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• II. Areas Included in this Request The earliest mining that is covered by a reclamation bond is the lower part of "east ridge" (i.e. the western part of the northern most area shown on Map 1). In this area, the pits ran north-south and progressed up the ridge to the east. in the earliest area, the peaks have been struck In compliance with the re ulations and the area was seeded by aerial application. The informa~lon available to us shows there is no vegetation success criteria for this area, although, the grasses are established and doing well. A study of vegetative cover and production, on spoil material on East Ridge (areas B and C, Map 1) In comparison to topsolled areas, was Included In Section 4.4.6 of the Edna Mine permit application. In summary, vegetative cover on the spoil was 31 percent and production of grasses was 74 grams per square meter. The exact area covered by the early bonds Is not known since both our copies and the MLRD°s copies of the maps that show these areas have been misplaced. Therefore, the approximate areas were estimated using the pit location maps and the acreages shown on the bonds. That is, the areas shown on the maps agree with the acerages shown on the bonds and are In the right location, to the best of our knowledge. These areas meet the applicable bond release criteria so we are requesting that they be released. Although the Open Cut Land Reclamation Act of 1973 expanded the rules • under which mining and reclamation was conducted, the bond release criteria were the same as far as revegetation was concerned. Grading, however, could not leave slopes too steep to be traversed by livestock. The areas reclaimed under these regulations go beyond this since they actually achieve a land form similar to the pre-mining conditions with the spoil pile appearance completely eliminated. These areas are, therefore, also ready for bond release. The rules under the 1973 Act were revised fn 1976 with the revised rules becoming effective February 25, 1976. Grading must now be physically attractive and revegetatlon standards were expanded. The grading standard was already being met at the Edna Mine as noted above, however, no seeding occurred under this law since the rules under the 1976 Act came Into force in July 1976. All of the areas covered by these three crlterla are shown together on the map since their criteria are indistinguishable under field conditions (Area D, Map 1). Also, under the conversion to the "Life of Mine" permit, all of the Individual annual bonds for these areas were combined into the one bond for the new permit, thus eliminating their Individual identities. Under these regulations, the operator could substitute an equivalent number of acres of reclamation of other mined land for areas that could not be reclaimed under these standards. The Edna Mine has voluntarily reclaimed prelaw mined areas as shown on the map that are beyond the requirements of the regulations but are done to their standards (Area B, Map 1). •