(Roanoke, WV) - Getting more hardwood trees planted on coal-mined lands is the goal of an agreement signed December 15 by a broad-based partnership including the coal industry, the federal government and seven Appalachian states.

Meeting to sign the agreement at Stonewall Jackson Lake State Park in the heart of West Virginia coal country were representatives of the US Office of Surface Mining (OSM), the US Forest Service, the federal Department of Energy, the Appalachian coal mining states of Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia, the coal industry, environmental organizations, land companies, and academia.

Together they form the Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative (ARRI). The Statement of Mutual Intent signed today creates a new state and federal project to promote and encourage the reforestation of coal mined lands.

"We're here to share our experience," said Butch Lambert of the Virginia Department of Mines. "We're here to make a commitment to promote reforestation, to develop an initiative through which we can get coal companies involved in planting more trees - and not just more trees, but more viable trees."

"Over the last 50 years of Surface Mining in Appalachia, the vast majority of mined land was originally forest." said Brent Wahlquist, director of OSM's Appalachian Regional Office. "It is our hope that through this initiative, perhaps 50 or 100 years from now it can be forest again, and be virtually indistinguishable from the rest of the landscape."

Reforestation of coal-mined lands has the potential to provide many environmental and economic benefits.

• Environmental benefits include: diversity of plant species; natural succession of native forest plants; enhanced wildlife habitat; soil and water conservation; improvement of overall water quality; and carbon sequestration.

• Economic benefits are also made possible by reforestation; they include: increased timber value; landowner tax reductions; enhanced recreational opportunities; jobs for the local economy; and local tax revenue.

• Reforestation provides an environmentally and economically viable post- mining land use option for both the landowner and the mining company.

A core group of the ARRI began meeting in May to address ways to increase the planting of more high-value Appalachian hardwood trees on active and abandoned coal mines through the use of Forestry Reclamation Approach (FRA) technology. This reclamation technology will provide for the sound restoration of healthy productive forest on mined lands in the Appalachian region.

Organizations that signed the Statement of Mutual Intent agreed to work together to promote use of the FRA technology, which is a five-step reclamation process that has been proven by forestry research to increase tree survival and productivity.

The FRA steps are:

1. Create a suitable rooting medium for good tree growth that is no less than four feet deep and comprised of topsoil, weathered sandstone or the best available material.
2. Loosely grade the topsoil or topsoil substitute to create a non-compacted growth medium.
3. Plant native and noncompetitive ground covers.
4. Plant two types of trees, early succession species that provide for wildlife enhancement and soil stabilization and commercially valuable crop trees.
5. Use proper tree planting techniques.

The FRA technology owes much to academic research, including that done initially by Dr. Clark Ashby, formally of Southern Illinois University and Willis Vogel, formerly of the US Forest Service. Currently research is ongoing at the Starfire Reforestation Project through the University of Kentucky under the direction of Dr. Donald Graves. Reforestation research also takes place at the Powell River Project, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University led by Dr. James Burger and at West Virginia University by Dr. Jeff Skousen.

The objectives of the ARRI partnership are:

• Establish a reforestation program with each of the seven Appalachian Region states that promotes the FRA during reclamation of active coal mining operations and abandoned mined lands projects.
• Raise the awareness of government agencies, private organizations and the general public on economic and environmental benefits associated with planting quality trees using FRA technology.
• Work with federal, state and local governments, mining companies, environmental groups, industry groups, academic and other public and private organizations to identify landowners and mining companies that will use the FRA technology in reclamation.
• Provide a forum to transfer technology and other information concerning the creation of highly productive forestland and related environmental assets and cooperate as a clearinghouse to share data and information as it relates to current FRA technology.
• Apply FRA technology for growing quality trees while supporting the development of new technologies.
• Prepare periodic reports to describe the current status, success and increased productive tree-planting efforts of projects using the FRA technology by all parties to the agreement.
• Promote the establishment of native forest species.

Individuals who signed the agreement for their organizations were: