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The Meeker Area Mines reclaimed vegetative community was sampled for the <br />parameters of cover, productivity, and species diversity in the summer of 1996. 1996 <br />sampling represented the second consecutive year of sampling as required for a Phase <br />III bond release demonstration; first year 1995 parameter estimates indicated that the <br />reclaimed community exceeded the requirements as set out in the approved permit. <br />1996 sampled results for production and species diversity indicated that the <br />community again easily exceeded the applicable reclamation success standards. <br />Perennial, non-noxious vegetative cover was lower (56.1%) than the 90% comparison <br />value. However, a statistical test, using the methodology suggested in the CDMG <br />Bond Release Guidelines, demonstrated that the sampled value qualified the reclaimed <br />community for bond release consideration. Therefore, for the applicable vegetation <br />bond release parameters, the reclaimed community has been shown during both 1995 <br />and 1996 to have been successfully established for the purposes of the coal mining <br />regulations, qualifying the mine for Phase III bond release. <br />11