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<br />www.bio-geo.com <br />1.0 PURPOSE <br /> <br />Western Fuels-Colorado, LLC (WFC) seeks Phase 2 bond release on portions of the New <br />Horizon Mine (NH-2) reclaimed coal mine lands near Nucla, Colorado (see Figure 1), under the <br />terms of a permit issued by the State of Colorado, Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety <br />(CDRMS). The reclaimed lands for the 2008 Phase 2 study consist of lands with a designated <br />post-mine land use of Irrigated Pasture. For Phase 2 (interim) bond release on irrigated pasture, <br />a vegetation cover (see definitions below) requirement must be demonstrated, based on <br />calculations that incorporate other geotechnicalfdata. Cover measurements collected for Phase <br />2 area reclaimed lands in this study will-be used by Lewicki & Associates to analyze Phase 2 <br />cover data to determine adequacy for bond release. <br />This plan presents the sampling and analysis methods that will be used to measure vegetation <br />cover for purposes of demonstrating adequacy for Phase 2 bond release. <br />2.0 PROCEDURES <br />2.1 Study Area <br />The area to be measured for 2008 Phase 2 bond release was determined and mapped by WFC <br />(Figure 1). The study site is shown on the attached map (Figure 2) and includes the following <br />two parcels: <br />1. Irrigated Pasture Reclaimed, Phase 2 (16.38 acres). This area is located north of the <br />access road (Figure 2). <br />2. Irrigated Pasture Reclaimed, Phase 2 (10.42 acres). This area is located south of the <br />access road (Figure 2). The area has a topsoil pile located on it which comprises .47 acres. <br />This topsoil stockpile area will excluded from the study area. <br />These two areas will be combined for this sampling effort and together comprise theL008 <br />1 jated-Pastue_Reclaimed-Phase-2-study-area-(26.8-acres) <br />2.2 Sampling Procedures <br />A field crew of two botanists will conduct fieldwork from approximately August 25-27, 2008. For <br />the study areas described above, we will create a polygon shapefile in ESRI ArcMap (a GIS <br />computer application) defining the study area boundary, then use a GIS application to generate <br />at least 50 random point locations in each study area. We will upload the sample points into <br />Garmin GPS units (average accuracy 15 feet) and use the GPS units to navigate to sample <br />points in the field. A few sample points may be rejected in the field if they are in areas at field <br />margins not typical of the study area being measured, for example a mowed road berm. <br />Inc. <br />3