Forestry As a Reclamation Practice on Strip Mined

FORESTRY AS A RECLAMATION PRACTICE

ON STRIP MINED LANDS IN KANSAS'

Harold G. Gallaher and Gary G. ~au~hton~

Abstract.--A general description of the signifi- cance of coal strip mining in Kansas and the current efforts to reclaim spoil banks to forest uses. Land- owner's objectives are shown to be the most limiting factor in forestry operations.

Strip mining for coal in Kansas began in 2) The weathering of these exposed py- the 1860's with horse-drawn equipment and hand rites left on old mine dumps and tools, working on seams exposed at the surface tipple sites is a source of sulfuric along creeks and bluffs. Drift and tunnel acid pollution in pit waters and mines began at about the same time. By 1877, local streams . a steam-operated shovel had been introduced and stripping of surface overburden began. In 1918, 3) The oxidation of pyritic materials the first electrically powered shovel was used creates "hot spots" of toxic wastes and strip mining rapidly displaced tunnel mining which occur randomly throughout the in the region (Pierce and Courtier, 1937). spoil banks and inhibit reclamation efforts. Kansas coal occurs in the eastern one- fourth of the state in what is part of the The reclamation problem in Kansas is not Western Interior Bituminous Coal Province large in scope. Since 1969, we have had the (Powell, 1974) . Currently, there are six com- Mined Land Reclamation and Conservation Act mercial seams of bituminous coal in southeastern (Kansas, 1968), which requires new mines to Kansas occurring in association with shales, be leveled to a substantially flat surface. limestones, and sandstones of the Pennsylvanian The visible results of this "reclaim as you Era sediments. Some commercial grades of fire go" requirement, are readily apparent. Re- clay are also found at some sites. vegetation is predominantly to fescue pasture or wheat, both of which are common local The occurrence of large amounts of iron products of farming practices on un-mined pyrites in Kansas coal causes three significant lands. Other common perennial forages used problems : include alfalfa, clover, vetch, and warm season native grasses. 1) The sulfur fraction of the pyrite gives an average yield of over 3% Pri.or to the 1969 law, some 46,000 acres sulphur to our coal, which in turn of strip mined lands were unreclaimed and not causes problems in combustion from subject tc the provisions of the new law. This the air pollution point of view. represents only .08% of the land in Kansas and is thus not a massive problem from the State -- perspective. 'paper presented at the Trees for Reclama- tion Symposium, Lexington, Kentucky on October However, most of this abandoned land is 27-29, 1980. in a two-county area which has been impacted by the ups and downs of the coal-mining econ- 2~dentificationof authors: omy for over a century. In these two counties unreclaimed strip mined lands cover approxi- Harold G. Gallaher mately 6% of the area--still not a massive State and Extension Forester problem. But, there are some townships which Gary G. Naughton are nearly 50% strip mined due to the concen- Assitant State Extension Forester tration of the commercial coal seams. As in Department of Forestry all problems, the perspective is important. 2610 Claflin Road Manhattan, KS 66502 As early as 1935, the U.S. Forest Ser- 1) improving the accessibility to pit vice established tree plantation research waters. plots in Kansas strip mines (~oger,1949). In 1967, the Forestry Department at Kansas 2) controlling on-site erosion which State University initiated research in the pollutes these waters. strip mines based upon the work of the USFS 3) planting shoreline vegetation for and designed to evaluate tree species selec- aesthetic purposes which would not tion and management practices which would be included in the normal harvesting be feasible and practical for the reclama- cycle. tion of strip mines as productive forests, 4) excluding use by domestice live- (Geyer, 1971) . stock so that wild game habitat will be enhanced. Hardwood forests occur naturally on about 10% of the land in the region of Kansas where strip mining has been concen- PAST RECLAMATION EFFORTS trated. Our work with private landowners and public officials has been based upon Over the years, the Kansas Fish and Game the concept that, ideally, 10% of land re- Commission has acquired control of approxi- claimed would return to forest uses so that mately 6,500 acres of these spoil banks for the agricultural economy of the area would approach normalcy. management as public hunting and fishing re- serves. The preponderance of this acreage is The Forestry Department began a de- is wooded, some of it having been planted by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the mid- tailed study of the spoil bank lands in May 1930's under the direction of the U.S. Forest of 1980 for the purposes of determining the Service. A larger portion of this public feasibility of establishing energy forest plantations on these lands as a reclamation land is naturally re-forested as the result of management policies which favored trees by technique. The study is designed to assi- excluding domestic livestock. milate all the past research data from spoil bank experimentation plus the inputs from a recently completed study on short There are three recreation developments by private individuals established on a fee rotation energy forests, (Naughton, 1980) . basis. They have received some public financial support in the past for partial re- Two possible outcomes are anticipated: shaping of the spoil banks and for some re- 1) production of cordwood fuels for vegetation work. For the most part, these operations are only modestly successful, the direct consumption as home heating owners all having other primary sources of fuel. income. 