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• This disturbed area is called Vegetation Sampling Area 2 and will be sampled separately. This area was reclaimed under Regulation 4.15.8. The reclaimed irrigated hayland is called Vegetation Sampling Area 3 and will have separate standards for irrigated hay. New Drvland Pasture Reference Area The previous sagebrush reference area is located on a hill north of the New Horizon 2 Mine and south of the New Horizon 1 reclaimed area. This reference area is a native stand of shrubland dominated by big sagebrush. In the summer of 1999, a site meeting was conducted with Dan Mathews of the DMG with Jim Irvine, vegetation consultant and Ross Gubka, mine engineer to locate a new dryland pasture reference area that would be much more representative of the actual mined reclaimed dryland pasture since the reference area would be comprised of primarily perennial grasses. The area selected is shown on the map of the following page. The site west of the Nucla-Naturita Airport was select for several reasons. First, the land is owned by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The BLM was willing for WFC to establish a 3 acre dryland pasture reference area adjacent to their existing dryland pasture reference area in exchange for sharing data on the site. WFC agreed to share whatever data they collected with the BLM. Secondly, the selected site was on a mesa top similar to the New Horizon 1 and II permit areas. Most of the mesa had been chained, plowed, disked and seeded to crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum) approximately 25 years ago. The crested wheat was well established and has received only light to moderate grazing pressure according to the BLM and the Permittee (Zene Wiemer). The site also is at approximately the same elevation and receives the same precipitation as the study area. For the 1999 study period, the BLM reference plot was sampled for cover, production and woody stem density. The BLM agreed to allow 10 randomly placed 1 square meter range enclosure cages to be placed on the site for future reference and sampling. The dryland reference area occurs on shallow soils similar to those found in soil map unit 98C. In 1999, no cattle grazing had occurred according to BLM and the permitee. All grazing up to the time of sampling was by wildlife. • Revised 6/10/00 22-13