Reforestation guidelines for unused surface mined lands: Development, application and adoption

Abstract

More than 600,000 hectares of mostly forested land in the Appalachian region were surface mined for coal under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act. Today, these lands are largely unmanaged and covered with persistent herbaceous species, such as fescue and serecia lespedeza, and a mix of invasive and native woody species with little commercial or ecological value. Some landowners and surrounding residents would like to restore native forests on some of these lands for the valuable products and services they provided prior to mining. For these lands to become productive forests, intervention is needed to loosen compacted mine soils, correct chemical or nutrient deficiencies, and replace the current vegetation. Reforestation guidelines to restore native forests on mined lands that are unoccupied, unmanaged, and unproductive were developed. Practices include land clearing, mine soil tillage, fertilization, tree planting, weed control and monitoring. The recommended practices were tested on a 35-ha mine site, originally reclaimed to grassland and bond-released in 1997. After the second growing season mean stocking of 885 ha-1 was achieved. Five of the six primary planted species (black, white, and red oak, tulip poplar, black cherry) had statistically equivalent stocking, but tulip poplar and black cherry had the highest mean height and biomass. Volunteer trees occurred on most measurement plots; most volunteer trees were native but invasive shrubs were also present. The pre-existing vegetation proved to be persistent and competitive, demonstrating the importance of vegetation control and strategic nutrient application to reforestation success. Under leadership provided by the Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative, a group formed by the Office of Surface Mining and seven state regulatory authorities, these procedures have been adopted and applied by watershed improvement groups, forestry and fish/wildlife agencies, coal companies, environmental groups, and an electrical generating company pursuing carbon credits.