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• Climatic Conditions Precipitation data by month from the nearby Seneca II Mine for 1993, 1994, 1995,-1996, 1997, and 1998 as well as the 10-year average for the' mine are shown in Figures 1a and 1b. As can be seen in those graphs, 1993 had been a relatively favorable precipitation year, but beginning in November 1993 and continuing through 1994, only two months (April and November) even reached average precipitation. In 1995, however, January, February, and March were close to average, and April and May were far above normal (with a total of over eight inches in those iwo months). For 1996, precipitation returned .closer to normal with below average amounts in March and August of 1996, and in 1997, spring (and the preceding fall) moisture was above average. For 1998, although the data from fall 1997 through Summer 1998 were mostly above the Hayden long-term average, they were noticeably lower than 1997 values at the Seneca II mine (Figure i a). • When examined from the standpoint of what climatic indices seemed to have correlated most closely with the extremely favorable growing conditions of 1995, 1996 and 1997, as well as the downturn in 1998, it would appear that the Total Precipitation for the Previous 6 months (Figure 3) or the Total Precipitation for the Previous 4 Months (Figure 4) were better predictors than the Total Precipitation for the Previous 12 Months (Figure 2). Both Figures 3 and 4 showed that 1995 was greatly superior to other years and this corresponds to the extremely high levels of vegetation growth that were observed in 1995. 1996 shows up as somewhat less favorable (previous 6 months, Figure 3) or considerably less favorable (previous 4 months, Figure 4). 1997 approached 1995 on. previous 6 months graph (Figure 3) and is .second only to 1995 on the previous 4 months graph (Figure 4). The observed drop in . productivity in 1996 and its rise again in 1997 would appear to support the 13