Restoring Forests and Associated Ecosystem Services on Appalachian Coal Surface Mines

• Published in: Environmental management (New York) 2011-05, Vol.47 (5), p.751-765
• Main Authors: Zipper, Carl E., Burger, James A., Skousen, Jeffrey G., Angel, Patrick N., Barton, Christopher D., Davis, Victor, Franklin, Jennifer A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Appalachian Region; Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Carbon sequestration; Coal industry; Coal mines; Coal Mining; Conservation of Natural Resources - methods; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecology; Ecosystem; Ecosystem services; Ecosystems; Enforcement; Environment; Environmental economics; Environmental Management; Environmental regulations; Environmental restoration; Flowers & plants; Forest ecosystems; Forestry; Forestry Management; Forests; Land reclamation; Mines; Nature Conservation; Net losses; Reclamation; Reforestation; Regulation; Scientists; Soil sciences; Strip mining; Terrestrial ecosystems; Trees; Vegetation; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; Water quality; Watershed protection; Wildlife habitats
• ISSN: 0364-152X; 1432-1009
• DOI: 10.1007/s00267-011-9670-z

Surface coal mining in Appalachia has caused extensive replacement of forest with non-forested land cover, much of which is unmanaged and unproductive. Although forested ecosystems are valued by society for both marketable products and ecosystem services, forests have not been restored on most Appalachian mined lands because traditional reclamation practices, encouraged by regulatory policies, created conditions poorly suited for reforestation. Reclamation scientists have studied productive forests growing on older mine sites, established forest vegetation experimentally on recent mines, and identified mine reclamation practices that encourage forest vegetation re-establishment. Based on these findings, they developed a Forestry Reclamation Approach (FRA) that can be employed by coal mining firms to restore forest vegetation. Scientists and mine regulators, working collaboratively, have communicated the FRA to the coal industry and to regulatory enforcement personnel. Today, the FRA is used routinely by many coal mining firms, and thousands of mined hectares have been reclaimed to restore productive mine soils and planted with native forest trees. Reclamation of coal mines using the FRA is expected to restore these lands’ capabilities to provide forest-based ecosystem services, such as wood production, atmospheric carbon sequestration, wildlife habitat, watershed protection, and water quality protection to a greater extent than conventional reclamation practices.