Laserfiche WebLink
• 41 • <br />SUhNJ\RY OF CONDITIONS FOR RECLMIATION <br />The following summary conditions are adapted from Curry (1973) and are in- <br />tended to apply to all arid western lands where evaporation exceeds preci- <br />pitation. <br />1) Successful reclamation should be defined as restoration to a state under <br />which vegetative cover and nutrient cycles are as 'closed' as before man- <br />caused disturbance. In many instances in the grid west, such a goal can- <br />not be attained within a period acceptable to mankind but in those in- <br />stances, one should accept only those reclamation efforts that lead to <br />natural progressive succession toward the desired state of closure. <br />2) Stable soil-vegetation relationships imply sub-climax vegetative cover <br />that is adapted to the range of extremes, not means, of climatic and <br />hydrologic conditions that may reasonably be expected to exist for a <br />period of several thousand years. <br />3) Introduced species may permit increased rates of succession to a more <br />stable community and may aid in construction of a soil but, ultimately, <br />one would anticipate that the dominant cover should be made up of native <br />species of those particular genotypes that have evolved in the area <br />being reclaimed. This means that a nursery or seed source of these geno- <br />typic varietals must be available and must be site-specific to those par- <br />ticular sites being revegetated, not just to the northern great plains or <br />a particular coal region. <br />4) The key to successful reclamation is not in the management of the ground <br />cover, but in the biogeochemical management of the soil/plant combination <br />best adapted to the site. This means that one should not necessarily <br />strive toward most rapid growth, most vigorous green, or highest SCS <br />range condition index, but should attempt to achieve that combination of <br />plants, soils, animals, and soil microorganisms that iaill permit long- <br />term adaptation to expectable extremes of site climatic and other stress <br />conditions. <br />5) It should be recognized that soil is a living biogeochemical substrate and <br />cannot simply be stored in a pile during mining to be spread back over the <br />recontoured spoils. Soil is composed of partly weathered and stratified <br />