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Vegetation Sampling at the <br /> Rockcastle Coal Company's <br /> Grassy Gap Mines <br /> October, 1989 <br /> IMS Inc. sampled vegetation at five reclaimed pits and a reference area at the Grassy <br /> Gap mines near Hayden, Colorado on October 2 through October 4, 1989. The <br /> purpose of the sampling was to characterize vegetation re-established on mined lands <br /> with respect to revegetation success criteria. Thomas A. Colbert was the project <br /> manager for this project; Steve Viert was field supervisor. Assisting in the sampling <br /> were Steve Long and Steve Johnson. <br /> Revegetation success criteria for herbaceous production, total vegetation cover, and <br /> species diversity are specified in the permit application for the Grassy Gap mines. <br /> There is no success criterion required at the Grassy Gap mines for woody plant <br /> density. Sampling methods are also given in the permit application. <br /> Sampling Methods <br /> IMS discussed sampling methods with Cathy Begej of the Division of Mined Land <br /> Reclamation prior to the beginning of field work. These were subsequently clarified <br /> in a memo. For vegetation cover, a transect method was proposed in lieu of a quadrat <br /> method used in the vegetation baseline inventory. This method is more in <br /> conformance with the Division's technical guideline for vegetation sampling. The <br /> Division approved this change. <br /> Five reclaimed pits (Pit nos. 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6) and one reference area were sampled. <br /> Pits range in size from about ten acres to about 35 acres. The reference area is about <br /> 2.5 acres. All of the pits had been graded, covered with topsoil and seeded to a <br /> mixture of grasses and forbs some years ago. Each area was sampled separately to <br /> allow separate determination of sample adequacy and revegetation success. Sample <br /> locations were randomly selected using randomly generated grid coordinates overlain <br /> on a topographic map. <br /> Herbaceous production was determined by harvesting current year's herbaceous <br /> vegetation from meter-square quadrats. Harvested material was separated by life <br /> form (grasses and forbs) and weighed. A representative number of samples were <br /> oven dried to determine moisture content. All green (field) weights were <br /> subsequently converted to oven-dry weights. <br /> Vegetation cover transects were located in conjunction with production quadrats. <br /> Transects were 10 meters long. Azimuths from the point of beginning of each <br />