mining reclamation problems, participated in the 

 mine examinations in Utah, Colorado, New Mex- 

 ico, and Arizona and contributed to this report in 

 consultive and review capacities. The technical 

 advice and logistical assistance of local Federal 

 officials is gratefully acknowledged. These of- 

 ficials include Arnie Matilla, John Paul Storrs, 

 Bill Newby, Vernon Ruill, Douglas Hileman, 

 Archie Carver, Jim Edward, Bill Clarke, and 

 Moon Horn of the U.S. Geological Survey, and 

 James Webb, Richard Enriquez, Bryant Christen- 

 son, Jim Forest, Bob Black, and Ruby Hartman 

 of the U.S. Forest Service. 



Officials of the mining companies were partic- 

 ularly helpful in providing on-site guidance and 

 discussion on their reclamation practices. They 

 include Nick Bettas, Kemmerer Coal Company; 

 Jerry Ellis, Rosebud Coal Company; Glen Doss, 

 Gordon Peters, and Duane Richards, Pacific 

 Power and Light; John Bradley, Amax Coal Com- 

 pany; Dave Jennings and Dwight Layton, Decker 

 Coal Company; Reg Hoff, Walter BeGay, Jan 

 Macfarlan, and Roy Karo, Peabody Coal Com- 

 pany; Ralph Moore and Bill Sullivan, Westmore- 

 land Resources; Joe Mitzel, Jim Brown, and 

 Terry Dudley, North American Coal Company; 

 Jack Etherton, Al Czarnosky, Jr., Bill Noud, and 

 Kent Crofts, Energy Fuels Corporation; Rodney 

 Gabehart, Western Coal Company; and Sterling 

 Grogan, Utah International and Midway Coal 

 Mining Company. 



DEFINITION 



Planned reclamation, as defined in this report, 

 is the process of returning mined lands to their 

 premining productive capability or to a greater 

 productive capability. It involves reshaping the 

 disturbed lands into stable landforms and estab- 

 lishing a self-sustaining vegetative cover. 



The majority of western Federal coal lands are 

 classified as rangelands, which are used and 

 managed as both wildlife habitats and as stock 

 grazing areas. If a decision is made to return 

 such lands to the same use after mining, it is im- 

 plicit that the final result, the "reclaimed lands," 

 will have (1) soil and plants established at about 

 the same point in the plant succession, and (2) a 

 plant diversity that is both self-sustaining under 

 natural extremes of weather and climate and 

 that provides a habitat for a variety of wildlife. 



These goals commonly demand the use of a 

 large component of native plants. The signifi- 

 cant criterion of reclamation effectiveness, how- 

 ever, would be the restored capability and stabil- 

 ity of the mined area as rangeland rather than the 

 restoration of the premining ecosystem. 



RECLAMATION OBJECTIVES 



The objectives of reclamation have been 

 changed over the years— between regions, be- 

 tween mines, and even within single mines— as 

 the need for these changes became apparent to 

 lawmakers. Contemporary goals in the western 

 coal region have evolved to include (1) reducing 

 the steepness of the land slopes on excavated 

 materials, or "spoils," that overlay the mined 

 coalbeds and of the end-of-mining cliff-like 

 highwalls, and (2) establishing a cover of peren- 

 nial native vegetation that can provide food and 

 cover for livestock and wildlife and reduce the 

 erosion potential. Initial implementation of 

 these objectives has sometimes resulted in 

 large areas that are nearly covered by a single 

 nonnative legume or grass species or at most a 

 few species. In recent years, because of greater 

 awareness and concern for wildlife habitat and 

 the possible long-term instability of monoculture- 

 like plantings and nonnative plants, postmining 

 efforts have been directed toward establishment 

 of much more diverse plant communities and 

 greater use of native plants, including woody 

 browse shrubs and trees. The Surface Mining 

 Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (Public Law 

 95-87) has unified and broadened the objectives 

 of reclamation of surface-mined lands on a na- 

 tionwide basis. 



THE RECLAMATION PROCESS 



In the western surface coal mine region, recla- 

 mation is a continuing process, tied into the 

 mining process, commencing with the initial re- 

 moval and stockpiling of the topsoils. As mining 

 progresses, the material above the coal, the 

 overburden, is sequentially removed and 

 deposited as "spoil piles" in previously mined- 

 out sections (see frontispiece). Any overburden 

 materials usable for plant growth media may be 

 salvaged and stockpiled at this time. The spoil 



