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vegetation, necessary for quick and long-term stabilization, is highly competitive and will dominate for <br />• a considerable period of time. Even in unseeded areas, herbaceous vegetation (perennial) establishes <br />in a re]atively short time, and will maintain a presence as an early to mid-successional community for <br />some time (see Table 42 in the 1990 Revegetadon Monitoring Report for the Seneca II Mine). <br />Livestock grazing has historically been the most intensive ]and use on the pemut azea. Wildlife <br />management has generally been restricted to managing populations through harvest (hunting), while <br />wildlife habitat development or improvement has not been intensively pursued. Since the surface <br />ownership of the permit azea is, for the most part, private (see Tab 3, Adjudication File), the postmine <br />surface control will be similar. Thus, because of economics, leasing patterns, and agriculture as a <br />major industry in the azea, the primary postmine land use will revert to livestock grazing. Land use <br />will be similar on the Federal and State ]ands within the permit However, wildlife and associated uses <br />will not be excluded. Revegetation will concentrate on stabilization and forage resources while <br />backfilling and grading practices will provide topographic diversity and stockwater developments. <br />The size of the reclaited azeas is not large in relation to the surrounding undisturbed lands and these <br />azeas are iaegulazly shaped. The regional habitat will be enhanced compared to the premine situation. <br />These practices will concrtrreutiy satisfy the needs of livestock and wildlife. Livestock grazing on <br />• reclaimed lands will enrnurage reestablishment of native plants, spedes diversity, and woody plant <br />density (see the 1991-1993 Revegetation Monitoring Reports for the Seneca II Mine, Wadge Pasture <br />grazing discussion). <br />A common range improvement/rehabilitation practice is the reduction in, or elimination of, woody <br />plant vegetation in areas used by livestock. This allows plant growth resources to be directed towards <br />the herbaceous component, thus increasing the useable herbaceous forage production for livestock, as <br />well as wildlife. It also improves accessibility and utilization by removing dense and many times <br />impenetrable thickets of brush. The Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW) has stated that dense <br />shrub commututies rnuld be thinned or "opened up" by various means including ruining, thus <br />providing benefits to wildlife at the same tune (Whitaker, 1982). <br />Surficial impacts (e.g., range improvements or range fires) in native sagebrush or clonal mountain <br />brush stands may be relatively short lived. Frischnecht (1963) found sagebrush readily reinvaded <br />brush stands, which had been removed. In a summary of findings by others, Kimball, et al. (1985) <br />stated C=ambel oak stands impacted by fire had the same stmcture prior to the fire in 18 to 20 yeazs. <br />• The mote drastic disturbances associated widt mining will require longer periods for woody plant <br />reestablishment Successional time frames (starting from primary levels) and patterns, applied <br />reclatnation practices, level of disturbance, and the inherent developmental requirements of native <br />PR-02 2 Revised O1/O6 <br />