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• form contributing 14.0 percent total vegetation all-hit cover. Agassiz bluegrass and slender <br />wheatgrass were the most abundant of this group (5.1 and 2.5 percent all-hit cover respectively). <br />Total average vegetation cover, for first hits, was 64.1 percent. Total average vegetation cover, <br />for all hits, was 77.7 percent. Standing dead, litter, bare soil, and rock each had 3.9, 17.5 <br />and 14.4 percent cover, respectively (first hits). Average species density was 27.3 species per 100 <br />sq.m. <br />Production <br />(Table 13) <br />Total average production was 1049.2 Ibs per acre. Native perennial forbs and native perennial <br />cool season grasses contributed the most with an average production of 503.2 and 372.9 Ibs/acre <br />respectively (together making up approximately 84% of the total production). Introduced <br />perennial cool season grasses contributed 103.5 lbs per acre. Native annual and biennial forbs, <br />introduced annual and biennial (orbs, introduced annual grasses, and introduced perennial forbs <br />were also present, each with less than 42 pounds per acre. <br />Random Shrub Area Sampling <br />• In addition to sampling of shrubs at samples taken for purposes of interim monitoring, twenty- <br />eight random shrub samples were placed in an overall block that might comprise an eventual <br />Phase 3 bond release block (Map 3). These data were intended to assess progress toward the <br />overall (background) shrub density requirement. Results of this sampling are displayed in Table <br />19 of Appendix 3. <br />Shrub Concentration Area Sampling <br />Toward the end of assessing progress toward achievement of the permit standard for shrub <br />concentration areas, several areas designated as shrub concentration areas were sampled in <br />2008. Results of the sampling are compiled in Tables 20 through 48 of Appendix 3. These <br />results expressed as shrubs per acre are also displayed on Maps 4 and 5. <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 />11