Timber Growth on Graded and Ungraded Strip-Mine Spoil Banks in Southeast Kansas

Abstract

Introduction In southeastern Kansas, the ttridge and valley terrain resulting from surface mining of bituminous coal is quite conspicuous compared with the surrounding landscape. Unsightly mounds of overburden, complicated by retirement of land from agronomic production and reduction of the tax base in local communities have created a problem. Aroused public interest led the Kansas Legislature to pass in 1968, the MinedLand Conservation and Reclamation Act requiring conversion of spoils to productive uses. Historically, mined areas have been left to revegetate naturally, often resulting in hardwood forests consisting of such light seeded species as cottonwooX, elm, and ash. Also, some tree plantings on the rough spoil have developed into good stands of timber. In recent years, some spoil banks ha e been converted to pasture land. Good examples of each practice can be seen in the vicinity of Pittsburg, Kansas. The U.S. Forest Service2 initiated during the mid-1940's a series of experimental plantings in the Central states to test the effect of grading on spoil compaction, moisture infiltration, and tree growth. Early results (1, 5) have shown grading in some instances to be detrimental to tree growth. In this paper, 22 years of growth and development of 13 tree species on graded and ungraded spoils in Crawford County, Kansas, are described and future land grading concepts discussed.