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INTRODUCTION There is a need for an increased knowledge of the biology and methods for establishment of woody plants on disturbed lands in mountain shrub woes of the Rocky Mountains. This region contains many economically important natural resources including minerals, wildlife, water, timber, forage, recreational opportunities, and food. The development of these resources often leads to degradation of plant communities, which may require restoration efforts. In the Rocky Mountains, where mineral extraction is an important part of local economies, the restoration of mountain shrub communities on mined lands is an important and difficult task. Areas of coal extraction in the Rocky Mountains often occur in habitats of shrubby vegetation that are refereed to as "mountain brush" or "mountain shrub". This is an important habitat type in much of the Rocky Mountains because big game is concentrated in mountain shrublands during winter periods. The quality of these habitats is often the key determinant of the ecosystem carrying capacity for big game population (Wallmo et al. 1976). Mountain shrublands also serve as habitat for a wider variety of wildlife including threatened Columbian sharp-tailed grouse and sage grouse. Mountain shnrbland species such as bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata), serviceberry (Amelanchier sp.) and mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus montamcs) are some of the most palatable North American plant genera for big game, while sagebrush (Artemisia Mdentata) is less palatable but among the most important browse species due to its abundance and availability (Merrill 1971). The mountain shrub plant association is widespread in the Rocky Mountain region from western Colorado through Utah and Nevada and from western Wyoming south to northern Arizona. Mountain shrublands typically occur above valley and foothill sagebrush or pinyon-juniper communities and below montane conifer or aspen (Populus tremuloides) forests. These mountain shrub communities are diverse and vary in species composition with elevation, aspect, soils, and disturbance history. Despite the wide • diversity of mountain shrub habitat types, there are relatively few dominant shrub species found in this vegetation type. Notable among these common shrubs are big sagebrush, antelope bitterbrush, mountain mahogany, Saskatoon serviceberry (Amelanchier alnijolia), black chokecherry (Prumis virgtniana), snowbeny (Symphoricarpos sp.), maple (Ater sp.), and Gambel oak (Quercus gambe[ir) (Terwilliger 1978, Tiedeman and Terwilliger 1978, Hoffmann 1979, Hoffman and Alexander 1980, Hess 1982, Hoffman and Alexander 1983, Alexander 1985, Hess and Alexander 1986, Alexander 1987, Banner 1992, Colorado Natural Areas Program 1998). On surface~mined lands in Rocky Mountain shrublands, the establishment of woody plants at densities required for bond release, and within the ten-year liability period, has proven to be very difficult (Mathews and Savage 1990). This difficulty arises from numerous factors including grazing and browsing pressures, competition from other plant species, short growing season, lack of seeds or planting stock and, a lack of technical information regarding the cost-effective methods for establishing shrubs on disturbed lands. Over the years many attempts have been made to reestablish the native shrubs that dominate a majority of the mined lands in western Colorado. These techniques included transplanting native shrub islands, planting shrub seeds with the standard reclamation mix, transplanting small shrub tubelings, and strip seeding rows of shrub seed between the reclamation mix. The results of these attempts were inconsistent and variable. The purpose of this project is to evaluate shrub establishment techniques at three coal mine sites within mountain shrub habitats in northwestern Colorado. In addition to being a tool for evaluating state- of-the-art techniques, demonstration plots established by this project are to serve as continuing examples of possible long-teen outcomes from these various shrob establishment methods. These plots might thus serve as an example of what is, or is not feasible for shrub establishment in these habitats. I•