|
Located on abandoned strip mine land in eastern Ohio, the Hellbender Bluff Park forestry carbon project is AMP’s largest carbon offset project to date, involving the planting in the spring of 2012 of nearly 126,000 native hardwood seedlings on over 185 acres of land. The project is a collaboration between the AMP, the Columbiana County Park District, and the Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative (ARRI), which is part of the U.S. Department of the Interior/Office of Surface Mining.
ARRI uses the Forestry Reclamation Approach (FRA), a five-step process based on forestry research and university studies, to improve the establishment of new forests on coal mined lands, which are typically heavily compacted after mining operations cease. Site preparation prior to planting is crucial – at Hellbender Bluff Park, this included the application of herbicide to remove grass, weeds, and invasive species, as well as cross ripping the soil to provide a looser medium for root growth. The photos below show some of the site prep work, completed in the summer/fall of 2011.
|
