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78.06 percent of the total herbaceous forage and perennial forbs, contributed an average of 0.61 <br />g/IArn2 or 29.94 percent of the forage produced on this site. There were no annuals or noxious <br />weeds sampled in any of the production plots at this site. <br />"fable 26 of the Kerr Permit states that total herbaceous production in 1980 for the Alkali <br />Sagebrush Reference Area averaged 7.18 g/1/4m2 or 255.7 pounds of air-dry forage per acre. In <br />1996, RMR reported that the total herbaceous production on this site averaged 3.64 g/1/4m2 or <br />129.7 pounds of air-dry forage per acre. In 1999, ESCO reported that the total herbaceous <br />forage production on this site averaged 10.6 g/1/4m2 or 377.8 pounds of air-dry forage per acre. <br />In 2005, IME reported that total herbaceous forage production averaged 6.61 g/1/4m2 or 235.6 <br />pounds of air-dry forage per acre and perennial grasses contributed 4.63 6.61 g/1/4m2 or 70.50 <br />percent of the total forage production and perennial forbs contributed 1.98 g/1/4m2 or 29.95 <br />percent of the total forage production. <br />The locations of the 30 production transects sampled on this area are shown on Map 1, Alkali <br />Sagebrush Reference Area - Vegetation Transect Location Map. Examination of Table 2, Kerr <br />Mine Sample Adequacy Calculations, reveals that sample adequacy at the 90 percent confidence <br />interval was equal to 10.3 transects. <br />1999 RECLAMATION <br />Plant Cover. The results obtained from the sampling of the 15 plant cover transects on this <br />reclaimed site are presented in Table 5, 1999 Reclamation - Plant Cover. Total plant cover on <br />this site averaged 33.94 percent and litter cover averaged 34.41 percent (Table 5, 1999 <br />Reclamation - Plant Cover). <br />Planted cool season grasses dominated the plant cover on this site, contributing 30.71 percent of <br />the total cover or 90.47 percent of the total relative cover on this reference area. Native shrubs <br />were the second most common plant life for, contributing a total of 2.12 percent of the total <br />cover and 6.24 percent of the total relative cover on this site. Perennial forbs contributed a total <br />of 0.88 percent of the total plant cover or 2.60 percent of the total relative cover on this site. <br />Biennials and noxious weeds contributed a total of 0.24 percent of the total cover or 0.69 percent <br />of the total relative cover on this site. <br />Perennial cool season grasses dominated the seeded vegetation. Russian Wildrye, Great Basin <br />Wildrye and Western Wheatgrass were the most commonly encountered grasses on this site, <br />contributing 61.87, 12.48 and 10.40 percent, respectively, of the total relative cover on this area. <br />The most dominant shrub was Wyoming Big Sagebrush which contributed 4.68 percent of the <br />total relative cover on this reclaimed site. The most dominant forb species growing on this site <br />was Rocky Mountain Penstemon which contributed 1.21 percent of the total relative plant cover. <br />The locations of the 15 cover transects sampled on this site are shown on Map 5, 1999 <br />Reclamation - Vegetation Transect Location Map. The sample adequacy calculations in Table 2, <br />Kerr Mine Sample Adequacy Calculations, document that the number of transects required to <br />characterize the plant cover on this site at the 90 percent confidence interval was 10.2 transects.