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• INTRODUCTION In August 2002, ESCO Associates Inc. was contracted by Kennecott Energy to undertake vegetation monitoring of selected reclaimed areas at the Colowyo mine, located southwest of Craig, Colorado. The purpose of this monitoring was to provide Kennecott Energy with an assessment of vegetation cover, species diversity and woody plant density on reclaimed lands at the Colowyo mine in accordance with monitoring requirements included in the mine permit documents (C-81-019, Sec. 4.15.1(4)). These requirements include the acquisition of frequency (converted to density) information from seeded areas during their first year and cover, woody plant density, and species diversity information on reclaimed areas two and four years after seeding. In 2002, additional work was conducted in anticipation of the need to develop a plan for the formal testing of eligible Reclamation for bond release in the near future. For this purpose, information on the 1995 Reclamation (7 years old) in Section 16, the East Pit, and the West Pit was collected. Similarly the pre-1995 Reclamation (8 to 24 years old) . in the East Pit was sampled to provide information as this area approaches consideration for bond release. In addition, information from the Sagebrush and Mountain Brush Reference Areas was collected for the purpose of establishing the 2002 level of performance standards for herbaceous cover and production. METHODS Seedling Density via Frequency on Newly Seeded Areas Seedling Density information was derived from frequency data collected in areas seeded in 2001 located in the East and West Pits (see Maps 1 and 2). This method followed the same method used at the mine for several years prior to this monitoring, apparently based on a method devised by D.N. Hyder of Colorado State University. Each species present in 250 systematically located 0.36m2 plots was recorded. Frequency data calculated from the 250 plots was then used to produce values for seedling density and frequency in the 2001 Reclamation areas using a conversion table (Appendix 3).