Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative
The Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative (ARRI) is a coalition of groups, including citizens, the coal industry, and government dedicated to restoring forests on coal mined lands in the Eastern United States.
ARRI is a cooperative effort between OSMRE, state agencies in Alabama, Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, industry partners, environmental organizations, academia, and landowners.
ARRI advocates using a technique known as the Forestry Reclamation Approach (FRA) to plant trees on coal mined lands. Highly productive forests can be created on reclaimed mine lands under existing laws and regulations by using the Forestry Reclamation Approach.
ARRI works on three categories on mine lands; Active Mining Operations, AML projects (Abandoned Mine Lands), and Legacy Sites (previously mined and reclaimed sites where reforestation opportunities exist).
The goal of ARRI is to:
- Plant more high-value native trees on coal mine lands in Appalachia
- Increase the survival rates and growth rates of planted trees
- Expedite the establishment of forest habitat through natural succession
Why is ARRI important?
- Trees are a renewable resource and a good investment. High-quality timber can offer substantial revenue for landowners and job opportunities for local residents.
- Trees are environmentally important. They minimize soil erosion, remove carbon dioxide from the air, provide wildlife habitat and diverse plant species, and help to conserve water resources.
- Reforestation restores our forests which are important recreational areas for hunting, hiking, mountain biking, camping, bird watching, backpacking, and ATV riding.
ARRI seeks to change the existing Cultural, Technical, and Regulatory barriers surrounding the forestry reclamation of coal mined lands.
- Cultural: change the perception that tree planting is more expensive and riskier than conventional reclamation, provide education on the impacts of compaction, and change the perception of what good forestry reclamation should look like
- Technical: eliminate excessive surface compaction, ground cover competition, and inappropriate growth medium; plant high value native trees
- Regulatory: change the perception that regulations impede effective reforestation techniques and interfere with bond release
ARRI FRA Planting Sites within Appalachian Regions 1 and 2
This interactive map is a work in progress and is being updated as ARRI partners provide data. If any omissions are noted, or if corrections or additional information is needed, please contact [email protected]. Please note: on active mining operations the coal industry plants the trees and shrubs, on AML projects the state AML programs plant the trees and shrubs, and on legacy sites, ARRI fiduciary partners plant the trees and shrubs.
Upcoming Tree Planting Events
Are you interested in attending an ARRI tree planting event this spring? Events will be taking place across the Appalachian Region.
View the 2025 Volunteer Tree Planting Schedule
ARRI is “looking forward,” working diligently to educate and train the active mining industry and regulatory personnel about the Forest Reclamation Approach (FRA) and the ways to reclaim surface coal mines to mitigation past and future disturbances to forests.
ARRI is also “looking backward” at the estimated 1 million acres of non-forested, bond released mined lands that could be available for reforestation in the Eastern US. The reforestation guidelines developed by ARRI Scientists are being applied by ARRI to selected mined sites for restoring mined land to native forests. Starting in 2009, ARRI has partnered with state and federal agencies, watershed groups, coal operators, conservation groups, environmental organizations, faith-based groups, and numerous universities, colleges, and high schools to coordinate volunteer tree planting projects/events throughout Appalachia.
These events involve ARRI partner organizations, volunteer and professional tree planters, and result in the planting of trees on previously reclaimed mine lands where reforestation opportunities exist. ARRI’s role in these endeavors is to facilitate communication, provide technical assistance, and to match funding sources with suitable mined land and volunteer groups. ARRI foresters coordinate site selection and evaluation, herbicide treatments, ripping activities, species selection, tree planting, and follow-up surveys. ARRI's main fiduciary on legacy sites is Green Forest Works.
This post-reclamation reforestation effort has the additional benefit of outreach and awareness that is being created for proper mine land reforestation with the public, industry, and regulatory authorities. Reforestation efforts, including ripping and tree planting, with several mining companies on their previously reclaimed mine lands have led them to embrace the FRA on their active mining operations. Many state and federal regulators involved in the volunteer tree planting projects have expressed positive attitudes for the forestry post-mining land use and employing the FRA on the ‘front-end’ of the reclamation process instead of as an ‘after the fact’ process.
After a few years of piecing together tree planting projects with donated trees, in-kind services, volunteer tree planters, and very limited funding, the ARRI tree planting events have evolved into large scale projects funded by grants, cost share programs, utility companies seeking carbon credits and corporate donations. Most of this funding is used for site preparation, tree seedings, and planting.
Learn more about reforestation here: Reforestation Guidelines for Surface Mined Lands in the Eastern United States 460-144.
