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REPLACING NATIVE trees is vital to efforts to restore and reforest reclaimed mine sites, scientists said during recent discussion of efforts to improve abandoned coal mines in Appalachia.
Reimagine Appalachia hosted a virtual meeting Tuesday to discuss the Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative under the U.S. Department of the Interior's Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. The meeting focused on revitalizing former coal mine sites and restoring the natural landscape.
The webinar was sponsored by Appalachian Voices, Reimagine Appalachia, the National Wildlife Federation and the Appalachian Citizens' Law Center.
Brendan Muckian-Bates, a policy advocate with the Appalachian Citizens' Law Center, discussed some of the challenges of reforesting mining sites.
"So first, prior to the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, mining companies tended to practice what's called shoot and shove, where overburn was shot off the coal seam and downhill," he said.
Muckian-Bates said soil quality can be an issue when looking to revitalize mining sites.
"Many of these reforested mine sites also have a history of logging for commercial purposes where you see clear cutting of native trees that can impact the soil quality and hydrology of many of these sites," he said.
Mary Beth Adams, a former scientist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, discussed how ARRI involves planting more hardwood trees and black locust trees, increasing survival and growth rates of the trees, establishing forest habitats and changing the way mines are reclaimed in Appalachia.
"At the heart of AARI is the Forestry Reclamation Approach, which is an adaptive learning process. It was set up so that we would learn more as we went along, and it was based on sound science," she said.
Diana Dombrowski, carbon removal fellow at Appalachian Voices nonprofit environmental organization, discussed how carbon removal can benefit the environment.
She said that carbon removal is "the process of removing existing carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere using solutions that might be engineered or nature-based like forestry."
"This is really important to understand because scientists have asserted that carbon removal must be undertaken if we're going to meet global 1.5 degrees Celsius targets for warming," Dombrowski said.
She said the carbon will become locked into the wood of the trees instead of being released into the atmosphere. She said she makes sure that reforesting one area will not result in trees being cut down somewhere else.
"We know very clearly that that's not going to be an issue in this area. However, the cost for undertaking reclamation and reforestation are significant, and fortunately, we found a way that we can be classified as a high-quality credit project and that is involving environmental justice considerations in our project," Dombrowski said.
Reimagine Appalachia plans to host its next webinar about ARRI from 1-2 p.m. Nov. 15 to continue the discussion. Anyone interested in attending can register at bit.ly/NativePlantsMineLands.
According to a press release from Reimagine Appalachia, "Attendees will learn more about the history of ARRI's partnerships and the science behind the Forestry Reclamation Approach with speakers from Green Forests Work, the United States Forest Service and Appalachian Voices. ... ARRI has a proven track record of sustainable growth across the region."
For more information about AARI, visit the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement's website at osmre.gov.