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third most dominant plant life form and contributed 5.90 percent of the total plant cover or 17.95 <br />percent of the total relative cover on this site. Biennials were the least dominant plant life form <br />encountered in the sampling of this site and contributed 1.10 percent of the total plant cover or <br />3.35 percent of the total relative plant cover found on this site. <br />Cool season perennial grasses dominated the seeded vegetation on this site and contributed 49.02 <br />percent of the total relative cover on this site. Russian Wildrye and Great Basin Wildrye were the <br />most common grasses growing on this site, contributing 24.20 and 4.87 percent, respectively, of <br />the total relative cover found on this site. Shrubs were found to be the subdominants on this site, <br />with Rubber Rabbitbrush and Wyoming Big Sagebrush being the most commonly encountered <br />shrubs on this site, contributing 19.94 and 7.61 percent of the total relative cover, respectively. <br />Forbs were found to be the least abundant life form on this site, with Western Yarrow and Cicer <br />Milkvetch being the most commonly encountered perennial forbs on this site, contributing 10.65 <br />and 4.41 percent of the total relative cover, respectively. <br />When IME sampled this site in 2005 they reported that total plant cover averaged 29.24 percent <br />and litter averaged 30.04 percent. <br />The locations of the 20 cover transects sampled on this site are shown on Map 7, Tipple <br />Reclamation - Vegetation Transect Location Map. The sample adequacy calculations in Table 2, <br />Kerr Mine Sample Adequacy Calculations, document that the number of vegetation transects <br />required to characterize the total plant cover on this site at the 90 percent statistical confidence <br />interval was determined to equal 15.3 transects. <br />The revegetation success standard for this site corresponds to the Tipple Reference Area cover <br />value which averaged 26.60 percent total plant cover. Examination of Table 13, Tipple <br />Reclamation - 2009 Plant Cover, reveals that the "total plant cover" on this reclaimed site <br />averaged 32.85 percent. Since the actual "total plant cover" on this reclaimed site (32.85 %) <br />exceeds the revegetation success standard (26.60 %), and sample adequacy was achieved for <br />total plant cover on both the Tipple Reference Area and the Tipple Reclamation, it can be <br />concluded by direct comparison that the "total plant cover" in this reclamation block satisfies <br />the revegetation success standard for Phase III Bond Release. <br />Production. The results obtained from the sampling of the 30 production transects on this area <br />are summarized in Table 14, Tipple Reclamation - Production. The average total herbaceous <br />forage production on this site in 2009 averaged 19.36 g/1 /4m or 690 pounds of air -dry forage <br />per acre. Perennial grasses contributed 16.99 g/1 /4m or 87.76 percent; perennial forbs <br />contributed 2.37 g/1 /4m or 12.25 percent of the total herbaceous forage production on this site. <br />The revegetation forage production success standard for this area corresponds to the forage <br />production from the Tipple Reference Area which averaged 4.64 g/1 /4m or 165.4 pounds of <br />air -dry forage per acre. Since the forage production on this reclaimed site averaged 19.36 <br />g/1 /4m or 690 pounds of air -dry forage per acre and sample adequacy was achieved for <br />production sampling on both the Tipple Reference Area and Tipple Reclamation sites using the <br />reverse null statistical test, it can be concluded by direct comparison that this area satisfies the <br />revegetation success standard with respect to total herbaceous forage production. <br />11 <br />