OSM REFORESTATION PACKAGE AVAILABLE

Planting trees on reclaimed mine sites offers coal companies and communities benefits that make the extra effort pay off, according to the US Office of Surface Mining (OSM).

Jeff Jarrett, director of OSM, announced that his agency is distributing a package to sell coal operators and communities on the benefits of building partnerships to promote reforestation on mined lands.

"Planting trees offers something for everyone," said Jarrett. "Mining companies get better reclamation by planting trees and help increase carbon sequestration. Communities get jobs, a more valuable tax base and more opportunities for recreation and tourism. Trees create and

protect habitat for plants and animals. It's a win-win-win scenario for everyone involved."

OSM's package includes detailed information about the benefits of reforestation and a video, Reforestation: Building a Forest for the Future, which provides a technical "how-to" guide for tree planting efforts.

• The Challenge of Mine Land Reclamation
• Multiple Benefits (including erosion control, clean water, timber, recreational value, job creation, and tax incentives)
• Sound Practices (outlines 5 steps to reclaiming mine land to forestry)
• Leveraging the Environmental Market (ecological assets such as carbon)
• Carbon Sequestration
• Water and Habitat
• Case Study Identifying Ecological Assets (TXU)
• Lessons Learned on Non-Mine Lands
   

Reforestation: Build a Forest for the Future, is a ten minute video that explains the forestry reclamation approach technology useful to creating successful and productive forest land on reclaimed mine sites.

Research by the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and the University of Kentucky has confirmed that highly productive forest land can be created on reclaimed mine land by using a Forestry Reclamation Approach. The Office of Surface Mining has determined that this technology can be implemented under the current federal regulations. The Forestry Reclamation Approach has five fundamental parts:

1. Create a new soil medium by replacing the original soil with four feet of surface soil, weathered sandstone, or the best available material.
2. Loosely grade the topsoil or topsoil substitutes to create a non-compacted soil growth medium.
3. Use native and noncompetitive ground covers that are compatible with growing trees.
4. Plant two types of trees - early succession species for wildlife and mine soil improvement and commercially valuable crop trees.
5. Use proper tree planting techniques.

OSM has sponsored multiple outreach and technology transfer events to promote a market-based approach to reclaiming mined lands and increasing carbon storage through reforestation. The agency is currently working on a technical primer on tree-planting that it hopes to have ready for distribution by the end of the year.

Recently Jarrett appointed a team of headquarters and field personnel to determine if there may be more effective methods to evaluate achievement of the statutory revegetation success standard in the Surface Mining Act and to consider ways to incorporate the greater use of trees, shrubs, and wetlands during reclamation.