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April 18, 1995. In addition to these guidelines, the proposed regulation changes issued on March <br />27, 2003 entitled "Revegetation, Land Use, Wildlife and Alluvial Valley Floors" and formally <br />adopted September 14, 2005 by the Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology (DMG) and <br />corresponding documents were used with respect to sample adequacy calculations and proposed <br />statistical comparisons. The corresponding vegetation maps showing the locations of the <br />reference areas sampled in connection with this sampling effort are found on the Kerr Mine <br />Permit Map 18, Kerr Mine Area Vegetation and on Map 19, Kerr'Tipple Area Vegetation were <br />used to delineate the reference areas. The specific limits of the specific reclamation units <br />sampled were taken from the 2008 Annual Reclamation Report Maps for both the Marr Mine <br />Area and the Kerr 'Tipple Area. <br />Prior to commencing the field sampling and during the preparation of this report, the Permit <br />monitoring requirements were reviewed and discussed with Mr. Patterson and Ms. Janet 13inns <br />of the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety (DRMS) regarding the proposed <br />sampling methods and data analysis methods to be used. Agreement on the sampling <br />methodology used in this evaluation was obtained from the DBMS prior to initiating field <br />sampling. In this evaluation, the vegetation parameters of plant cover, production, species <br />diversity and shrub density were sampled. These data were then utilized to evaluate the <br />successfulness of revegetation efforts with respect to cover, forage production, species diversity, <br />and shrub density. <br />Transect Locations, "1 o ensure that all of the areas within each corresponding reclamation block <br />and reference area sampled, had an equal chance of being sampled, each proposed sample area <br />was treated as a single sample unit and a totally randomized sampling effort was implemented. <br />Utilizing the original vegetation maps, showing the specific reference area locations and 2008 <br />reclamation maps prepared by Kerr and our GPS unit, the extreme north, south, east and west <br />boundaries of each site sampled were converted to the 1983 Colorado State Plan Northern Zone <br />(NAD 83) coordinate system. The interval used in the state plan coordinate system is based on <br />foot increments. Given the typical real-time accuracy of this GPS unit of plus or minus 18 <br />inches, all of the transect locations were field located at a sub-meter accuracy. <br />Once the boundaries of the specific reclaimed area or reference were delineated, then using a <br />specially prepared computer program which generates random coordinates, the transect location <br />coordinates were identified. These coordinates were then entered into the GPS unit and the <br />transect location starting points were marked in the field. At each transect location starting point, <br />the transect direction was determined by selecting a previously determined random direction <br />based on the degrees of the compass (0 to 3600). Once the transect orientation was determined, <br />then a 50-meter tape was laid out across the site. All transects were kept within the designated <br />sample unit boundaries. In instances where the transect placement resulted in the transect <br />alignment crossing a sample unit boundary, the transect line was backed up for that portion of <br />which crossed the boundary line 180 degrees. Where the 50-meter tape could not be placed <br />within a narrow reclaimed area due to boundary constraints, then the transect line was changed <br />90 degrees at the point where the boundary line was crossed to ensure that the entire transect <br />alignment was located within the area to be sampled. <br />2