2) production of woodchips for combustion in mixture with high sul- Individual landowners have not typically fur coal for industrial use. planted trees in their efforts to reclaim spoil banks. There are, however, a few no- In the first case, our study is showing table exceptions which have been quite suc- that reclamation is relatively low cost, re- cessful. For the most part, tree planting liable, but also low in total economic pro- is viewed as an aesthetic correction to the ductivity because of the time required to landscape. In one case there is a modestly produce a crop and the low stumpage value successful Christmas tree plantation. per cord. A few small areas of spoil banks close In the second case, reclamation costs to Pittsburg have been reclaimed for country will be higher because spoil banks will need homesites. These are extremely popular but to be leveled sufficiently prior to planting there is little hope that such highly devel- to allow for mechanized planting and har- oped use will have a major impact on reclama- vesting of trees. The returns per acre will tion. also be higher because of the shorter rotation and the higher yield per acre. We currently estimate that nearly 3,000 acres of formerly abandoned spoil banks have In both cases, the concept of reclama- been reclaimed to pasture--mostly fescue-- tion to forestry uses takes into consider- by private individuals using one or more of ation the value of the head-wall pits for available federally financed grants through fishing and water based recreation and in- the Resource Conservation and Development tends to develop and enhance these values District or the Agricultural Stabilization by : and Conservation Service. This leaves us approximately 32,000 Reclamation of naturally stocked spoil acres still inadequately treated. banks is relatively easy. In most cases , the principal requirements are to (1) develop access routes into the areas for logging FOREST MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS purposes and (2) to find markets for relatively low-value products. In the first The abandoned spoil bank lands we are case, we are developing a reclamation model dealing with were all mined prior to 1969, which will use public funds for development of the median age of the acreage being over 30 low-cost access routes. In the second case, years old. Substantial weathering of spoils we are depending upon the increased market has taken place during that time, and to for fuelwood to consume the majority of our some extent, time has already healed the product output. wounds. A general guide for the reclamation of Natural revegetation by cottonwood has spoils in Kansas was prepared by the Soil been substantially successful on 20% of the Conservation Service and Kansas State Univer- area, and almost 60% of the unreclaimed area sity (uSDA, 1969). Spoils classification, has cottonwood and other volunteer hardwood site preparation, species selection, manage- cover between 20% and 50% stocking. ment practices, and conservation measures are out lined. It is our conclusion that we can expect biological success in tree planting most of OTHER CURRENT STUDIES the time if we use cottonwood, black locust, loblolly pine, and pin oak. Black walnut, The Center for Public Affairs and the bur oak, European alder, and autumn olive Kansas Applied Remote Sensing Program of the are also highly reliable species for vegeta- University of Kansas are jointly conducting tion. an inventory of abandoned mined lands in Kansas. The project is funded by the Office Economic success of reforestation appears Surface Mining* The primary objective to be marginal at best. It is our current of the inventory is to identify health, belief that salable quantities of cot tonwood sazety and environmental problems associated and black locust can be produced from planta- with abandoned coal mines in the state. tions, and there is some hope for loblolly Interviews with county agency personnel, pine. The other species appear to be sub- local officials, and area residents are being marginal. conducted to identify specific problem areas. In addition, existing medium-scale and high Socio-political successes in reforesta- altitude color infrared photography are being tion seem to be geared to the fact that the used to evaluate general site conditions and local public will accept a limited amount of to identify problems resulting from acid "forest" in the region. It is also important spoil conditions and consequent poor revege- to realize that these forest areas are accept- tation. On-site visits are conducted to able to the public from the viewpoint of evaluate and document the problems. The aesthetics, recreation and wildlife habitat. information gained from this inventory will Economic productivity is not a significant be used by the Office of Surface Mining for public issue at the levels of forest which prioritizing the reclamation of abandoned will be readily acceptable. mined landc 5- Sansas. This same team is also conducting a Pro- The critical considerations for us are totype Study in southeastern Kansas which the wants, needs, and attitudes of the indi- will be used to assist OSM and the coal pro- viduals who own the mined lands in question. ducing states in improving the quality and It is generally true in Kansas that people utility of inventories. The tasks of the who make their living directly from the land Prototype Study are included among six major don't plant trees, while those people with research components. These components are other primary sources of income do plant as follows: trees. Thus, ref orestation efforts on Kansas mines are more limited by landowner attitudes 1) Assessment of Mine Spoils and Mine than by biological, economic or political Soils. constraints . 2) Assessment of Erosion-Sedimentation Prob lems . In cases where stands of trees are already established, we still find the land- 3) Assessment of Vegetation Problems. owners divided as to what production alterna- 4) Assessment of Water Quality Problems. tives they will consider, although we do have broader general acceptance of forestry prac- 5) Assessment of Socio-Economic Factors tices on existing stands from all classes of and Problems. owners.

