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planting program in association with regeneration and reinvosion that will occur as part of the successional patterns of the native plant communities. A combination of direct haul topsoiling and The proximity of undisturbed native plant communi- tieswill provide the basis for these successional trends. Natural catastrophes such as fire or disease that occur in the mountain brush type can effectively remove a large amount of the native vegetation and thus set the community back to some early seral state of succession. While mining impacts are more severe because of greater disturbance, the general pattern of being set back to some early seral state with eventual community development to a stable state is similar to plant communities impacted by natural causes. At the Seneca II Mine, primary succession will occur on spoils thot were not topsoiled and second- ary succession will take place on areas with direct hauled topsoil. While primary succession on the spoils wil{ take longer Than secondary succession on topsoiled areas because of soil development processes and the heavy amount of introduced species, it will nevertheless take place and will be enhanced when livestock are grazed. METHODS In order to document the extent of reinvosion and natural regeneration of shrubs and further understand the successional processes that are occurring in reclaimed areas, it is proposed that shrub densities be estimated and shrub species be identi- fled in several different types of reclamation at Seneca. Three types of reclama- tion will be studied: (I) spoils that have been graded but not topsoiled; (2) spoils that have been graded and topsoiled from topsoil stockpiles; and (3) spoils that have been graded and have had topsoil direct hauled from topsoil stripping areas. The sampling area and sample site locations are shown on the attached map. The following is a breakdown of the sample site designations, sample size, acres, and color code for areas to be sampled. -2-