2013-04-15_PERMIT FILE - C1994082 (6)

Home Browse Search

• Revegetation Monitoring Monitoring of revegetated areas at the Yoast Mine will consist of qualitative evaluations and quantitative measurements. Qualitative evaluations will be carried out annually during the growing season, while quantitative measurements and evaluations will be on a more periodic basis. Qualitative evaluations will consist of visual observations of newly seeded areas to evaluate seeding success, note excessive rilling and gullying, determine composition of establishing species, identify potential noxious weed problems and estimate the degree of species establishment through natural regeneration. Qualitative evaluations may extend past the first several years for areas of new till and gully repair, areas of noxious weed control, areas requiring restricted interseeding, or areas that have been planted to trees and shrubs. As stated above, monitoring through quantitative measurements will be carried out periodically on revegetated areas at the Yoast Mine. Revegetation monitoring of a given area of reclamation will be identified by year of initial seeding, and conducted during the second or third growing season then periodically thereafter. (every 2 -4 years) until bond is release. Reference area sampling may be • conducted coincidentally with revegetation monitoring. For purposes of this discussion, quantitative sampling during the last two consecutive years of the extended liability period is not considered monitoring. The data and results from the quantitative monitoring program will be provided to the Division by the March 30 filing of the Annual Reclamation Report. The following discussion details parameters to be sampled, sampling methodologies and sampling intensity for the revegetation monitoring program. Sampling Parameters Cover. Terms for purposes of monitoring and bond release will be defined as follows: First -Hit Plant Cover — Percent of the ground surface covered in vertical view by living plant parts (parts living at the time of observation plus attached parts that were produced during the current growing season). These data add up to 100% and plants beneath other plants in vertical projection are ignored. With respect to the point - intercept method of cover sampling, "first -hit" data include only the uppermost hit at each point projection location. • All -Hit Cover — Percent of the ground surface covered by all living plant parts without regard to PR -02 29 Revised 01106