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• Total Vegetation Cover <br />AR F~4 1987 198 8 1989 1990 199 1 199 2 199 3 1 9 9 4 <br />ALL 72.1 70. 9 48.1 60.2 65. 4 60 .1' 62 .6' 52 .8 <br />Wadge Pasture - - - 79. 1 70.6 65.4 78. 6 73. 2 77. 5 61 .0 <br />Wadge Pasture 9l --- -- - --- --- -- - 74. 5 64. 2 -- - <br />Mountain Br. Reference 89.8 85. 3 80.1 78.0 85. 7 74. 9 82. 2 63 .4 <br />Sagebrush Reference 88.0 76 .3 63.2 72.1 78. 6 70. 0 70 .4 66 .8 <br />' does not include Wadge Pasture '91 since no comparable area was <br />included in previous years' data. <br />Over this eight year period of record, it can be seen that there was an apparent peak of cover at <br />the beginning, after which a large sag corresponding to drought conditions occurred; after seven <br />years, and three years after the "end" of drought conditions, cover has yet to reach the 1987 <br />levels, and most recently has dropped again in response to the severe drought, heat, and <br />windiness of the 1994 growing season. Wadge Pasture, the only individual reclaimed area to be <br />sampled each year since 1988, has shown a similar pattern, but has stayed at a higher level <br />• than the overall average. <br />The 1989 average vegetation cover reflected a reduction of 24 percentage points from the <br />vegetation cover measured in 1987. The change in cover from 1987 to 1989 for the Sagebrush <br />Reference Area was nearly the same as the reclaimed areas (approximately 25 percentage <br />points). In 1990, the overall reclaimed area average rebounded by about 12 percent, while the <br />Sagebrush Reference Area recovered by 9 percent. In 1991, the Sagebrush Reference Area <br />cover increased by over 6 percent, while the reclaimed area average went up by about 5 <br />percent. In 1992, the Sagebrush Reference Area declined by about 11 percent while the overall <br />average dropped by about 8 percent. In 1993, the increase in cover in the reclaimed areas was <br />accompanied by a slight increase in the Sagebrush Reference Area and a rather large jump in the <br />Mountain Brush Reference Area. In 1994, the average reclaimed area cover declined by about <br />10 percent, while cover in the Sagebrush Reference Area declined by about 4 percent. Over the <br />period of record, there has been a clear pattern in which cover in the reclaimed areas has <br />varied similarly to the Sagebrush Reference Area. This, along with the prevalence of sagebrush <br />and snowberry, suggests successional development of reclaimed areas toward the Sagebrush <br />vegetation type. If reclaimed areas first achieve the greatest resemblance to the Sagebrush <br />25 <br />