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Rcad -is similar to the covet discussion for -the corridor. - <br />r Production in the wheat cropland type will be evaluated measuring grain - production or- using- <br />operators records in the reclaimed area_ and comparing it to the current county average wheat= <br />- producton figures determined from Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS) <br />records for -Routt County. The reclaimed wheat cropland will be sampled separately from the <br />adjacent wheat cropland. Unit area harvest data will be collected from the reclaimed area to <br />determine wheat production comparison values. Reclamation shall be considered successful when <br />Production equals at least 90 percent - f the current county average with 90 percent statistical <br />confidence. Because cropland in the area is summer (allowed, the last two consecutive growing <br />seasons for production measurements will be in years 8 and -10 of the extended liability period <br />Species Diversity <br />Since the time that the diversity standards for the original II -W permit and the South Extension <br />Area were proposed, a more comprehensive consideration of the nature of plant diversity on <br />reclaimed areas as compared to un -mined areas (reference areas) has been completed. The <br />result is the set of proposed standards below: <br />Background: The bulk of reclamation sites have used a seeding strategy that emphasized grasses to <br />assure adequate erosion control, and even when those grasses are native species, the competitive <br />advantage of this lifeform over forbs and woody plants is evident at many mine locations. In the short <br />and medium term, it seems unavoidable that species diversity will be less than that of most un -mined <br />comparison sites (or baseline conditions). <br />This is not because of faulty seed mixes, or poor seeding technique, or any particular short- coming of <br />planting a regraded /topsoiled site. One of the lessons of the large -scale experiment represented by <br />mine revegetation since the late 1970's is that given decent topsoil and reasonably favorable moisture <br />conditions, the presence of species other than grasses is not subject to a "plant them and they will <br />come" direct approach. Rather, the circumstances that lead (or have lead in the pre - existing <br />vegetation) to the opportunity for the firm establishment of these other lifeforms and species are <br />probably themselves diverse and (at least until we understand more) non - constructible. <br />One of the interesting insights gained from sequential annual visits to Reference Areas is that even <br />within established long -term native vegetation, there is fluctuation of the presence of species. In <br />MR -66 s0 Revised 10/09 <br />