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Date: March 28, 2011 <br />To: Jim Stark <br />From: Janet Binns <br />RE: Review o egetat o on of Findings document for Colowyo SL4 <br />Jim, I have reviewed your write-up of the vegetation of the Findings document for Colowyo (C1981- <br />019) SL4. I had a few minor comments and a question. I used the "review; track changes" tabs in <br />Word. Please find my inputs attached to this memo. <br />The 28 reclamation blocks, totaling 432.7 acres, included in the Partial Phase II Bond Release SL-04 are EP028, <br />EP029, EP030, EP031, EP032, EP033, EP034, EP035, EP036, EP037, EP038, EP039, EP040, EP041, EP042, <br />EP043, EP044, WP003, WP004, WP005, WP006, WP007, WP008, WP009, WPO10, WPO11, 516010, and <br />S16014. Seventeen of the reclamation blocks are located at the East Pit and account for 365.89 acres. Nine <br />of the reclamation blocks are located at the West Pit (the West Pit Fill) and account for 49.44 acres. Two of <br />the reclamation blocks are located in the Section 16 Pit and account for 17.37 acres. The locations of the <br />reclamation blocks are shown in Exhibit 2 - Phase II Bond Release Map in the SL-04 application. These <br />reclamation blocks were seeded between 1996 and 2003. The seed mix used on the reclamation blocks is <br />included in the SL-04 application in Tables 2.05-7 and 2.05-8. The post-mining land use for the Phase II Bond <br />Release area is rangeland, as defined by Rule 1.04(71)(c). <br />The Colowyo Mine uses two reference areas for the comparison of success of their reclamation blocks. The <br />reference areas are the sagebrush reference area (established in 1981) and the mountain shrub reference <br />area (established in 1980, which is further separated into a mesic aspect and a xeric aspect). Success <br />standards are based on a weighted average of the premining vegetation communities in each reclamation <br />block (as shown on Maps 3 and 4). <br />Permit Page 4.15-16 states that the "...herbaceous cover of the revegetated area will be considered adequate <br />for final bond release if it is not less than 90% of the herbaceous cover as determined from the reference <br />areas with a 90% statistical confidence utilizing a standard students statistical t-test comparison of the <br />means."