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• The following three existing reference areas associated with Seneca II and Yoast permits in the <br />area were sampled as indicated below: <br />Reference Area Cover* Production* <br />Mountain brush reference area (Seneca II Mine) <br />15 <br />30 <br />Sagebrush reference area (Seneca II Mine) <br />15 <br />30 <br />Yoast Haul road corridor ( Yoast Mine) <br />15 <br />30 <br />*15 minimum samples or to adequacy <br />The Yoast "Haul Road" Reference Area is to be used in reference to Improved Pasture and CRP <br />plantings that may be disturbed by the proposed mining activities. It was originally Sagebrush <br />vegetation but decades previous was converted to domestic forage grasses. <br />In addition, because surface facilities associated with coal seam access (Map 3) will disturb <br />approximately 5 acres of land reclaimed as part of the Seneca II Mine, cover and production data <br />from the 2006 sampling of reclamation Bond Release Blocks 2 and 3 (BRB 2 and 3 in references <br />• below) are reported here also. <br />Woody plant density sampling was not conducted in any affected or reference areas. Information <br />on the native density of trees and shrubs in the major types has been extensively documented in <br />previous years. Woody plant performance standards, if required, will be set by a negotiated <br />technical standard as has been the case in the other mines in the immediate area. <br />Sampling was conducted at randomly located sites. Random map points for sampling locations <br />were generated using ESRI ArcMap 9.3 software and Hawth's Analysis Tools for ArcGIS (Beyer <br />2004). These sample points were located in the field using topographic maps and Garmin III GPS <br />units with accuracy to 10 meters. Cover transects were randomly oriented; production samples <br />were located randomly behind the transect origin. At each cover sampling location, the slope, <br />expressed as a percent, and aspect of the site, in degrees not corrected for magnetic declination, <br />were determined and recorded, as was the orientation of the transect. <br />For areas in this study that were sampled quantitatively for standing crop biomass (production) <br />grazing exclosures were not used. Decision to commence the study occurred after cages would <br />have needed to be placed. No significant effects of grazing were observed except in the <br />• 4 <br />