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The previous revegetation success criteria consists of the following: <br />A. Live Veeetative Aereal Cover : 6.13% <br />B. Herbaceous vegetation production of 1200 Ibs,~acre <br />C. Woody plant density of 1000 stems per acre <br />D. Species diversity such that 4 cool season grasses, 2 fortis and 1 shrub be established such that <br />no one species accounts for more than X10°'0 of the measured vegetative cover nor less than 3°0 of <br />the measured vegetative cover. <br />Reduction of the Meeker >ylines Technical Cover Standard <br />Detailed review of the original baseline vegetation study has shown that the cover determined for <br />each of the 3 vegetation communities -meadow, big sage and mountain shrub, counted annual <br />plants in the vegetative cover. Since the inclusuion of annuals is not allowed for revegetation <br />success, it should not be allowed for the original baseline study, which was used to determine the <br />cover standard. <br />• The following discussion is included in order to describe the methods and reasoning that have <br />gone into the request to change the cover standard that presently applies to the Meeker Area <br />Mines (C-81-032). The old standard, as identified above was 65.13%. 90% of this value is <br />58.62. This value was developed by using the baseline data collected for the Sagebrush and <br />Mountain Shrub affected communities, and then weighting these values in proportion to the <br />acreage that they made up out of the final disturbed area. The actual calculations are listed on <br />page M-12N of the approved permit. <br />The baseline study was flawed in two obvious ways. First, shrub cover and herbaceous cover <br />were collected independently of each other. Shrub cover was estimated using the line intercept <br />method. Herbaceous cover was estimated via "microplots" located along the transect. As <br />explained on page K-SA, <br />"Herbaceous cover was recorded from 25 'microplots' (20 x 50 cm) spaced at one meter intervals <br />along a 25 meter length transect. Shrub cover was estimated by measuring canopy and intercept <br />per species. One transect represented one sample. Inherent in this scientific system is the <br />possibility of shrub cover exceeding 100 percent. Herbaceous cover may also exceed 100 <br />percent by itself or herbaceous cover plus shrub cover may exceed 100 percent. This occurs <br />because the cover of each plant species is estimated separately irrespective of overlap, which <br />occurs when small plants grow under large ones." <br />Unfortunately, without resamp{ing the affected areas, which in large part remain unaffected, the <br />• Revised 8/16/96 <br />~~ ~~~ <br />