23 6) Assessment of Research Methodologies, i .e. , Photo Reconnaissance, for components 1 through 5.

A considerable amount of previous re- LITERATURE CITED search has focused on mine soils associated with reclaimed lands. In contrast, little Geyer, Wayne A. 1971. Reforesting Kansas research has been directed towards the condi- coal spoils. Kansas Agric. Expt. Sta., tions of mine spoils or mine soils on aban- Cir. 399, 9 p. doned mined lands. The Prototype Study will determine the specific physical and chemical Kansas, 1968. The 1968 session laws of properties of mine spoils that should be Kansas. Mined Land Conservation and measured prior to reclamation. This informa- Reclamation Act, 797-808. tion can be used to determine reclamation alternatives and reclamation techniques. In Naughton, Gary G. (Ed.) 1980. The Univer- addition, sampling methods are being tested sity of Kansas energy forest. Ozarks in the Prototype Study to determine the most Regional Commission, Doc. No. 106 1-0050, efficient and economical means of collecting 74 p. the mine soil and mine spoil data. Refine- ment of these methodologies will lead to the Pierce, W.G. and Courtier, W.H. 1937. development of systematic sampling schemes Geology and coal resources of south- for use in states that are involved with the eastern Kansas coal field. Kansas reclamation of abandoned mined lands . Geological Survey, 122 p.

Erosion and sedimentation have been Powell, William E. 1974. Mechanized strip identified iis maj or problems associated with mining and land reclamation in the Chero- abandoned mined lands in Kansas. The Proto- kee-Cranford coal field of southeastern type Study is being used to (1) determine Kansas. Transactians of the Kansas whether there are significant flood hazards Academy of Science, Vol. 76, No. 2, associated with sedimentation in problem 167-182. areas, (2) assess the impacts of erosion and sedimentation on vegetation in problem Rogers, Nelson F. 1949. The growth and areas, and (3) test data collection techniques development of black walnut (Juglans and identify the best methods for acquiring nigra L.) in coal strip-mined land in the data. In order to maximize the under- southeastern Kansas. Trans. Kansas standing of the interactions involved with Acad. Sci. , Vol. 52, 49-104. the aging of mine spoils, erosion and sedimentation are being assessed in areas coin- USDA, 1969. A guide for reclamation and cidental with and immediately adjacent to conservation of strip mined spoils those selected for vegetation and spoil in Kansas. USDA Soil Conservation analyses. Both studies will be completed in Service with Kansas State University, February, 1981. 70 p.