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Period of Extended Liability <br />The period of extended liability is a minimum of ten years for the Trapper Mine. Reclamation <br />for the proposed Phase III parcels was completed in 1996, 1997 and 1998. Vegetation surveys <br />were completed in August 2007 and August 2008 as per Rule 4.15.7(5). There was no additional <br />work performed at the mine site that would extend the liability period. ' Drainage collection ditch <br />removal and reclamation are exempt from a minimum liability period under Section 3.03.1(5). <br />The ten-year liability period following the seeding in 1998 expired in November 2008; therefore, <br />the Division finds that the Trapper Mine meets the requirement of Section 3.02.3 for a 10-year <br />liability period for vegetation. <br />Revey,etation Success Standards <br />Trapper Mining, Inc. sampled vegetation in the summer of 2007 and the summer of 2008. <br />Rangeland bond release blocks were sampled for vegetative cover, productivity, species <br />diversity, and woody plant density. Reclaimed areas with rangeland as the approved post- <br />mining land use were compared to an approved standard. Trapper achieved vegetative <br />success for rangeland cover, productivity, diversity and woody plant density. Due to non- <br />parametric data distribution of rangeland productivity and woody plant density, Trapper <br />Mining, Inc. demonstrated reclamation success of these two parameters by using the reverse <br />null hypothesis. <br />The revegetation success standard for the Trapper Mine in the areas subject to this <br />application (SL-10) is 52% allowable cover, which must include at least 33% perennial plant <br />cover (excluding noxious perennial species). In 2008, the Rangeland Reclamation Block <br />AD&H-A/B had a total allowable cover of an average of 71.83% and a perennial plant cover <br />average of 49.30%. In 2007, total allowable cover averaged 75.22% and perennial plant <br />cover averaged 53.15%. <br />The revegetation productivity success standard is 62.39 grams per square meter or 15.60 <br />g/1/4 m2 for the Rangeland Reclamation Block AD&H-A/B. As recommended in the <br />Division's Guidelines, annuals, biennials and shrub production were not included in the <br />production success. In 2008, the forage production on the site averaged 61.84g/l/4 m2. In <br />2007, forage production averaged 38.87g/1/4 m2. Since the reclaimed area production value <br />exceeds the revegetation success standards, as allowed in the Division's existing regulations <br />(Rule 4.15.11(2)), and applying the reverse null statistical approach, it can be concluded that <br />the area satisfies the requirements with respect to production. <br />Species diversity success was determined from vegetative cover data. The species diversity <br />success standard on rangeland areas of the Trapper mine consists of a minimum of four cool <br />season perennial grass species and one forb species. Each of the contributing species needs to <br />contribute at least 3 percent relative cover but no more than 50 percent relative cover. No four <br />species may contribute greater than 80 percent relative cover. In 2008, there were a total of four <br />cool season perennial grasses and one forb and a single species contributing 25.00% of total <br />Trapper Mine Page 8 November 17, 2007 <br />Phase III Bond Release