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Partnership Promotes Reforestation On
Mined Lands - The goal of planting more native hardwood trees on
active and abandoned coal mines in the Appalachian region is one step
closer to reality.
December 20, 2004
Office of Surface Mining News Release
From: Chuck Meyers cmeyers@osmre.gov
Contact: Vic Davis 865-545-4103
Mike Gauldin 202-208-2565
(Roanoke, WV) - Getting more hardwood trees planted on coal-mined
lands
is the goal of an agreement signed December 15, 2004, by a
broad-based partnership including the coal industry, the federal
government and seven Appalachian states.
Meeting to sign the agreement at Stonewall Jackson
Lake State Park in the heart of West Virginia coal country were
representatives of the U.S. Office of Surface Mining (OSM),
the USDA Forest Service, the federal Department
of Energy (DOE), the Appalachian coal mining states
of Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and
West Virginia, the coal industry, environmental
organizations, land companies, and academia.
Together they form the Appalachian Regional Reforestation
Initiative (ARRI).
The Statement of Mutual Intent (SMI) signed today creates a new state
and federal project to promote and encourage the reforestation of coal
mined lands.
"We're here to share our experience," said Butch Lambert of
the Virginia Department of Mines. "We're here to make a
commitment to promote reforestation, to develop an initiative through
which we can get coal companies involved in planting more trees -- and
not just more trees, but more viable trees."
"Over the last 50 years of Surface Mining in Appalachia, the vast
majority of mined land was originally forest." said Brent
Wahlquist, director of OSM's Appalachian Regional Office. "It is
our hope that through this initiative, perhaps 50 or 100 years from
now it can be forest again, and be virtually indistinguishable
from the rest of the landscape."
Reforestation of coal-mined lands has the potential to provide many
environmental and economic benefits.
Environmental benefits include: diversity of plant species; natural
succession of native forest plants; enhanced
wildlife habitat; soil and water conservation; improvement
of overall water quality; and carbon sequestration.
Economic benefits are also made possible by reforestation; they
include: increased timber value; landowner tax reductions; enhanced
recreational opportunities; jobs for the local economy; and
local tax revenue.
Reforestation provides an environmentally and economically viable
post-mining land use option for both the landowner and the mining
company.
A core group of the ARRI began meeting in May 2004 to address
ways to increase the planting of more high-value Appalachian hardwood
trees on active and abandoned coal mines through the use of Forestry
Reclamation Approach (FRA) technology. This reclamation technology
will provide for the sound restoration of healthy productive forest on
mined lands in the Appalachian region.
Organizations that signed the Statement of Mutual Intent agreed to
work together to promote use of the FRA technology, which is a
five-step reclamation process that has been proven by forestry
research to increase tree survival and productivity.
The FRA steps are:
Create a suitable rooting medium for good tree growth that is no less
than four feet deep and comprised of topsoil, weathered sandstone or
the best available material.
Loosely grade the topsoil or topsoil substitute to create a
non-compacted growth medium.
Plant native and noncompetitive ground covers.
Plant two types of trees, early succession species that provide for
wildlife enhancement and soil stabilization and commercially valuable
crop trees.
Use proper tree planting techniques.
The FRA technology owes much to academic research, including that done
initially by Dr. Clark Ashby, formally of Southern Illinois University
and Willis Vogel, formerly of the US Forest Service.
Currently research is ongoing at the Starfire Reforestation Project
through the University of Kentucky under the direction of Dr. Donald
Graves.
Reforestation research also takes place at the Powell River Project,
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University led by Dr. James
Burger and at West Virginia University by Dr. Jeff Skousen.
The objectives of the ARRI partnership are:
Establish a reforestation program with each of the seven Appalachian
Region states that promotes the FRA during reclamation of active coal
mining operations and abandoned mined lands projects.
Raise the awareness of government agencies, private organizations and
the general public on economic and environmental benefits associated
with planting quality trees using FRA technology.
Work with federal, state and local governments, mining companies,
environmental groups, industry groups, academic and other public and
private organizations to identify landowners and mining companies that
will use the FRA technology in reclamation.
Provide a forum to transfer technology and other information
concerning the creation of highly productive forestland and related
environmental assets and cooperate as a clearinghouse to share data
and information as it relates to current FRA technology.
Apply FRA technology for growing quality trees while supporting the
development of new technologies.
Prepare periodic reports to describe the current status, success and
increased productive tree-planting efforts of projects using the FRA
technology by all parties to the agreement.
Promote the establishment of native forest species.
Individuals who signed the agreement for their organizations were:
Brent Wahlquist, OSM Appalachian Region
Susan Bush, Commissioner of Kentucky Department of Natural Resources
Stephanie R. Timmermeyer, Secretary of the West Virginia Department of
Environmental Protection
G. Nevin Strock for J. Scott Roberts, Deputy Secretary, Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental Protection
Tim Dieringer, OSM Field Office Director, Tennessee Federal Program
Mark Killar, Western PA Conservancy, Pittsburgh, PA
Bruce Golden, Western Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Lands
Todd Groh, Assistant State Forester, West Virginia Division of
Forestry
Lawrence T. Beckerle, Chairman WV State Chapter of Quail Unlimited
Rick Williams, Williams Forestry
William H Gillespie, Gillespie Forestry Services
Fred Conner, Peabody Energy
Jeff D. Bitzer, Catenary Coal Co.
Kent DesRocher, Arch Coal of West Virginia
Ken Ellison, Director, West Virginia Department of Environmental
Protection
Gerald Collins, PE Acting Division Director, Virginia Department of
Mines, Minerals, and Energy
Robert Zik, Vice President TECO Coal/ Chairman Professional Engineers
in Mining KY
Scott Perkins, International Coal Group, Birch River Mine
Eugene E Stoots Jr., Regional Forester, Virginia Dept of Forestry
Michael Garner for Ed Larrimore, Program Manage, Maryland Mining
Program
Michael Sponsler, Chief, Division of Minerals and Resources
Management,
Ohio Department of Natural Resources
Reed E. Detring, Big South Fork, National Recreation Area. National
Park Service
D. Michael Baines, Staff Officer, Minerals, Land, Recreation and Fire,
USDA Forest Service
David Ledford, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
Richard Herd, National Mine Land Reclamation Center at WVU
William B Raney, WV Coal Association
James A Burger, Professor of Forestry and Soil Science at Virginia
Tech
David S Buckley, University of Tennessee
Carmen Agouridis, University of Kentucky
Richard Warner, University of Kentucky
Charles Gorbel, Ohio State University
David M Hix, Ohio State University
Donald H Graves, University of Kentucky
Representative Rocky Adkins, Majority Leader, Kentucky Legislature
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