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IV. OBSERVATIONS AND FINDINGS <br />Bacl~lling and Regrading <br />All structures have been removed from the site. The mine portal has been backfilled and sealed. The <br />slope of the regraded portal area is approximately 3:1, as required in the approved reclamation plan. <br />The sediment pond also has been backfilled and regraded. All regraded areas blend well with <br />surrounding undisturbed lands. No drillholes were approved in the permit application and no open <br />drillholes have been found on the site during recent inspections. <br />Completion of Minimum Liability Period <br />The site was seeded 14 years ago (in 1993); therefore, the 10-year liability period has expired. <br />Revegetation Success <br />The site has been topsoiled and seeded. Division staff sampled the revegetation on this revoked- <br />permit site in July 2002 and July 2003. Sampling utilized a plan developed in accordance with <br />Sections 2.04.10 and 4.15. The plan was designed to ensure randomness of samples and a <br />statistically adequate number of samples. Adequacy of sample size for the 90% confidence level was <br />determined from the formula recommended on page 20 of the Division's 1995 bond release guideline <br />document. Cover data were collected along fifteen 25-meter point-intercept transects. Production <br />data were collected by hand-clipping vegetation in one-half square-meter quadrats located at both <br />ends of each transect. Woody shrub stems were counted in one-meter wide belts along one side of <br />each transect in 2002, and all shrub stems on the site were counted in 2003. <br />Perennial cool season grasses were the dominant cover species, with intermediate wheatgrass as the <br />most abundant herbaceous species. Additional significant herbaceous cover was provided by <br />smooth brome, common timothy, and western wheatgrass. Seven species of desirable forbs were <br />identified in the 2003 samples, with six of the species comprising less than 1 % relative cover, and <br />one species (goldenrod) comprising 1 % relative cover. The dominant desirable forb species were <br />lupine and lambsquarter. Four woody shrub species appeared in the 2003 sample data with <br />Gambel's oak comprising 5% relative cover, and Wood's rose, chokecherry, and mountain <br />snowberry, each comprising less than 3% relative cover. <br />The sample data indicate the reclaimed areas met the technical standards for herbaceous cover and <br />biomass production (Tables 1 and 2). Herbaceous cover exceeded the minimum cover requirement <br />of 27% in 2002 (36%) and in 2003 (35%). (The required minimum of 27% is 90% of the 30% <br />technical standard, in accordance with Section 4.15.) Production exceeded the minimum <br />requirement of 450 pounds per acre in 2002 (2,136 pounds per acre) and in 2003 (1,182 pounds per <br />acre). <br />6 <br />