Barton Bench Ecological Restoration Begins

By Cynthia Sandeno on Nov 11, 2010

After years of planning, partners arrived onsite to see the beginning stages of the reclamation of an abandoned mine site on the Monongahela National Forest.

Not even the first snow of the year could prevent the Barton Bench Ecological Restoration Project from getting underway. Partners from the Monongahela National Forest, Northern West Virginia Brownfields Assistance Center, WesMonTy Resource Conservation and Development Project, Inc. (RC&D), WV Division of Natural Resources, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, and Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative (ARRI) huddled under a snow covered tent on the project area to see the deep ripping site preparation kick off.

It all started over a year ago when the Monongahela partnered with WesMonTy RC&D to apply for a FOCUS WV Brownfields grant to reach out to the community. "Through the Stage I Brownfields grant we were able to connect to a lot of community members and grow our partners for this project," says Cindy Sandeno, Forest Ecologist on the Monongahela. The Monongahela has now brought in over 10 different partners to help with various pieces of the Barton Bench Project. Everyone from the National Wild Turkey Federation and local Izaak Walton League Chapter to ARRI and the Brooks Bird Club have provided crucial input to help achieve the goals of the project.

Barton Bench is a 90 acre section of a 40,856 acre parcel of land known as the Mower Tract. The area was mined for coal during the 1970's before it was sold to the Forest Service in the late 1980s. While the federal standards for cleanup were followed by the coal companies, the area is in a state of 'arrested succession.' The soils are degraded and heavily compacted, and the area was planted with predominately non-native grasses. This existing condition has inhibited native species recolonization and is unlikely to correct itself without intervention. There are approximately 2,500 acres of previously mined land on the Mower Tract, and 1,800 acres are in a similar vegetative state to the Barton Bench. This high elevation area was a red spruce-northern hardwood ecosystem prior to mining activities.

The Barton Bench Ecological Restoration Project has the potential to convert a longstanding brownfield into a high profile demonstration site that can be used to showcase the natural resources of West Virginia. The project will also be used to leverage funds for landscape restoration efforts in surrounding brownfields. The ultimate goal of the project is threefold:

1.Restore watershed conditions and the native red spruce-northern hardwood ecosystem within the project area;

2.Use the results of this project to move forward with large-scale native species restoration across the previously mined areas of the Mower Tract;

3.Maintain this landscape as a greenspace that supports a diversity of wildlife, improves water quality, serves as a model for other restoration sites, and provides a space for residents to meet recreate, and exercise.

After gaining community and partner interest with Stage I Brownfields funding, WesMonTy RC&D and the Monongahela were awarded an additional $12,000 Stage II Brownfields grant to focus on marketing implementation. "Stage II funds are critical for continuing our project outreach and exploring recreational opportunities for the local community," says Evan Burks, Partnership Specialist on the Monongahela.

Project implementation began in November of 2010 as various partners met on site to view deep ripping efforts. Deep ripping is a technique that loosens soils in order to restore land capability for forests, increase rainwater infiltration, and increase the survival and growth of trees. To successfully restore and reforest the site, reclaimed soils must be loose and uncompacted. Large dozers pulling a three foot ripping shank were on site to fracture the surface pulling up rock and debris. "We're now working with coal companies to reduce compaction and use native, tree compatible ground cover when they reclaim their mines," says Scott Eggerud, project partner from the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. The Barton Bench Project Area will serve as an important demonstration site for industry partners. Eggerud helped the Forest Service with project planning, developing partnerships, and finding funding sources.

Barton Bench is the first project of its kind at an elevation of nearly 4,000 feet. The next phase of the project will be implemented in the spring of 2011. The goal is to plant a mix of red spruce and native northern hardwood species in the furrows created by the deep ripping. Planting over 16,000 trees will provide early successional habitat for species like ruffed grouse and turkey. This will help the site to get back on track to becoming a spruce-northern hardwood ecosystem, which is the ultimate goal. The second phase will also include wetland and stream redesign to prevent erosion, increase water holding capacity, and create habitat for migratory birds, bats, reptiles, and amphibians. In the end, the Monongahela hopes to use the results of this project to move forward with large-scale native species restoration across the previously mined areas of the larger Mower Tract.