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<br /> <br />Livestock and vege#ative <br />performance on reclaimed <br />and nonmined rangeland <br />in ~lorth Dakota <br />L. Hofmann, R. E. Ries, and R. J. Lorenz <br />ABSTRACT: A +najor test of uJltether land strip-+nined for coal has been successfully re- <br />claimed is Jtotu the land's post-mini+tg productivity and use co+npare u;ith the productiv- <br />ityand tcse oJ.similar, nonmined /and..Among the criteria for making such a comparison <br />are animal performance. uegetative production, vegetative composition and diversity, <br />and pla+tt and canopy cover. The re(atiort.ship oJplartt and canopy couer to predicted.soil <br />loss is important also. A comparison of .srtch data from a reclaimed site near Center, <br />\rorth Dakota, +vith similar data Jrom nonmined sites .shou+ed .,.,,ar•~r+•.+~ - <br />rlainrrd cirr m hr ~~•~~~-^^+~• tn_ rha_t nn nnnrnined land, thus in'lirnr;no eNrrtive recla- <br />r~ <br />IGNITE coal production may disturb <br />L 3,000 acres (1.^15 hectares) of land a <br />year in North Dakota by 1990. More than <br />half this land is now pasture or rangeland <br />(6). Adequate reclamation demands that <br />pasture and rangeland be returned to a <br />level of productivity and use equal to or <br />better than before mining. An acceptable <br />measure of success is a comparison of <br />groundcover and productivih• on re- <br />claimed areas with oimdar data from non- <br />mined areas (Federal Register. vol. ~d. <br />19191. <br />L. llaJrnann u' a rrcrarch agrnmm~ist. A. E. <br />Rirs is a ranee carnri N. wul R. 1. Lurrn^ u a re- <br />cearch aermmrn rct ar dir \'nrN¢•rn Great !'lmnc <br />Arrearch Crnter. Jrirnre mid Educannn Ad- <br />rninivratinn-AKnr+dlrrra! Hesran'L. LC S. Dr- <br />partrnrnt of .4Knridhrrr. llandmi. .Vurth <br />Dakota i,5~i.iJ. Tlw paprr leas nriginnllp yrr- <br />rrn+rd at a vpnpucuun. "~rlryuatr Rerlaamtiun <br />of ilinrd Landc.'~'. in Bi/hnKS. llnnrmm. .lfan'L <br />.6-J•-. [5S(/. Thr rrmarch u'ac supported in part <br />by fruals from the Enmrmunrntal Prufccnnn <br />t eennt. <br />Our study began az a grazing study on <br />reclaimed land in 1916. \Ve .vere attempt- <br />ing to determine the effects nF heave, m~d- <br />erate, and light grazing intensity on the <br />vegetative and steer performance. In 1919 <br />we obtained vegetative and cover data <br />from an adjacent, nonmined site for com- <br />parison. 1Ve also compared steer perfor- <br />mance on the reclaimed land in 1977, <br />1918, and 1979 with similar data for the <br />same }•ears from studies on nonmined land <br />at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's <br />Research Center near ktandan. North Da- <br />kota. <br />Study methods <br />The mined-land paztures (-}, 5) near <br />Center. North Dakota. are part of a long- <br />term study of land reclaimed in confor- <br />mance with the 1969 Forth Dakota law re- <br />quiring no topsoil replacement. Spoil ma- <br />terials nt the site are silt loam, low in <br />sodium (SAR = ~_') and. therefore, suitable <br />fur revegetation. In contrast- spoils at <br />nlallOraE tram ibe Jaurnai of $on ana Wader Cena1rva00n <br />Januarv.rearuary i9er Vomme ]fi. Numoer i <br />i9at Sa~~ Consarvauon Souery of America <br />,(-.'~i1"t. I EGG ~':L <br />ot~North Dakota mine sites are high in <br />clay' content and sodium (SAR = 19 to d8), <br />which limits establishment of cegetatiun <br />unless the topsoil is replaced (6). <br />In the spring of L973, the Baukol <br />Noonan Coal Company seeded the Crnter <br />site with a mixture of smooth bromegrass <br />(Brorn us inrnnisj, crested wheat¢rass <br />(Agropyron deurtonrmj, intermediate <br />a~heatgrazs (Agropymn interrn edimn), al- <br />falfa (,lfedicago satica) and biennial <br />yellow sweetclover (dfelifotus n/ficina(ts). <br />The coal crompan}' applied 100 pounds per <br />acre of 11-11-0 fertilizer at seeding. None <br />has been applied since. <br />Stocking rates of one ~~ ~~~r <br />0.6 (.24 ha), 1._° (.J9 ha), and 1.8 (.i3 ha) <br />acres provided heavy, moderate, and light <br />grazing intensity, respectively. Cattle <br />grazed the pastures an average of 45 days <br />during the spring and early summer each <br />year beginning in 1916. Crazing continued <br />each season until the forage available on <br />moderate pastures svaz half utilized. gyp <br />5~0 x~l0~foot (15.?5 x 30.5-meter) exclns- <br />~-_ tete~ftEllHl!t1' lln <br />acne ~n~ n=. <br />We meazured vegetation on txvo range <br />sites within a native pazture immediately <br />adjacent to the reclaimed area. Site I fea- <br />tures astrongly rolling topography; site II <br />is moderately rolling. Both sites were in <br />good range condition (2). <br />Soils on the nonmined sites are Cabba <br />(loamy, mixed, calcareous, frigid, shallow <br />Typic Ustorthents) and Sen (fine-silh~, <br />mixed Typic Haploborolls), the same soils <br />that existed on the reclaimed area before <br />mining. <br />The nonmined sites were heavily grazed <br />az part of a large pasture from mfd-April to <br />~1ay 30 each spring by cows and calves, <br />then deferred for the remainder of the <br />year. We duplicated each reclaimed paz- <br />ture and native site within limits of the <br />30 yields of reclaimed and native sites by <br />6..nri rl'nninn I ~: n f., All <br />harvested material was oven dried and <br />weighed. \i'e analyzed the means of six <br />subsamples as a randomized complete <br />block design with tsvo replications. <br />R'e calculated animal gains and perfor- <br />mance from steer weights at the start of <br />and immediately after grazing. We com- <br />pared animal gains on reclaimed sites with <br />gains of steers grazing nonmined pastures <br />January-February 1981 41 <br />