Current Research Trends In Mined-Land Conservation And Utilization

Although the first application of strip mining dates back to 1866, the true origin of today's problem of land reclamation is found in World War II, when the yawning war machines demanded more, and faster fuel production. To meet the new wartime demands, the strip coal mining companies that had been producing coal for the normal needs of industry and commerce during peacetime worked to the full extent of their capacities but were unable to satisfy the voracious demand. To supplement the production of the established mining firms, a host of temporary, make-shift coal strip operations came into being-road contractors, ditchers and foundation excavators, earth movers of every type became strip coal operators. Unfortunately, many were of the here-today-gone-tomorrow category, and showed little concern for the condition of the land after mining. Likewise, the land owners of the mined properties (most of the land was on royalty lease or tonnage contract) showed little concern. Land owners realized from their acreages more income during the war years of coal production than could have been obtained in two or three lifetimes of conventional farming or other land uses. Most of these mined lands were sub-marginal with little productive promise. As a result the wartime stripping produced most of what are known today as "orphan banks" or "abandoned strip pits." It is of these that so much of the present day complaints about strip mine reclamation are being made.