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<br />EXHIBIT J -- VEGETATION INFORMATION <br />(1) Vegetative narrative-- the site is primarily a granite gneiss rock outcrop area relief and <br />sparse vegetation, dominated by juniper/ pinon trees at densities of 30 trees/ acr<:, low <br />growing shrubs such as brickle brush, three leaf sumac, and squaw current. Sev~~ral cacti <br />species such as cholla, prickly pear, and drum type cacti dominate the near surface <br />vegetation. In the limited lower slope areas where a soil horizon of sorts has de~~eloped, <br />native grasses such as needle and thre~,'blue grama, side oats grama, red three-awn, and <br />Indian rice-grass can be found. Other shrubs found on the site include winterfat, four- <br />wing saltbrush, mountain mahogany (upper areas of affected land), and tall rabbitbrush. <br />Overall plant densities are generally less than 15% ground cover, with the exception of <br />the area directly North of the existing permitted mining area. Here, the vegetati~m is <br />more predominantly tree cover due to the "soil" being coarse alluvium material derived <br />from the steep slope granite outcrops to the west. Ground cover may approach 25% in <br />this area, with a relatively heavier occurrence of the pinon and one seed juniper ,end <br />grass/cacti/shrub understory. Yellow Sweetclover occurs as an aggressive invader on <br />disturbed areas, along with rabbitbrush and other forb/weed species. <br />The estimates for rangeland carrying capacity are very low, in the range of one cow/calf <br />unit per forty acres of revegetated land. This is due to low moisture conditions «nd lack <br />of surface water at this site. The retention ponds may actually induce an improvement in <br />soil moisture conditions locally in the SWMP area and supporting grasses more suitable <br />for open graze usage. <br />(2) Please refer to the Reclamation and mining maps for the relations of types of <br />vegetation to topography. (a) The highwall areas on the western border of the m fining <br />zone will have no vegetation. (b) The area directly north of the existing permitted mining <br />area will have a native mix of trees, shrubs, and grasses of at least 25% ground cover <br />reflecting species presently found at the site, and the main pit area not included in the <br />highwall area, will be topsoiled and revegetated to a mixture of trees, shrubs and grasses <br />per the reclamation plan, with a final ground cover goal of 25%. <br />16 <br />