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INTRODUCTION <br />Quantitative sampling of reclaimed areas at Seneca Coal Company's (SCC) Yoast Mine was <br />undertaken in July 2011 by ESCO Associates to facilitate SCC's continued interim monitoring of <br />the progress of these areas in relation to revegetation performance standards. Methods, sample <br />areas, and sample sizes were those specified by SCC. <br />METHODS <br />Reclamation Units and Sampling Locations <br />The reclamation units sampled for purposes of interim monitoring at the Yoast Mine in 2011 are <br />shown on Map 1, "2011 Interim Monitoring Locations ". Permit provisions require the sampling of <br />reclaimed areas that are two, four, or seven years old. As of 2011, the extent of reclaimed areas <br />of those ages were 0.0, 151.4 and 3.4 acres, respectively. Consequently, only those areas <br />seeded in 2007 (151.4 ac) were deemed to have enough area to sample in 2011 as part of <br />interim monitoring. <br />Extended Reference Area Sampling <br />The Aspen, Mountain Brush, Sagebrush /Snowberry, and Steep Mountain Brush Extended <br />Reference Areas at the nearby Seneca IIW Mine (that were sampled during a Phase III bond <br />release test) provided data for comparison with reclaimed area data. Reference Area sampling <br />locations are shown on Map 2, "2011 Extended Reference Area Monitoring Sample Locations ". <br />Cover Sampling <br />Cover data were collected along 50 m transects using a point- intercept method in which data <br />were recorded as interceptions of a point with a plant species, litter, standing dead plant material, <br />soil, or rock. Plant material produced during the current year and still standing was tallied by <br />species. Litter was considered to be any organic material that had fallen, or had begun to fall to <br />the soil surface. Standing dead was any dead plant material that was produced in previous years <br />but which was still standing and had not lodged or broken off to become litter. Inorganic material <br />greater than 1 cm in diameter was considered rock. The cover sampling points were optically <br />projected using a Cover -Point Optical Point Projection Device developed by ESCO Associates. <br />50 m transects were randomly located and randomly oriented in the reclaimed and reference <br />areas. One hundred points were collected along each transect. At each meter along the 50 m <br />length, points were projected 0.5 m to the right and 0.5 to the left of the transect, thus minimizing <br />trampling effects. <br />1 <br />