beneficially utilized to <br />enhance vegetative diversity and increase production. The ultimate goal of reclamation is to <br />restore a native plant community similar to that, which existed prior to disturbance. <br />Extensive research in the field of range management has focused on methods of eradicating <br />woody plants and establishing grasses. One of the major concerns in dealing with mined <br />land reclamation centers on the dominance of grasses and the difficulty of reestablishing <br />forbs and woody plants. Controlled grazing in the mid-to- later stages of development of the <br />vegetative community can limit dominance of grassy species and promote woody plant <br />establishment. EFCI anticipates that three (3} to four (4) years after permanent seeding, <br />controlled grazing may be utilized on reclaimed lands to increase diversity and production <br />and alter any negative trends. When it becomes desirable to implement such a program, <br />EFCI will submit specific plan details to the CMLRD in the form of a technical revision for <br />review and approval. <br />4.15.6 FIELD TRAILS <br />EFCI does not plan to conduct any field trails in conjunction with planned reclamation <br />operations. <br />4.15.7 DETERMINING REVEGETATION SUCCESS: GENERAL REQUIREMENTS <br />AND STANDARDS <br />The ultimate success of revegetation for both the mine and loadout areas will be evaluated <br />utilizing comparative data collected from reclaimed and reference areas. <br />EFCI will monitor revegetated azeas at intervals of three (3), seven (7), nine (9) and ten (10) <br />years after initial vegetative reesstablishment and will compare the resulting data with similar <br />data collected from corresponding reference areas. The comparative evaluation will be used <br />to identify any potential areas of concems allowing adjustments in post-reclamation <br />management plans to achieve desired revegetation objectives. <br />• <br />TR-34 4.15-4 Revised 8/02 <br />