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Wes(Elk ILfine <br />Shrub Species Stems/Acre <br />Streambank Willow 250 <br />Narrowleaf Cottonwood 200 <br />River Birch 250 <br />Hawthorn 50 <br />Wood's Rose 250 <br /> 1000 <br />Grass and forbs species will be hand broadcast at twice the above rate and shrubs and trees will be <br />hand planted from container or cutting stock. <br />Success of this riparian buffer zone revegetation effort will be measured against the Wildlife Shmb <br />Cluster success criteria noted in Table 41 using the same sampling methods noted. <br />Evaluation of Reclamation Success <br />Reclaimed Area Revegetation Success <br />During the initial permitting of the West Elk Mine in 1980 and 1981, revegetation success was <br />proposed to be based on two reference areas established in Sylvester Gulch. Since two vegetation <br />communities were initially disturbed during the construction of surface facilities at the West Elk <br />Mine, a dry meadow reference area and an oakbmsh reference area were established. The reference <br />• areas were to be used for evaluation of total vegetation cover and herbaceous production during <br />revegetation evaluations for bond and liability release. Total vegetation cover and total herbaceous <br />production from the reference areas were to be compazed with like mean parameter values from the <br />reclaimed and revegetated areas. <br />Subsequent to the initial permitting of the mine, evaluation of the reference area concept occurred <br />in the regulatory, mining, and academic communities. Concerns arose with the long-term <br />management and maintenance of reference areas, as well as their compazability to the expected (and <br />observed) post-mining vegetation communities. Several options for development of revegetation <br />success criteria existed in addition to reference areas, but technical standard and historic record <br />approaches had not been pursued by industry or regulatory authorities, and involved unspecified <br />commitments to data acquisition. <br />In 1995, the West Elk Mine began planning for expansion of the mine facilities, including a second <br />refuse pile and ventilation and coal storage facilities. As a result of these projects, additional <br />vegetation communities would be disturbed at the mine. Location, establishment, and maintenance <br />of reference areas for each vegetation community disturbed or affected was no longer a viable <br />option for determining revegetation success criteria. An evaluation of technical standard and <br />historic record approaches to establishing vegetation success criteria for total vegetation cover and <br />herbaceous production was undertaken. <br />• <br />2.05-64 Revised Nov. 1996 PR07; <br />