2012-06-20_PERMIT FILE - C2010089A (22)

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guideline and which contain Table 1, Perennial Grasses and Legumes for Pasture and Hayland plantings in Colorado will be considered as "desirable species" within the context of forage quality for purposes of final bond release. Secondly, for all species that are not included in the OSM reference cited above, which includes nearly all of the non - agronomic or pasture species, then the USDA NRCS Plants database, found at http: / /plants.usda.gov website will be used. For example, Quackgrass (Agropyron or Elyrigia repens) is not listed on the 1988 OSM list, and thus upon consulting this website and typing in the species name yields a Plant Profile. On this webpage page, there is a subsection entitled U.S. Weed Information which includes the species listed in the Weeds of the West. Species listed on this list are considered "undesirable" for purposes of forage quality in evaluating the revegetation success of the Irrigated Pasture areas on the NHN Mine. Thus, if a species is not listed under the subsection entitled U.S. Weed Information then the Characteristics section found on the left-hand portion of the page and a list of plant characteristics is consulted. As used in this report, the characteristics relative to Toxicity and the Palatable Grazing Animal in the Suitability/Use subsection were consulted. Plants possessing Toxicity characteristics of none, slight or low would be determined to be "desirable species" with respect to forage quality. The - second characteristic consulted is that under the ranking for the Palatable Grazing Animal characteristic. As used herein, plant species possessing rankings of medium or high, would be considered to be classified as "desirable species" with respect to forage quality. Application of these two traits, would mean that if a species is ranked as "none, slight or low " for Toxicity and medium or high with respect to Palatable Grazing Animal, it would be classified as a "desirable species" with respect to forage quality, while all species that rank both medium or high with respect to Toxicity and low with respect to Palatable Grazing Animal would be classified as "undesirable species" with respect to forage quality. The third reference used in this determination of forage quality deals with the potential noxious species or weedy characteristics as defined by the Colorado Noxious Weed Act and corresponding Noxious Weed Management Plan posted at the Colorado Department of Agriculture's website found at http: / /www.colorado.gov /ag. Therein are three lists of different noxious weeds within the state of Colorado. As used in this Permit document, any species listed on either the Colorado State List A, B or C will be considered to be an "undesirable species" Section 2.05.4(2)(e) Page 19 January 2012