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• of better forage potential at your mine than at most of the other mines in the region where grazing has been practiced under less favorable moisture regimes. I would add that the good to outstanding livestock performance evident in mined land grazing trials thus far has been accompanied, in nearly every case that I am aware of, by demonstrated ability of vegetation to not only withstand but often benefit from proper grazing use. 21 To decrease standing dead aboveground biomass/litter. Results of my personal research in Montana certainly support this as a feasible (and highly desirable) goal. Our findings suggested that the significant reduction of undecomposed plant litter achievable with grazing was a major cause of enhanced soil development and carbon:nutrient cycling, which in turn may have contributed to the improved plant vigor noted in grazed as compared to ungrazed pastures. Thus, proper grazing may prove a valuable means of improving the "health" and preventing the stagnation of plant-soil systems on reclaimed lands. 3) To enhance plant species diversity. My research in Montana certainly indicated that proper grazing may be employed as one means of promoting vegetation diversity by virtue of modifying competitive interactions among species and physically opening plant communities for expansion of subdominant or rarer plant species. It should be recognized, however, that grazing alone may not prove sufficient for acceptably accelerated improvement of diversity of initially rather simple plant communities on • mined lands. If you have a "problem" with low diversity, I would suggest you implement grazing in combination with other enhancement practices !such as interseeding). 4) To improve soil nutrient cycling via livestock dung. I would suspect, from knowledge of past research on rangelands, that this may prove a relatively insignificant benefit of grazing unless excessive stocking rates are practiced (which, of course, might negatively impact vegetation). Again, my opinion is that grazing can significantly enhance nutrient cycling, but that the major benefits will accrue through effects on plant litter, a portion of which will be physically added to the soil carbon/nutrient pool through trampling. 5) To increase woody plant establishment by reducing herbaceous competition. The experimental evidence on this objective is currently inconclusive, largely because shrubs were minor ornon-existent components of most reclaimed pastures where past grazing research has been conducted. I nonetheless feel that this is a logical objective worth evaluating, in light of the recognized sensitivity of seedlings of many shrubs to excessive herbaceous competition and the expansion of shrubs coincident with grazing-induced suppression of herbs often noted on rangelands. However, meeting this objective may depend in part upon the palatability and, hence, degree of livestock utilization of the specific shrub species present or introduced to the site, and their capability to withstand utilization if and when it occurs. For example, preliminary, • unpublished results of our current grazing trial in Wyoming (see Moore et al. 1989 for project description) suggest that fourwing saltbush and winterfat may be somewhat