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REVEGETATION STANDARDS • w~erra~ve~_ xemae¢veezexcaxrcu~xscxaaGwaa'ax'saxaeaexeA¢u:;~xax::aeawxxaraaravsozr.Fransz.tt~.vxiraxrac;a~aexrauea;amm.'Frw-.:~au Coal regulations require the establishment of a diverse vegetative community on reclaimed mine lands. Consequently, species diversity must be evaluated on revegetated lands before bond release. The Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Division (CMLRD) recommends using a simple comparison to demonstrate success in establishing a diverse vegetative community (CMLRD 1988). This comparison involves assessing species composition, life form, and seasonality between pre-mine communities and the revegetated area. Important components of these diverse commiir~ities include species diversity, cover, production, and shrub density. SPECIES DIVERSITY STANDARD Kaiser used the CMLRD-recommended metltod to establish the species diversity criterion for the Chimney Rock Mine. Briefly, this method involves determining the number of perennial herbaceous species contributing greater than 3 percent production or relative cover in the pre-mine data for each affected community. The species in this group are used to determine the number of species and the seasonal growth patterns and life forms of each species to be established on the reclaimed area. To ensure that no one species dominates the stand and inhibits other desirable species, a maximum allowable relative cover value is also established. For any one species, this maximum value would be the relative cover value • of the most dominant species in the pre-mine communities. For example, the pre-mine data from a hypothetical mine consist of the following species and relative cover values: • A~pyron smithii 30°l0 ® Bromus inermis 60% • Poa pratensis 2% • Melilotus officinalis 8% The species diversity standard would be the establishment of at least 2 cool season grasses and 1 perennial fbrb with relative cover values of at least 3 percent and less than 60 percent. According to the CMLRD, success can be evaluated in two ways. First, the evaluation can be based on direct comparison between a particular pre-mine community and corresponding parcel of reclaimed land. Thr, second method involves a weighted average comparison based on the relative acreage occupied by all the various vegetation communities before disturbance. Kaiser chose to use the direct community to parcel comparison approach because the disturbed communities are sufficiently different to warrant separate treatment. • 2