Federal mineland reclamation rules established in the 1970s focused on slope stabilization and rapid revegetation, leading in many cases to over-compaction and domination of aggressive non-native grass and herbaceous flowering plants. In Appalachia, where nearly 1 million acres of forest have been removed for mining, areas that were reclaimed according to those rules stifled the growth of a variety of tree species and contributed sediment to local waterways. There was little hope of reforestation, even in a region that holds some of the most diverse and valuable forests in the world.
Responding to those outcomes, researchers and mineland reclamation practitioners conducted decades of research in the district to develop a novel technique for reclaiming land. The Forestry Reclamation Approach calls for methods that minimize soil compaction and promote establishment of native tree species. Using FRA effectively jump-starts natural succession and sets reclaimed sites on a trajectory to reforestation. With minimal site preparation, the FRA technique has successfully restored native forests on mining-disturbed lands—and it's often more economical than conventional reclamation.
Barr recognized that similar outcomes from similar state reclamation rules were occurring in reclaimed areas within the Laurentian Mixed Forest ecoregion of Minnesota, potentially preventing the establishment of native forest ecosystems. In partnership with an iron mining client, we’re adapting the Forestry Reclamation Approach and evaluating the technical success, cost, and regulatory acceptance of this potential reclamation technique.
The test constitutes a novel application of FRA outside of Appalachia. The experiment has two components:
A comparative survey of mined areas and stockpiles with trees (both planted and naturally occurring) and traditional grass and herbaceous flowering plants. We selected individual reclamation areas with growing seasons of two to three years, five years, and 10 years for comparison, along with older sites that had been planted with trees before reclamation rules were promulgated in Minnesota.
A pilot project to demonstrate FRA on a stockpile with a variety of iron mining substrates and varying surface preparations. The project involved planting 17,000 tree seedlings (bur oak, red pine, white pine, and white spruce) on a 27-acre stockpile in 2023. In 2026, we will compare results in three areas of the stockpile for (1) implementation cost and (2) site stability, vegetative cover, species richness, and percent coverage.
Tree plantings will be monitored for a total of 10 years or until the sites reach reclamation success as defined in the vegetative standards of the state’s administrative rules. Barr also recommended that after four years, understory species be planted to help develop forest-floor detritus and improve the soil profile.
Both the survey and the pilot project have broad industry and community support. Because FRA is usually applied to bare waste rock and involves little or no soil amendment, the ultimate goal is to demonstrate that the method can be a cost-effective reclamation approach in the Great Lakes region that will lead to widespread reforestation.
