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Reclamation Success Standards <br />Seneca Coal Company proposes to determine revegetation success through the use <br />of reference areas in compliance with Rule 4.15.7. Seneca Coal Company proposes <br />to utilize [he concept of extended reference areas. The extended reference area <br />embodies all azea outside of the approved disturbance area yet within the mine permit <br />boundary. Seneca Coal Company has suitably demonstrated that the extended <br />reference azea is statistically representative of the pre-mine communities in the <br />proposed mine disturbance area. The minimum acreages available for the extended <br />reference area vegetation types will be: Aspen woodland-100 acres, Mountain Brnsh- <br />600 acres, Sagebrush-200 acres, and Mesic Drainage and Subirrigated Pasture-8 <br />acres. <br />Cover and production reclamation success standards will be based on comparison of <br />the reclaimed areas with the extended reference areas, in agreement with Rttle <br />4.15.7(3). Reclamation success standards for species diversity and woody plant <br />density shall be based on technical standazds agreed on between Seneca Coal <br />Company and the Division, as allowed by Rule 4. ] 5.7(2)(d)(i). <br />The cover standard will be calculated on an azea weighted basis, this method is in <br />compliance with Rule 4.15.7(4)(b). Only the three dominant vegetation types will <br />he utilized in the calculation to determine cover on the shrub grassland type <br />reclaimed communities. These three dominant types are: Mountain shrub, aspen <br />woodland, and sagebrush. The cover compazison standard for the reclaimed mesic <br />drainage areas will be based on the weighted average cover of the undisturbed mesic <br />drainage type and the improved pasture-subirrigated. Seneca Coa] Company has <br />proposed a cover standard of 35% for the haul road corridor. This proposal is in <br />agreement with Rule 4.15.7(2)(d)(iv). The vegetation types along the haul road <br />corridor are considered of minor significance in areal extent and are not considered <br />critical or unique habitat. The 35% cover standard is based upon weighted mean <br />cover data collected in pre-mine sampling of the sagebrush, western <br />wheatgrass/alkali sagebrush, alkali sagebrush/greasewood, and alkali meadow <br />vegetation types. <br />Success of vegetative cover in the shrub establishment areas will be compared to a <br />weighted average of the herbaceous cover on the three dominant vegetation <br />communities in the mine area.. The Division recognizes that the herbaceous cover <br />in the shrub areas may be less than that for the other parts of the mine. A reduction <br />in the herbaceous cover is intended to reduce competition and encourage the <br />establishment of shrubs and trees. <br />Reclamation success for production in the mine area will be evaluated by comparing <br />herbaceous production in the reclaimed area to the weighted herbaceous production <br />in the reclaimed areas to the weighted herbaceous production value determined from <br />the extended reference area. Herbaceous production will be estimated by clipping <br />Yoys~ Mme 33 March 6, ?001 <br />