Abandoned Mine Lands Reforestation Program

Lower priority abandoned mine land is best reclaimed through reforestation. By itself, or in combination with the placement of sediment control structures on severely eroding sites, reforestation is an economical alternative to traditional reclamation as the following figures indicate:

COST COMPARISON
Reclamation Type	Approx. Cost/Acre
Traditional	$8,000
Reforestation combined with sediment control	$2,000
Reforestation only	$650-$850

Since 1982, DMRM has planted more than 6.9 million trees on 5,700 acres of mostly privately owned land. Trees are planted on barren or poorly vegetated spoil banks from strip mines and abandoned coal refuse piles with a soil pH of 3.0-4.0. Additional plantings are made on recently restored abandoned mine sites to reduce runoff in flood-prone watersheds.

Planting usually occurs in Ohio from March 1 to mid-April to optimize seedling survival prior to budding. It is completed by private contractors awarded bids on a competitive basis.

P.t. Inoculation

Approximately 66 percent of the trees planted in Ohio have been inoculated with Pisolithus tinctorius at the nursery.

Pisolithus tinctorius (P.t.) is a naturally occurring ectomycorrhizal fungus that forms a symbiotic association with the fine feeder roots of tree seedlings.

P.t. enables the host tree to tolerate a low soil pH, drought conditions and high spoil temperatures. It also increases the tree’s ability to absorb water and nutrients.

Inoculated seedlings are placed only on sites that have acidic spoils and are well drained. This inoculation has resulted in a seedling survival rate of 75 percent in a very harsh mine spoil setting.

P.t. inoculation was developed from an OSM-funded research project in 1981 in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service, Indiana and Ohio.

The ODNR state nursery at Marietta, Ohio is one of only a few facilities in the eastern United States producing P.t.-inoculated seedlings.

Additional Information

Ohio AML Reforestation Program (pdf)

Citizens interested in reforestation should complete this form (doc)

For more information on the Ohio AML Reforestation Program, contact John Sprouse.

Using Forestry Reclamation Approach to Reclaim Coal Mined Lands

The Excellence in Reforestation Awards

Ohio’s reforestation program has planted an average of 276,000 seedlings per year since its inception with nearly two-thirds treated with the P.t. fungus. Ohio has found that it can successfully grow pine species and oak species using the P.t. technique. These species, along with American chestnut, are excellent host species for P.t. inoculant.

Ohio also plants non-inoculated black and bristly locust, black alder, green and white ash, sawtooth and red oak, bald cypress, sweetgum, red cedar, butternut, river birch, burr oak, tulip poplar, shumard and white oak, and several other shrub species favored by wildlife. These species are planted primarily on areas that have already been reclaimed using conventional regrading, resoiling and revegetation techniques.

It is not uncommon for 1,250 trees to be planted per acre. This heavy initial stocking compensates for the expected loss of seedlings from deer browse, compaction of mine spoil and competition from established grasses and legumes.

The funding source for Ohio’s reforestation program is the State Abandoned Mine Land Funds created by the severance tax established by the 1972 Strip Mine Law. The annual cost to the program has been approximately $250,000.