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3.0 RESULTS <br />As indicated in Section 1.0, two major plant communities were identified within the <br />proposed project area, Juniper Woodland and Mountain Shrub, as well as a very small wetland <br />area. Juxtaposition and areal extent of these communities is presented on Map E5-1 whereas <br />acreages occupied by each type are indicated in the table below. <br />Table E5-2 Stud Area Acrea es b Communi T e <br /> <br /> <br />Communi T e <br />Acres Percent of <br />Total <br />]uni er Woodland 13.86 42.99% <br />Mountain Shrub 18.24 56.58% <br />Wetland 0.14 0.43% <br />Total Acres Mapped ~ 32.24 <br />Perusal of Tables E5-1 through E5-20 and Charts E5-1 through E5-3 present detailed <br />summaries as well as raw data of the primary vegetation variables (ground cover, production, <br />composition, and as appropriate woody plant density) collected from the project area during <br />2006. Table E5-1 provides a comparison of the cover and production variables between the <br />baseline and reference areas, as well as comparison between the "Old" and "New" Juniper <br />Woodland reference areas. Despite the "validation failures" noted on this table, these reference <br />areas still facilitate a means of comparison for final evaluation of revegetation success (see <br />Section 6.0). Utilization of the New Juniper Woodland reference area is necessary because the <br />old location will be lost to the new Gob pile. Furthermore, this new site is the only possible <br />location remaining given the various disturbance footprints and scarcity of mine controlled lands <br />that exhibit the community of Juniper Woodland (see Map E5-1 and previous project mapping). <br />Similarly, it was noted both during this sampling effort as well as the sampling effort in 2003 for <br />the previous gob pile permit revision, that the existing Mountain Shrub reference area is not a <br />representative area for disturbed Mountain Shrub areas. The Mountain Shrub reference area is <br />located high in the permit area and on an east-facing slope. As a result it is exemplary of mesic <br />Mountain Shrub as opposed to xeric Mountain Shrub more typical of disturbances. <br />With regard to the "validation failures" and the difficulty presented by the existing Mountain <br />Shrub reference area, an "alternate" reference area approach is proposed that treats adjusted <br />averages of the two reference areas in a manner similar to how "controls" are utilized in scientific <br />experiments (see Section 6.0). In essence, the pre-mining ratio between the baseline variables <br />c~~~,~ ~~~~ Ass®cnA~s, Irrc. 4 Exhibit 5 -Vegetation Resources <br />