Reclaiming Illinois strip coal land with legumes and grasses

Abstract

MAKING AGRONOMIC SPECIES GROW where none grew before is an accomplishment worthy of man's efforts. The challenge presents itself on many thousands of acres of what was good corn belt land, where the "stripping" method of mining coal has replaced the original land surface with a new mass of varying soil materials. Barren parallel ridges, left by stripping practices, temporarily disturb the social and economic aspects of a community. The disturbance can be overcome in whole or in part by making the new lands produce agronomic species or trees, or by developing chosen sites for recreational facilities.This report was made possible by the cooperation of the Illinois Coal Strippers Association and the Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station. It complements a previous study, "Reclaiming Illinois Strip Coal Lands by Forest Planting," published as Bulletin 547 by the University of Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station in cooperation with the Central States Forest Experiment Station, Forest Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture