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• 33 • <br />such as simple seeding or fertilization. Such criticism is valid but does <br />not negate the value of observing natural or manipulated revegetation se- <br />quences and success in the region since that may be the only source of <br />information on soil-plant dynamics through time under the stresses of <br />natural climatic variation. <br />Little "old-field succession" type ecological work has been done on the <br />arid northern high plains. The largest areas disturbed in earlier decades <br />and left to natural responses were homesteaded farmlands. Most were simply <br />abandoned and no attempts were made at reclamation. Pipeline and road-bed <br />right-of-way and petroleum drilling platforms were much smaller but repre- <br />sent more severe disturbances that more closely approximate those associated <br />with surface mining. In some cases, reseeding and recontouring or discing <br />was also effected to alter micmclimate and reestablish ground cover. In <br />all cases known to this author, reclamation efforts Were short and lands <br />were essentially abandoned within a few years after reseeding. <br />Abandoned farmlands have been studied most extensively by Lang (1941, 1945, <br />1973) and by Ries, Fisser and Harrison in Camp- <br />bell and Converse counties, Wyoming. During the 1930's northeastern <br />Wyoming farm and grazing lands were purchased and administered by federal <br />Resettlement Administration. These small holdings were later transfered <br />to the Soil Conservation Service and finally to the U.S. Forest Service <br />for administration as Thunder Basin National Grasslands. Most farm areas <br />were dryland farmed under the Homestead Act and <br />