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Revegetation Evaluation - 2010 <br />Snowcap Coal Co. <br />1.0 INTRODUCTION <br />1.1 General <br />Cedar Creek Associates, Inc. (Cedar Creek) was contracted in 2010 by Snowcap Coal Company <br />(Snowcap) to perform an evaluation of vegetation within the vast majority of revegetated units at the <br />Snowcap Mine (a.k.a. Powderhorn Coal Co. — Roadside Mine). Monitoring was performed in the interest <br />of ascertaining progress of on- the - ground revegetation in general accordance with Rule 3.03, Release of <br />Performance Bonds. The revegetated areas evaluated in 2010 consisted of a total of 17 units ranging in <br />size from less than an acre to 20.2 acres. In addition, the Greasewood and Shadscale Reference Areas <br />were evaluated to provide comparison values. At the time of sampling, revegetation within evaluated <br />units had typically experienced at least eight growing seasons since the completion of seeding or <br />reseeding. Location of all sampled areas are shown on Map 1 on the following page and sampling points <br />within each unit are indicated on Maps 2 — 10 in Appendix A. <br />Field sampling was systematically conducted within the 17 reclaimed areas as well as within the two <br />reference areas on June 1s - 4"', 2010. Sampling was conducted by and /or under the direct supervision <br />of Cedar Creek's Senior Plant Ecologist, Mr. Erik M. Mohr or Senior Range Ecologist, Mr. Steven R. Viert. <br />Each of the 17 revegetation units was systematically sampled with either 10 or 15 ground cover <br />transects, co- located with an herbaceous production sample, and a woody plant density transect. <br />Furthermore, the Shadscale and Greasewood Reference areas each received 20 ground cover transects <br />and a co- located production sample to facilitate collection of a more robust sample. In addition to the <br />sampling effort, current conditions existing at the time of field work were documented by photos of <br />several representative units and the reference areas (see Plates 1 — 11 in Appendix A) to provide a visual <br />demonstration of site - conditions. Nomenclature for plant taxa follows Weber and Whitman (1996) and <br />lifeform classification regarding sub - shrubs follows Wyoming DEQ (1999). <br />CEDAR CREEK ASSOCIATES, Inc. Page 1 Snowcap - Revegetation Evaluation - 2010 <br />