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• spoil. Texture of spoil is loam and clay loam in topsoil. Phosphorus and pH aze the only two soil properties that appear to be different between topsoil and spoil. In summary, topsoil and spoil were found to have favorable chazacteristics for plant growth, with the possible exception of phosphorus. However, plant growth from previous reclamation efforts has not shown evidence of phosphorus defidencies and so it has been assumed that phosphorus levels are adequate, Seneca II SpeciSc Plot Monitoring In July of each year (2000 through 2004) demonstration plots were sampled by DMG/CSU For vegetative cover by species, baze ground, rock and litter using apoint-intercept method. Sampling was stratified in the fenced and non-fenced azeas in order to examine the effects of game exclusion. Three 30-m transects were used and cover data was collected every one meter (90 cover points per plot). Only three plots at the Seneca Mine were divided into subplots by a fence. Shmb tubelings were planted in September of 2000 in select demonstration plots. To evaluate the success of this operation, survival of transplants was quantified during the vegetation sampling. Shmb survival within each demonstration plot was estimated by following rows of ttanspl:wts and scoring seedlings as either alive or dead. A minimum of 25% of the transplant rows within each plot was surveyed as such. During the vegetation sampling, voucher specimens of plant rasa were collected Eor positive identification and Eor archival in the Restoration Emlogy Lab Herbarium. Permanent photo reference points established in 2001 in each demonstration plot were photographed annually to • illustrate long-term changes in the vegetation. The decline or elimination of established shrubs in unfenced plots at Seneca between 2002 and 2004 will need to be followed over time to see if it is a real trend or an artifact of sampling (the low density of shrubs causes variance to be high). While shrub density is relatively low at Seneca, the shrubs aze very robust at this site as indicated by height measures (Figure 6 and Table 9 in Appendix A) due to the Eact that transplants were used. Shtvb tubelings planted in some of the plots continue to show high survival in 2004 (Appendix A, Table 16) and many flowering and fruiting shrubs were observed at this time. Among all of the mines, Seneca was the only location where the tall shrub species such as serviceberry and chokecherry became established. These species did not establish well Etom seeding on the other mines, whereas they did establish from the transplants at Seneca. The fall 2000 seeding at the Seneca mine appeazs to have been somewhat successful. Many of the seeded speces were encountered in some of the plots at Seneca in 2004 (Appendix A, Table 14). Invasive weeds such as yellow sweet clover and Japanese brome continue to dominate most plots. Russian thistle, which was a site dominant in 2003, was not found in 2004. It is likely that yellow sweet clover will not be a persistent problem, but Japanese brome and cheatgrass aze of concern. Fall application of herbicides, as is being done bi-annually at the mine, should help to reduce the threat from these species if they do become a serious problem in the demonstration plots. The fence treatment appears to have generally resulted in increased shrub density, average height and cover. This is especially apparent for preferred browse speces such as bitterbrush. Since deer, elk and antelope are known to browse shrub species, this is the expected result. Since browsing is an episodic phenomenon in these habitats, it is likely that the fencing treatment will become more significant with intteasing time as the chances for destructive browsing events increase with time. Continued monitoring of the plots on a biennial ar triennia] basis will be needed to gauge the true impact of fencing on shrub establishment over a more ecologically-relevant time frame. MR-52 ] 3-] 111 July 2005