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Woody Plant Density - Post-2008 Reve etg ation <br />As alluded to under the cover and production success criteria, a new revegetation plan <br />utilizing a "prescribed ecological reclamation approach" (PERA) has been adopted for <br />the Colowyo operation that will facilitate the creation of wildlife habitat conducive <br />vegetation communities (sagebrush steppe), hence Post-2008 revegetation will be subject <br />to a different set of success criteria for bond release. In this regard, the following <br />discussion lays some of the foundation of the underlying principals of this approach to <br />provide a basis for development of the success standards. <br />The post-2008 revegetation will specifically target livestock razing and sage rouse <br />brood rearing habitat. Both of these, in combination, are the two primary components of <br />the Post-mining Rangeland Land Use. Post-2008 areas designed to target livestock <br />grazing (and incidental / unavoidable grazing by elk) will comprise approximately 60% <br />to 80% of the original and South Taylor reclaimed landscapes. These areas will <br />principally occupy more steeply sloping ground (>10%) where the grassland community <br />is necessary to preclude excessive erosion, especially from snowmelt. Based on <br />evaluation of the post-mining topography, the remaining 20% to 40% (estimated) of the <br />reclaimed landscape will afford flat or gently sloping surfaces (<10%) with reduced <br />exposure to erosion. It is on these less exposed more gentle slopes whereby development <br />of wildlife conducive habitats (sagebrush steppe) can be attempted (only on larger blocks <br />of land - e.g., >5 acres) without overly compromising stability. In this regard, sagebrush <br />communities targeting sage grouse brood-rearing habitat will be attempted in earnest on <br />approximately 20% (or more) of the Post-2008 reclaimed landscape, with the goal of <br />achieving success on at least one-half of this acreage or as otherwise agreed upon <br />between Colowyo and CDRMS. <br />The principal basis of PERA is to rebuild the foundation conditions of target vegetation <br />communities taking into account the appropriate aspects, slopes, and topographic features of <br />the reclaimed landscape. In this manner, targeted communities, as opposed to more simple <br />grasslands will be more strongly encouraged. Potential reclamation techniques to be applied <br />to facilitate the targeting of sagebrush communities include, but are not limited to: 1) taking <br />advantage of site-specific opportunities for development of convex and concave surfaces to <br />encourage snow entrapment; 2) development of small berms along the contour and somewhat <br />perpendicular to prevailing winds, also to encourage snow entrapment; 3) use of native <br />species; 4) severe reduction of grasses in the seed mix; 5) use of only bunch grasses for those <br />taxa planted with sagebrush; 6) sharp increases in the amount of sagebrush seed to be used; <br />7) extra care to obtain the correct subspecies of sagebrush (vaseyana pauciora) with a seed <br />source as close as possible to the Axial Basin; 8) extra care to place seed at the ideal time of <br />year (immediately prior to the first major snowfall event; 9) placement of thin layers of <br />topsoil over overburden; 10) possible placement of zero topsoil; 11) possible placement of <br />thin layers of overburden over topsoil; 12) use of specialized seed placement equipment to <br />obtain correct planting depths; 13) use of seedbed preparation equipment and techniques to <br />encourage sagebrush emergence; and 14) interseeding of additional grasses and/or forbs <br />(only where necessary) following a period of 2 - 3 years of growth by shrubs. All of these <br />possible techniques / metrics are designed to diminish the competitive advantage of grasses, <br />4.15-21 Revision Date: 3/14/08 <br />Revision No.: TR-72