Former federal mining scientist leads decades-long effort to reforest former surface mines in eastern Kentucky - Entrepreneur Generations

Patrick Angel on his farm
(Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu)

Appalachian coal companies are required to spruce up the land when they're done with a site, but one Interior Department scientist realized that the companies' practices weren't encouraging forests to grow back. So the native eastern Kentuckian has spent the past two decades bringing them back on his own, Gabriel Popkin reports for The Washington Post Magazine.

Patrick Angel spent his career in the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. "For 25 years, he oversaw the process that may represent humans' best attempt to date at total annihilation of land: strip-mining and mountaintop-removal mining of coal," Popkin reports. "He told coal companies to do one thing when they were done with a site: pack the remaining rubble as tightly as possible, and plant grass — the only type of plant he trusted to hold the ground in place."

But in 2002, Angel realized that the forests weren't growing back on the nearly 1.5 million acres of reclaimed sites, since the rubble under the grass was too tightly-packed for tree roots to penetrate. Angel felt partly responsible for the mess, and resolved to help make it right, Popkin reports.

With the help of local volunteers and some bulldozers, Angel has spent the past two decades reforesting surface-mined areas. The dozers rip up the ground and loosen the rubble so tree roots can take hold, then volunteers plant saplings from species native to the area: tulip poplars, oaks, pines and chestnuts, Popkin reports.

"Thanks in large part to Angel, now 70, more than 187 million trees have been planted on about 275,000 acres of former mines, an area more than six times the size of the District of Columbia," Popkin reports. This represents one of the most ambitious restoration efforts in one of the country’s most devastated places. It is led not by big name-brand environmental groups but by people from the mountains, operating with small budgets and with little fanfare or recognition."

Popkin's long-form piece delves into the history of coal and surface mining in eastern Kentucky, and how it has impacted both the land and the people. It's a lovely example of nationwide reporting that avoids parachute coverage. Popkin is a science writer who was born and raised in Kentucky, and chief photographer Jahi Chikwendiu and drone videographer Ron Garrison are from Kentucky as well. The story was partly funded by a grant from the Institute for Journalism and Natural Resources.

from The Rural Blog https://ift.tt/31Tp1m9 Former federal mining scientist leads decades-long effort to reforest former surface mines in eastern Kentucky - Entrepreneur Generations

Posted by Entrepreneur Generations

Tweet