ARRI Advocates Using the Forestry Reclamation Approach (FRA) to Reclaim Coal Mined Lands
The 5 Steps of the FRA:
- Create a suitable rooting medium for good tree growth that is no less than 4 feet deep and comprised of topsoil, weathered sandstone, and/or the best available material
- Loosely grade the topsoil or topsoil substitutes established in step one to create a non-compacted growth medium
- Use ground covers that are compatible with growing trees
- Plant two types of trees – 1) early succession species for wildlife and soil stability, and 2) commercially valuable crop trees
- Use proper tree planting techniques
The FRA technique described above is based on the forestry research and scientific studies of several leading universities. Current Federal and State regulations support the FRA technique for establishing forests as a post-mining land use. ARRI has determined that when FRA is implemented, bond releases are not delayed.
State Nurseries
Kentucky Department of Natural Resources
Division of Forestry
627 Comanche Trail
Frankfort, KY 40601
Phone: (502) 564-4496
Fax: (502) 564-6553
Website
Maryland Department of Natural Resources
3424 Gallagher Road
Preston, MD 21655
Telephone: (800) 873-3763
Website
Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry (Penn Nursery)
137 Penn Nursery Rd
Spring Mills, PA 16875
Telephone: (814) 364-5150
Tennessee Division of Forestry
East TN Nursery
9063 Hwy 411
PO Box 59, Delano, TN 37325
Telephone: (877) 868-7337
Website
Virginia Department of Forestry
Augusta Forestry Center
90 Forestry Lane
Crimora, VA 24431
Telephone: (540) 363-7000
Website
Private Nurseries
ArborGen Inc.
2011 Broadbank Court
Ridgeville, SC 29472
Phone: (843) 851-4129
Fax: (843) 832-2164
Servicing PA, MD, VA, and WV
RPM Ecosystems LLC
Contact: Leslie Carrere
2150 Dryden Road
P.O. Box 6
Dryden, New York 13053-9998
Phone: (607) 844-9590
Fax: (607) 844-9591
Toll Free: 1 (888) 776-9590
Williams Forestry & Associates
Contact: Rick Williams
P.O. Box 1543
377 Sunset Dr Se
Calhoun, GA 30701
Phone: (706) 629-0353
Cell: (404) 229-0598
E-mail: [email protected]
Itasca Greenhouse, Inc.
Contact: William Sayward
26385 Blackwater Road
PO Box 273
Cohasset, MN 55721
Phone: (218) 328-6261
Fax: (218) 328-9843
Toll Free: 1 (800) 538-8733
E-mail: [email protected]
If you would like your nursery added to this list, please contact [email protected]
For More Information
ARRI was established in early 2004 with the formation of the Core Team. The mission of the team includes:
- To develop a Statement of Mutual Intent in order to clarify the goals of the initiative and to make a pledge between the ARRI partners to promote the re-establishment of forestland on mine sites in Appalachia.
- To serve as a contact for outreach, trainings, event planning, monthly meetings to discuss progress reports and new strategies.
Core Team Members
Scott Eggerud, OSMRE Team Leader
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
State and Federal Programs Branch
P. O. Box 703
Ona, WV 25545
(304) 633-5263
[email protected]
State Team Leader
(Vacant)
OSMRE Regional Contacts
Appalachian Region
Scott Eggerud (see above)
Cliff Drouet,
ARRI Forester
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
Lexington, KY
(303) 549-7249
[email protected]
Jim Taitt
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
3 Parkway Center
Pittsburgh, PA 15220
(412) 937-2106
[email protected]
Brian Dailey
Ecologist
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation & Enforcement
Technical Support Division
Water, Geological & Geospatial Branch
3 Parkway Center Drive,
Pittsburgh, PA 15220
(412) 510-6923
[email protected]
Julia Butzler,
Environmental Protection Specialist
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
Pittsburgh Assistance Division
[email protected]
Mid-Continent Region
Frank McCoy
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
501 Belle Street, Suite 216
Alton, IL 62002
(618) 463-6463 ext. 5126
[email protected]
Headquarters
Rosemary Burk, Ph.D.
