The Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative 2018 Mined Land Reforestation Conference took place August 8-9 at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Shaun Busler, of Stream Restoration Incorporated, and an Slippery Rock Watershed Coalition participant, enjoyed attending the conference and learning more about the latest news and ideas regarding restoring forests on coal mined lands.
This year’s theme was ‘Developing Partnerships for Mine Land Reforestation.’
Eric Cavazza, Director of the DEP Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation, provided the keynote address. The Conference featured excellent presentations, interesting posters, and an awards luncheon on August 8th, with site visits to mined lands at various stages of reforestation on August 9th.
Tour sites included Amerikohl Barrett #2, an active mining operation whose innovative reclamation practices include end-dumped piles on flat and traditional grading on slopes, with an Indiana bat and Allegheny Woodrat protection and enhancement plan.
Another field trip stop was the Coaldale AML site, owned by Carmen III, Inc. and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Dean Baker led a tour of Coaldale, which has two priority 2 sites and dangerous highwalls totaling 7,000 linear feet.
The Moshannon State Forest Legacy Site, another tour stop, is undergoing reforestation to reduce forest fragmentation, diversify age class, and improve wildlife habitat.
This forest, a prime elk and deer browsing area, lies within the transition zone between the northern hardwood and Allegheny hardwood forests to the north and mixed oaks and oak-hickory forests to the south.
The Force Legacy Site, owned by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, is undergoing reforestation to decrease forest fragmentation, restore forest habitat for wildlife, and to improve water quality. The site has 1,281 chestnut trees.
The American Chestnut Foundation-PA and the Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative have partnered to include American chestnuts and TACF’s potentially blight resistant chestnuts on reclaimed mines.
Beginning in 2008, ARRI and TACF initiated a program named “Operation Springboard” to use reclaimed surface mines as a springboard for chestnut dispersal into surrounding forests throughout American chestnut’s native range, based on the assumption that chestnuts could be successfully established on reclaimed areas.
The chestnuts on many of these plantings showed phenomenal growth and survival. Encouraged by these successful plantings, ARRI and TACF are continuing to plant pure American chestnuts on mined lands to help preserve American chestnuts’ genetics and to test the suitability of different mined sites for chestnut restoration in anticipation of widespread release of TACF’s blight resistant chestnuts.
(Reprinted from the October edition of the Catalyst newsletter from the Slippery Rock Watershed Coalition in Butler County. Click Here to sign up for your own copy.)
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