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establishment of herbaceous species meeting or exceeding our expectations for the reclamation plan <br />• and the requirements of the postmining land use. Overall, cover and diversity generally appear <br />adequate throughout the various stands. <br />Please note that we separated the data by reclamation year for the purpose of monitoring interest. <br />Monitoring for bond release would not separate the reclamation areas by year, rather, all areas would <br />be combined together as one potential sampling block and randomly sampled. <br />C. WOODY PLANT DENSITY <br />During 1997 a comprehensive review of woody plant establishment was again conducted on fenced <br />and unfenced woody plant establishment areas. The data is summarized in xhi it 5. The data <br />continues to suggest that without the benefit afforded by the protection of the elk proof fenced <br />exclosures, woody plant establishment overall is below expectations. Woody plant establishment <br />• efforts continue to remain in direct conflict with the increased grazing pressure placed on the <br />reclaimed areas by large ungulate populations. Because of this severe impact from especially elk it is <br />evident that alternatives to the establishment ofwoody plants is warranted. The good news is that <br />clearly, based upon our observations of wildlife use on the reclaimed aeeas, valuable wildlife habitat <br />has indeed been reestablished on Colowyo reclaimed lands. <br />Colowyo has continued discussions with the DOW, BLM and CDMG to get beyond the notion that <br />the establishment ofwoody plants is the only measure of wildlife habitat enhancement. Colowyo also <br />participated in a tour ofthe mines in northwest Colorado with participants from CDMG, and other <br />Operators in attendance. The goal was to aid the Division in it's quest for a review ofwoody plant <br />establishment standards and techniques and to ultimately develop reasonable, attainable woody plant <br />standards in the future. We look forward to continued cooperation with the Division on this important <br />issue. <br />13 <br />