Program Analyst, (AML Reclamation Specialist)
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement,
Division of Reclamation Support
(202) 208-3016
[email protected]
State and OSMRE Contacts
ALABAMA
Mike Jones
Alabama Surface Mining Commission
P.O. Box 2390, Jasper, AL 35502-2390
(205) 221-4130
[email protected]
Marsha Holley
AML & Regulatory Program Specialist
Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement
Birmingham Field Office
Office: (205) 517-8703
Cell: (205) 910-3265
[email protected]
KENTUCKY
Joel S. Whisman
Division of Abandoned Mine Lands
300 Sower Blvd.
Frankfort, KY 40601
Office: (502) 782-6804
Cell: (606) 594-4549
[email protected]
Owen Michels
KY Division of Mine Reclamation and Enforcement
(502) 782-7199
[email protected]
Janice Zimmer
Environmental Scientist V
Division of Mine Permits
Department for Natural Resources
300 Sower Blvd
Frankfort, KY 40601
(502) 782-6812
[email protected]
James D. Sherrod
Environmental Control Supervisor
Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet
300 Sower Boulevard, Frankfort, KY 40601
(502) 782-6766
[email protected]
Courtney Mastin
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
Lexington Field Office
2675 Regency Road
Lexington, Kentucky 40503
(859) 260-3912
[email protected]
Pam Snyder
Forest Management Chief
Kentucky Division of Forestry
Frankfort, KY
[email protected]
Darcie Jarman
Environmental Scientist Advisor
DMRE Complaints and Technical Investigations Section
300 Sower Boulevard, Frankfort, KY 40601
Office: (502) 782-6669
Cell: (502) 783-0448
[email protected]
MARYLAND
Matt Rowley
Environmental Compliance Specialist III
Maryland Department of Environment
Bureau of Mines Division
Frostburg, Maryland 21532
(301) 689-1444
[email protected]
Shayla Lewis
Natural Resources Planner I
Abandoned Mine Land Division, Maryland Department of the Environment
160 South Water Street Frostburg, Maryland 21532
(301) 689-1461
[email protected]
John G. Cislo
Surface Mining Reclamation Specialist
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
Pittsburgh Field Office
Cell: (412) 518-2885
[email protected]
OHIO
Marissa Lautzenheiser
Environmental Specialist
Ohio Department of Natural Resources
2207 Reiser AVE SE
New Philadelphia, OH 44663
(614) 867-3552
[email protected]
www.ohiodnr.gov
PENNSYLVANIA
Mike Stayrook
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation
286 Industrial Park Road
Ebensburg, PA 15931
(814) 472-1888
[email protected]
Ethan Cree
Engineer
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation
(570) 490-0090
[email protected]
Michael Myers
Reclamation Specialist
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
3 Parkway Center
Pittsburgh, PA 15520
Cell: (717) 919-3709
[email protected]
Christian Canary
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
Pittsburgh Field Office
3 Parkway Center
Pittsburgh, PA 15220
(814) 341-2926
[email protected]
TENNESSEE
William DeBord
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
Knoxville Field Office
710 Locust Street, 2nd floor
Knoxville, Tennessee 37902
(865) 545-4103 ext. 185
[email protected]
Whitney Nash, Surface Mining Reclamation Specialist
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
Knoxville Field Office
710 Locust Street, 2nd floor
Knoxville, Tennessee 37902
Office: (865) 545-4103 ext 150
Cell: (865) 310-1307
[email protected]
VIRGINIA
Lawrence Tankersley, Co-Team Leader
Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy
Division of Mined Land Reclamation
P.O. Drawer 900
Big Stone Gap, Virginia 24219
(276) 523-8204
[email protected]
Cody Zirkle
Reclamation Specialist
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
1947 Neeley Road, Suite 220
Big Stone Gap, VA 24219
(276) 523-0000 ext. 20
[email protected]
Tosh Barnette
Ecologist
Virginia Department of Energy
(276) 523-8186
[email protected]
WEST VIRGINIA
Kevin Quick
West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection
Division of Mining and Reclamation
601 57th Street SE, Room 2136
Charleston, West Virginia 25304
(304) 926-0499 ext. 1508
[email protected]
Greg Mitchell
Reclamation Specialist
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
1027 Virginia Street East,
Charleston, WV 25301
(304) 347-7158
[email protected]
Science Team Contacts
Michael French, Forester, Co-Team Leader
Green Forest Works
6071 N. SR 9
Hope, IN 47246
(812) 447-3285
[email protected]
www.greenforestswork.org
Dr. Jennifer Franklin, Co-Team Leader
University of Tennessee, Department of Forestry
274 Ellington Plant Science Building
Knoxville, TN 37996-4563
(865) 974-2724
[email protected]
Dr. Todd Fearer, Coordinator
Appalachian Mountains Joint Venture Coordinator
c/o CMI Suites 250
Office 205
1900 Kraft Drive Blacksburg, VA 24061
Office: (540) 231-9519
Cell: (540) 257-0598
[email protected]
Websites: www.amjv.org, www.abcbirds.org
Dr. John W. Groninger
Southern Illinois University
Department of Forestry
Mail code 4411
Carbondale, IL 62901-44111
Office: (618) 453-7462
Fax: (618) 453-7475
[email protected]
Dr. Douglass F. Jacobs
Purdue University
Hardwood Tree Improvement & Regeneration Center
Department of Forestry and Natural Resources
715 W. State Street
West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-2061
Office: (765) 494-3608
Fax: (765) 494-9461
[email protected]
Mr. Ronald Rathfon
Purdue University
Department of Forestry & Natural Resources
12000 Purdue Farm Road
Dubois, IN 47527
(812) 678-5049
[email protected]
Dr. Carmen Agouridis
University of Kentucky
Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering
128 C.E. Barnhart Building
Lexington, Kentucky 40506-02766
(859) 257-3000
[email protected]
Dr. Christopher Barton
University of Kentucky
Department of Forestry
106 Cooper Building
Lexington, Kentucky 40506
(859) 257-2099
[email protected]
Seth Cude
Rockwell Science
1292 Crosskeys Road,
Lexington, KY 4050
(970) 388- 4215
[email protected]
Dr. Sarah L. Hall
Berea College
Dept. of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Office: 214 Ag Bldg.
