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Land Management (BLM), pursuant to Rules 4.27.4(4) and 2.06.5(2)(e), is included in Appendu K, of Volume IV, of the permit application. VIII. REVEGETATION Baseline vegetation information can be found in Section 4.3 of the application, and the revegetation plan is addressed in Section 3.4. Affected vegetation types include juniper woodland in the vicinity of the portal bench and upper road segment, shadscale shrubland along the middle segment of the portal haul road, and greasewood shrubland in the office, sediment pond, lower portal haul road, and McClane to Munger haul road areas. A separate seedmix will be planted upon final reclamation within each of the vegetation types, as delineated on Figure 3.1-1. Each of the seedmixes is composed of a diverse mix of warm and cool season grasses, fortis, and shrubs, the majority of which are native species. Issues raised by the Division during the review of RN-04 included clarification of the revegetation monitoring plan, adjustment of the species diversity standard, and a commitment to apply statistically valid techniques with respect to post-mine vegetation sampling and comparisons of revegetation success. These issues were satisfactorily resolved. The following specific findings are required. A. The Division proposes to approve the use of introduced species in the reclamation seed mix. The introduced species are desirable and necessary to achieve the approved post-mining land use, and are not poisonous or noxious (4.13.2(3)). Introduced species comprise less than 10% of the seeding rate on a seeds/sq.ft. basis, for each planting area. Approved introduced species are tall wheatgrass and Russian wildrye. B. The Division proposes to approve the use of clean straw or native hay mulch as a means to meet soil stabilisation requirements. The mulch will be crimped into the soil or anchored with degradable netting (4.13.4). C. Methods to measure vegetation cover, herbaceous production, species diversity, and woody plant density are discussed in Section 4.3 of the application. These techniques include point intercept for cover sampling, quadrat clipping for hethaceous production estimates, and quadrat stem counts for woody plant density estimates. The Division proposes to approve of these techniques (4.13.7(1)). Statistical methods employed in demonstrations of success will be consistent with the Division's bond release guideline. D. Comparisons between reclaimed and undisturbed areas, in order to demonstrate that success criteria of 4.13.8, 4.13.9, or 4.13.10 have been met, will be based on the following: Reference areas have been established for each designated vegetation type, and were originally proposed to be used for comparisons of both vegetation cover and herbaceous production. The reference areas have been approved for vegetation 26