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Section 780.18(bl Continued. • suppression activities, and drought, however, woody species have been able to displace herbaceous species in many areas. The woody plant density values indicated by both site baseline data and as summarized in the above table for existing reclaimed areas are higher than would generally be the case for non-impacted areas in North Park or for either non-impacted or previously impacted areas in Routt and Moffat Counties, to the west, where higher precipitation favors the herbaceous component. High baseline woody plant densities appear to reflect historic alteration of the ecological balance due to previous disturbance and land management practices. The high woody plant densities on reclaimed areas probably reflect Kerr's aggressive efforts to reestablish woody plants including a high percentage of woody plant species in the reclamation seed mixture, cross-seeding of woody plants, some shrub transplants, and controlled grazing to limit herbaceous competition. In the Kerr area, climatic, soil, and other conditions in North Park marginally favor heavy herbaceous growth on reclaimed areas. Under these conditions, establishment • of shrubs on reclaimed areas may be restricted by the success of herbaceous species seeded during the initial stages of revegetation for erosion control, forage production, and other reasons. Competitive limitations associated with the effectiveness of the distributed shrub reestablishment program previously proposed and implemented for the Kerr disturbance areas include both problems with establishment and re-invasion of shrub species and the progressive loss of shrubs carefully nurtured from seed or nursery stock due to continued vigorous herbaceous competition. The revised shrub establishment approach being proposed addresses both reestablishment of natural, healthy ecological relationships, with a dominant herbaceous component, and problems with effective long-term shrub reestablishment due to herbaceous competition. By establishing interspersed high and low density shrub stands and open meadows, herbaceous competition is minimized and open areas, with a dominant herbaceous component are preserved. To some extent, the surface disturbance and reclamation activities associated with Kerr's mining activities provide an opportunity to restore "pre-disturbance" conditions and a more healthy ecological balance. TR-19 780-78d Revised 12/99