Peabody Energy's Powder River Coal Co employees teamed with students from Gillette, WY's, Campbell County High School to hand plant more than 2,200 willow and cottonwood trees along two miles of stream bank at the company's North Antelope/Rochelle Mine, the nation's largest and most productive coal mine. The effort is part of Peabody's "Project Forkhorn," a broad wildlife habitat reclamation project.

According to Bryan Hansen, environmental specialist for the mine, the trees will promote improved water quality and help the stream support a wider variety of aquatic life. The area is expected to attract an increased population of migratory water birds as well.

"Hand planting is an important technique because it allows us to look at the microtopography within our reclamation to determine the best planting locations for hardy, robust growth," said Bryan Hansen.

Project Forkhorn has resulted in the hand planting of over 5,000 trees and shrubs. Populations of pronghorn, deer and elk in the area have steadily grown over the past decade and annual environmental monitoring shows that reclaimed lands at the mine are typically twice as productive as native range.

Taken from Peabody press release

U.S. mining tops two million reclaimed acres returning once-mined land to new beneficial uses

"The reclamation of more than 2 million acres of mined lands for new beneficial uses is an extraordinary achievement, and U.S. coal, hard rock and minerals mining companies are proud to have exceeded this important milestone in 2002," NMA President and CEO Jack N. Gerard said today.

According to recently released U.S. Office of Surface Mining (OSM) data, 73,407 acres of land area were included in Phase III bond release in 2002 under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). Phase III bond release includes land area where reclamation is fully complete and the land has been released from its extended responsibility period by the regulatory authority. The total is compiled on a fiscal year basis and is cumulative through September 2002.

"This brings the total land reclaimed since 1978 to 2,025,882 acres, according to OSM data," Gerard said. "Added to this is an estimated 39,000 additional acres (based on major state mineral agencies' data) reclaimed by mineral mining companies, for a total of 2,064,882 acres." In addition, tens of thousands of additional acres have been reclaimed but have not yet been released from the extended responsibility period required under applicable state and federal laws.

Gerard said, "These reclaimed lands are benefiting society in a variety of ways - as recreation areas and facilities, farming and rangeland, wetlands, wildlife refuges and sites for badly needed facilities such as hospitals, shopping centers, schools and office and industrial parks. They represent an important legacy for a sustainable future in mining districts."

Gerard noted that OSM data also indicate more than $6 billion has been paid by coal producing companies into OSM's Abandoned Mine Land Program. Of that, some $4.5 billion has been spent, with roughly $2 billion going directly to reclaim 180,000 acres of abandoned coal mines. This includes 20,000 mine shafts that have been filled in and sealed; 2.5 million feet of highwalls (large mounds of earth) that have been removed; and 100,000 acres of coal refuse piles that have been reclaimed or eliminated.

"Reclamation of the land we use is an ongoing commitment. Last year's record-breaking achievement demonstrates how reclamation professionals from industry and federal and state government can work together to ensure responsible mining practices that not only provide needed products for the nation's economy, but also pass on an astonishing array of new land uses for the benefit of future generations," Gerard concluded.

Article taken from NMA website