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. reclaimed areas will have only received associated disturbances during mining activities. The associated disturbance relates to topsoil removal forthe location of roads, stockpiles, facilities, and regrading activities during reclamation. These areas were not flood irrigated prior to mining because of shallow soils, rock outcrops, and topography. Since these areas will remain basically unchanged in terms of topography, they will not be irrigated in the postmine land use except as noted for vegetation establishment. The establishment of a dryland pasture type is consistent with both the pre- and postmining land uses in the area and best reflects that which is attainable under the expected site conditions and management potential. The production standard for the dryland pasture type for the New Horizon 2 area will be based on the dryland pasture reference area established in 1999 and described in sec. 2.04.10. The dryland pasture reference area is shown in Attachment 2.05.4(2)(e) - 2. The areas reclaimed to dryland pasture in the New Horizon 2 area will have acceptable herbaceous production and cover when the reclaimed area is not less than 90 percent of the reference area with 90 percent statistical confidence. See Section 2.04.10, Tables 2.04.10-30 and 31. WFC will suspend grazing of dryland pasture (if any occurs) two years prior to the vegetation . sampling time frame to ensure no interference with sampling. In addition, WFC will work with Zene Wiemer the BLM permitee on the dryland pasture reference area to defer grazing until after sampling has occurred to ensure that the reference area and the WFC dryland pasture area are in as similar condition as possible. Production yield (tons per acre per year) for Dryland Pasture will be determined by a random sampling method. This system will consist of: 1) Gridding the entire dryland pasture reclaimed field(s) being considered for bond release on a 50 foot by 50 foot pattern. The grid blocks will be sequentially numbered from the upper northwest corner to the lower southeast of each field. Only whole blocks will be numbered for the purpose of use in the random generator discussed below. If there are separate fields, then the block numbers will be combined into one data base. 2) The total acreage of the dryland pastureland being considered for production yield will be measured and one sample will be taken for every four acres of field. For example, if the study • (Revised 2/00) Attachment 2.05.4(2)(e)- 24