[Old School]

Reclamation is a joke, anyone who is not in the coal business will tell you that. Just go to a "reclaimed" site and see if it is back to it's original contour before mining. The law states that it must be. You cant take out thousands of acres of mixed Mesophytic forest, which can contain up to 23 species of trees per acre, and replace it with a flat piece of land with grass and shrubs. Thats not reclamation. I know many strip mines that have been abandoned for ten years and only contain about 1 tree per every 2 acres. I just don't see how that qualifies as reclamation. People need to understand that trees struggle to grow on the destroyed land, the topsoil is taken away and replaced with rocky dirt, and the grass that is planted takes away all the root space trees need to grow.

Logging: Your right we would complain if logging took all the trees, it happened before, and the logging business cleaned up their practice somewhat. Although logging is still causing some problems in the region, such as landslides.

I really don't know why I try to debate people on the damage we are doing to this earth, it seems people are too stubborn to realize what is happening. That and a lot of companies don't want to give up that income, no matter what damage they are causing.

FYI, Coal companies are not required to replace the land back to it's originial contour. Depending on how the Post Mining Land Use Plan in the mining permit is approved by the State. The land owner has 3 options (Post Mining Land Use Plan) in which the property can be reclaimed, 1) Forest Land is where the land is placed back to approximate original contour, and trees are planted. 2) Hay Land / Pasture Land where the land is left somewhat flatter, more suitable for grazing livestock and farming, no trees are planted in this option. 3) Industrial Areas are left flat and are suitable for commerical development no trees are planted in these areas. In most cases the property owner decides how they want their land left not the Coal Companies. The DEP (Department of Environmetal Protection) in West Virginia is now claiming that loose uncompacted fill areas are better for tree growth, instead of placing topsoil over fill areas.

As a rule when we plant trees we normally plant 600 to 800 trees per acre and estimate that we have a 75% survival rate.