Laserfiche WebLink
4.0 DISCUSSION <br />4.1 Juniuer Woodland <br />The validation comparison failures in the Juniper Woodland sampling units are readily <br />understandable when considering the unique circumstances of the various sampling areas. The <br />disturbance footprint for the proposed Gob pile completely extends across the existing or "old" <br />Juniper Woodland reference area thereby predisposing the need for a new Juniper Woodland <br />reference area. However, the land area necessary for the new Gob pile will occupy nearly all <br />remaining juniper woodland on mine-controlled lands (see Map E5-1). Only one small corner of <br />the Juniper Woodland community (about 3-4 acres on mine-controlled lands) will remain intact, <br />however, this area is on the steep southeast facing slope that is unsuitable for use as waste rock <br />storage (because of the slope angle). This new reference location presents circumstances that <br />reduce available water which explains the lower ground cover and production found on the New <br />Juniper Woodland reference area in comparison to the Juniper Woodland baseline and Old <br />Juniper Woodland reference area. Both of these latter two areas were on flat benches and/or <br />relatively gently sloping ground. <br />A narrow strip of Juniper Woodland exists between the proposed gob pile location and the <br />existing access road. However, it was determined in the field that a portion of this area would be <br />a strong candidate for future disturbance by road access into the new gob pile location and, <br />therefore, was deemed untenable for use as a reference area. Furthermore, this narrow strip <br />contains a significant component of the mesic Mountain Shrub community that would then bias <br />the area's parameters upward. <br />Despite these difficulties, a procedure has been developed (see Section 6.0 below) to utilize <br />these reference areas, and to adjust the resultant parameter inequities to facilitate future <br />determinations of revegetation success. <br />4.2 Mountain Shrub <br />As indicated on Map E5-1, the proposed gob pile also extends over portions of the mountain <br />shrub community. In this case the disturbance boundary does not disrupt the mountain shrub <br />reference area. However, as indicated previously, the pre-existing reference area used for <br />comparison is not without complication because it is located at a significantly higher elevation <br />than the baseline area sampled in this effort. Because of the increased elevation, this area <br />receives substantially more precipitation which encourages stronger perennial plant growth and <br />the area exhibits little annual plant invasion contrary to the proposed disturbance footprint area. <br />Furthermore, the aspect of the reference area is east-facing as opposed to the southeast-facing <br />cir~D-~ c~~~~c Ass®~IIA'II'II~s, Irtc. 15 Exhibit 5 -Vegetation Resources <br />