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• percent and mountain snowberry contributed 12.2 percent. Native perennial cool season grasses <br />contributed 19.5 percent first-hit vegetation cover. Of this, fescue (Festuca saximontana) <br />contributed 11.7 percent and Agassiz bluegrass (Poa agassizensis) contributed 2.1 percent. <br />Additionally native perennial (orbs contributed 19.4 percent first-hit vegetation cover. <br />Total average vegetation cover for first hits was 67.1 percent. For herbaceous vegetation, total <br />average cover for first hits was 40.6 percent. Cover by standing dead, litter, bare soil and rock <br />averaged 3.4, 12.1, 17.4 and 0 percent respectively. Average species density was 28.2 species <br />per 100 sq. m. <br />PRODUCTION <br />(Table 10) <br />Total herbaceous production in 2008 was 961.8 pounds per acre. Native perennial forbs and <br />native perennial cool season grasses were the biggest producers, contributing 499.6 and 394.3 <br />pounds per acre, respectively. <br />• DISCUSSION <br />Climatic Conditions <br />Precipitation in December of 2007 totaled a record 3.92 inches of moisture. This was followed by <br />above-average precipitation from January through May 2008, which created much above average <br />snowpack levels for the region. Paradoxically, although the early growing season soil moisture <br />was ample, the June and July precipitation (Figure 6b) was far below average, leaving the <br />precipitation total for the 12 months preceding sampling just slightly above average (Figure 7b). <br />2008 was also a well below average year as regards temperature - in fact it was the coolest year <br />in the 22-year record (started in 1986) (Figure 10). These cooler temperatures likely extended <br />snowpack duration and soil moisture somewhat further into the dry summer months providing <br />vegetation with much needed moisture, as the rest of the summer would be characterized by well <br />below average precipitation (Figure 6b). In the context of the six or four-months preceding <br />sampling (Figures 8b and 9b, respectively) it is clear that the middle part of 2008 encountered <br />below average precipitation which essentially acted to stunt vegetation growth for the rest of the <br />season. At the time of sampling, it was clear that vigorous vegetation growth in both native and <br />reclaimed areas had encountered moisture deficiency with associated minor wilting and <br />predominant dull green luster. <br />• 12