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from 4.0 percent in the 1995 reclamation areas to 53.0 percent in the Osgood sand . reference area. 4.4 SPECIES COMPOSITION The Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology wnsiders species composition of the revegetated and reclaimed areas to be an indicator of successful vegetation establishment and a diverse vegetation community. A standard has been set by CDMG for the evaluation of speces composition at the Keenesburg Mme. To be judged successful, at final bond release, this standard requires that, "the species composition on the reclaimed area is such that there are at least seven perennial species of which four are warm season grasses and one is a fort. No one component of the above species should comprise greater than 40'/o relative importance nor less than 3% relative importance. Relative importance will be measured by calculating relative cover of the revegetation species. Vegetation species which may be used in the calculation of species composition may be any plant species not defined as a noxious or prohibited plant species, and may be native or introduced." A comparison of the 2003 speaes composition data with the revegetation success standard reveals that none of the reclamation areas or the Osgood sand reference area meet the final bond release species composition success standard. All areas sampled lack the requisite number of warn- season grasses, the required perennial fort, or under- or over-representation in terms of relative cover by one or more species. Species presence and represeirtation on the reference and reclaimed areas was generally slightly greater than enwuntered in 2002, probably attributable to increased precipitation (Table 14). The Osgood sand reference area contained two more species this year than in 2002, the 1995 and 1997 reclamation areas contained two and the same number of species respectively, and the 1998 reseeded or intersceded areas decreased in species numbers from nineteen in 2002 to fifteen this year, though this may be an artifact of decreased sampling in the 1998 areas this season. 4.5 COMPARISON OF VEGETATION COMMUNITIES: 1994-2003 Direct comparison of the 2003 monitoring data for the areas sampled with that of previous years can only be undertaken for a short time period (five to six years). Savage and Savage has monitored the Osgood sand reference area continuously since 1994. The 1985, 1986, and 1987 reclamation areas were monitored from 1994 through phase II bond release in 1998 (Savage and Savage, 1994-1998). The 1995 reclamation areas were initially monitored in 1998. Monitoring of the 1995 reclamation areas began in 1998, while initial quantitative monitoring of the 1997 reclamation areas and 1998 reseeded or interseeded areas began in 1999. The 199Q reclamation areas were monitored for the first time this season. r 1 LJ CooroEnergyt:ompary Page ?A 2003 Revegetatbn Monitoring Report