Laserfiche WebLink
average precipitation year is 1,125 pounds per acre or 0.7 AUM per acre (with 50 percent <br />proper use). The brushy loam range site under similar conditions has a calculated proper <br />stocking rate of 0.8 AUM /acre. <br />It can be seen that production in the reclaimed areas has resulted in greater allowable stocking <br />rates than either of the reference areas. The reclaimed area allowable stocking rates also exceed <br />those based on the SCS-estimated potential production of native vegetation in excellent <br />condition, as presented in the mountain loam and brushy loam range site descriptions. <br />Alfalfa is a species of particular interest in the Seneca II Mine reclamation. The contribution of <br />alfalfa to total production was high in the reclaimed areas seeded in the early and mid 1980's <br />(e.g. Wadge Pasture and Wadge Pasture '91). Beginning in 1985, the alfalfa component of the <br />seed mix was reduced to 1/2 Ib per acre, and then further reduced to 1/4 Ib per acre beginning <br />in 1986. Alfalfa nonetheless comprised 38.0 percent of the total biomass production in the <br />1986 Reclaimed Areas and 20.5 percent of the 1989 Reclaimed Areas. <br />The Wadge Pasture, when sampled in 1988 and 1989 (see 1988 and 1989 Seneca II <br />Revegetation Monitoring Reports), had 51 percent and 50 percent, respectively, of the annual <br />production accounted for by alfalfa. In 1990, alfalfa production had fallen to 31 percent of total <br />production. In 1991 alfalfa had risen to 40 percent of total production, in 1992 alfalfa <br />declined to 30.5 percent of total production, and in 1993 it rebounded to 44.4 percent of total <br />production. These data seem to suggest that while the proportion of alfalfa in Wadge Pasture is <br />less than it was originally, it retains the capacity to respond strongly to favorable growing <br />conditions, such as occurred in 1993. There is a possibility that locations of random points <br />over the years may have concentrated by chance in areas of greater or less abundance of alfalfa, <br />creating apparent differences between years that are related largely to chance rather than <br />effects of grazing, climate or other envrionmental factors. <br />Figure 3 graphically presents shrub density totals for reclaimed areas sampled in 1993. As <br />can be seen, the highest densities were observed in the Wadge Pasture area, as has been the case <br />in several previous years. Review of 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, and <br />1993 sampling data for the Seneca II Mine shows the following documented average shrub <br />density by year: <br /> <br />27 <br />