CPO 2161 Berea, KY 40404
(859) 985-3599
[email protected]
Dr. Tammy Horn-Potter
Kentucky State University
Frankfort, KY 40601
(502) 229-2950
[email protected]
Dr. Kenton L. Sena
Lewis Honors College
University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY 40526
(859) 444-1723
[email protected]
Dr. Richard Warner
University of Kentucky
Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering
Lexington, Kentucky 40546-02766
(859) 257-3000
[email protected]
Dr. Keith Eshleman
University of Maryland
Appalachian Laboratory
Frostburg, Maryland 21532
(301) 689-7170
[email protected]
Dr. Brian C. McCarthy
Ohio University
Dept. of Environmental and Plant Biology
Athens, OH 45701-2979
(740) 593-1615
[email protected]
Dr. Michael Jacobson
Pennsylvania State University
School of Forest Resources
University Park, Pennsylvania 16802-4302
(814) 863-0401
[email protected]
Dr. Kenneth M. Klemow
Professor of Biology and Geo Environmental Science
Wilkes University
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766
Office: (570) 408-4758
Fax: (570) 408-7862
[email protected]
http://klemow.wilkes.edu
Dr. Jeff Larkin
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Department of Biology
Weyandt Hall, Room 114
975 Oakland Avenue
Indiana, PA 15705-1081
Office: (724) 357-2352
Fax: (724) 357-5524
[email protected]
http://www.iup.edu/page.aspx?id=39621
Dr. Michael Tyree
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Department of Biology
(724) 357-2352
[email protected]
Dr. Fred Paillet
The American Chestnut Foundation
4736 W Plymouth Rock Place
Fayetteville, AK 72704
(479) 935-4295
[email protected]
Dr. David Buckley
University of Tennessee
Department of Forestry
274 Ellington Plant Sciences Building
Knoxville, Tennessee 37996
(865) 974-7978
[email protected]
Dr. Hans M. Williams
Stephen F. Austin State University
Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture
419 East College Street
P.O. Box 6109, SFA Station
Nacogdoches, Texas 75962-6109
Office: (936) 468-2313
Fax: (936) 468-2489
[email protected]
Dr. Jeremy P. Stovall
Stephen F. Austin State University
Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture
419 East College Street
P.O. Box 6109, SFA Station
Nacogdoches, Texas 75962-6109
Office: (936) 468-2127
Fax: (936) 468-2489
[email protected]
http://forestry.sfasu.edu/faculty/jstovall/home/
Dr. Mary Beth Adams
USFS, Seymour, IN
(304) 642-6303
[email protected]
Dr. Cynthia D. Huebner
USFS, Northern Research Station
180 Canfield Street
Morgantown, WV 26505
(304) 285-1582
[email protected]
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
Dr. Petra B. Wood
United States Geological Survey
West Virginia Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit
PO Box 6125, West Virginia University
Morgantown, WV 26506
(304) 293-3794, ext. 2433
[email protected]
W. Mark Ford
Unit Leader and Associate Professor U.S. Geological Survey
Virginia Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation
106 Cheatham Hall
Blacksburg, Virginia 24061
(540) 231-5927
[email protected]
http://www.fishwild.vt.edu/faculty/ford/index.htm
Dr. Jay Sullivan
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Department of Forestry
310 Cheatham Hall
Blacksburg, Virginia 24061
(540) 231-4356
[email protected]
Dr. Brian D. Strahm
Assistant Professor of Forest Soils and Ecology
Department of Forest Resources & Environmental Conservation
228 Cheatham Hall, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061
Office: (540) 231-8627
Fax: (540) 231-3330
Department: (540) 231-7672
[email protected]