This was a lesson well learned; thank you Oshyan. Your prediction of a 10 hour render time hit the mark - render time for this optimized version took 9.53.17. As mentioned earlier, the original rendered in 70+ hours. I've archived this thread for future reference.
I lowered the sun for improved shadows on the right side mountain. Replaced one of the dried grasses.
Earlier, I forgot to mention that the 4097 .ter file here was created by Buzzzzz in World Machine some years ago. And, the dried grasses were converted by him.