BLM WY Improving Sagebrush Reclamation in Bentonite Mining Areas of the Bighorn Basin (CESU)

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A. Project Background Information: The Bureau of Land Management, Wyoming State Office, intends to award a cooperative agreement with the University of Wyoming ¿ Wyoming Reclamation and Restoration Center (UW-WRRC) to gather data to help develop improved techniques/best management practices (BMPs) to accomplish more, successful sagebrush reclamation on mined lands in the Bighorn Basin and other areas with similar characteristics. The project would also assess the successes and/or failures of sagebrush reclamation on bentonite-mined lands over the past 20 years. B. Project Objective: The University of Wyoming ¿ Wyoming Reclamation and Restoration Center (UW-WRRC) will work to determine the best techniques/best management practices to accomplish successful sagebrush reclamation on mined lands. The UW-WRRC will both gather data on its own about climate, soils, and plant communities, and use existing data/locations of past sagebrush reclamation provided by the CYFO and mine company contacts to discover and summarize the best sagebrush reclamation techniques available. UW-WRRC would do the following: (1) review mine permit documents to determine pre-mine vegetation communities, soil data, and species seeded during reclamation efforts, (2) conduct field assessments of reclaimed bentonite lands to determine plant species present, (3) assess recent climatological records, and (4) statistically evaluate the relationships between vegetation establishment, soils, and climate, and discuss in a final report. UW-WRRC would provide the BLM with a quarterly report to ensure the project was progressing as required. C. Period of Agreement: 2 years

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