2012-05-10_REPORT - C1981041 - Laserfiche WebLink

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1.3 Background and Standards for Success According to permit documents, success criteria and standards that were initially established for the Snowcap mine were as follows: • 90% of the ground cover of the approved reference area. • 90% of the production of the approved reference area. • Woody plant density of 800 live shrubs per acre. • One perennial cool- season grass species with >3% relative cover • Total perennial warm - season grass species >_ 3% relative cover. • Total perennial forb species >_ 3% relative cover. • No reclaimed area shall have a single species that represents > 40% relative cover. At the request of Snowcap, Cedar Creek evaluated the species diversity success standard during 2001. Per Cedar Creek's recommendations from that evaluation, given consultations with the Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology (CDMG), new species diversity success standards were eventually adopted in 2005. They were as follows: • Total perennial cool- season grass species relative cover >_0.5 %. • Total perennial warm- season grass species relative cover >_2.0 %. • Total perennial forb and suffrutescent (sub- shrub) species relative cover >_0.5 %. • No reclaimed area shall have a single species that represents greater than 70% relative cover, with the exception of annual grasses. The annual grass component shall not exceed 70% relative cover unless the annual grass component in the corresponding reference area also exceeds 70 %. In such instances, the relative cover of the annual grass component of the reclaimed area shall not exceed the relative cover of the annual grass component in the reference area by more than 5 %. In 2010, Snowcap requested Cedar Creek re- evaluate the vegetative cover, production, species diversity, and woody plant density attained following multiple remediation attempts to combat cheatgrass invasion of reclaimed areas, and to compare those values against the then current permitted success criteria and standards. Per Cedar Creek's recommendations based on that evaluation, modest revisions to success criteria and standards were implemented to facilitate a reasonable solution to a problem that currently has no ecological resolution. Extensive discussion of these revisions to the success criteria are presented in TR -60 in Snowcap's reclamation permit. Revised criteria and standards are summarized as follows (changes /clarifications are in boldface): • Achieve 90% of the perennial vegetation cover of the approved reference area. • Achieve 90% of the total herbaceous production of the approved reference area. • Achieve woody plant density of 800 live shrubs per acre. • Achieve total perennial cool- season grass species' relative cover of >_0.5% with at least two species present in the reclamation (observed). CEDAR CREEK ASSOCIATES, Inc. Page 7 Snowcap - Revegetation Evaluation - 2011 Monitoring