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;.'~- <br />~- <br />Vegetation Sampling at <br />Sun Coal's Meadows <br />No. 1 Mine <br />August, 1993 <br />Agricola sampled vegetation at the Meadows No. 1 mine near Hayden, Colorado <br />on July 26, 27 and 28, 1993. Sampling was conducted on reclaimed land under <br />the surface ownership of Grassy Creek Coal along with asagebrush/grass <br />reference area. The purpose of the sampling was to characterize vegetation on <br />previotcsly mined lands with. respect to revegetation stu:cess starutards established <br />in the approved permit for vegetation cover, herbaceous production and species <br />diversity. Thomas A. Colbert was the project manager for this project; Steve Viert <br />of Cedar Creed Associates, Inc. was field supervisor. <br />Sampling Methods <br />Sampling methods were discussed prior [o the 1990 sampling with Matt Hayes of <br />the Division of Mined Ladd Reclamation. These were subsequently clarified in a <br />memo from Tom Colbert to the Division dated July 6, 1990. The same methods <br />for sampling vegetation cover and herbaceous production were employed in 1991, <br />1992 and 1993. <br />For 1993, one reference area and one reclaimed area were sampled. The reclaimed <br />area includes that portion of the Meadows No. 1 mine under the surface ownership <br />of Grassy Creek Coal, about 80 percent of the total reclaimed area. The three-acre <br />reference azea is a sagebrush/grass reference area identified near the mine and <br />sampled for the first time in 1991 and again in 1992. This reference area was the <br />subject of a technical revision submitted by Sun Coal and approved by the Division <br />in 1993 as a standard for comparison for revegetation success for the reclaimed <br />land owned by Grassy Creek Coal. <br />Sampling locations. A grid of intersecting north-south and east-west lines at 240- <br />foot intervals was established over the reclaimed area (Figure 1). A randomly <br />selected initial grid point was located 62 feet due east of the 23/24/25/26 section <br />comer. The grid was physically laid out in the field using a compass and hip <br />chain. A total of 51 grid points fell within the reclaimed area boundary and were <br />flagged. All 51 points were used to locate quadrats for production sampling. A <br />-I- <br />