Livestock and vegetative performance on reclaimed and nonmined rangeland in North Dakota

ABSTRACT:

A major test of whether land strip-mined for coal has been successfully reclaimed is how the land's post-mining productivity and use compare with the productivity and use of similar, nonmined land. Among the criteria for making such a comparison are animal performance, vegetative production, vegetative composition and diversity, and plant and canopy cover. The relationship of plant and canopy cover to predicted soil loss is important also. A comparison of such data from a reclaimed site near Center, North Dakota, with similar data from nonmined sites showed productivity on the reclaimed site to be comparable to that on nonmined land, thus indicating effective reclamation.