The majority of the Appalachian coal field lies beneath mixed-species, hardwood forests that provide landowners with a valuable, renewable resource. However, in the past, extraction of coal by means of surface mining, limited the options of landowners to return their land to forests due to site reclamation practices such as grading and compaction which discourages forest production. Recently, research conducted in the Appalachian region by the Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative (ARRI) has focused on reclamation methods, known as the Forestry Reclamation Approach (FRA), that promote rapid, healthy tree growth on previously surface mined areas. ARRI and The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF), through employment of the FRA, have conducted research projects evaluating American chestnut on previously surface mined areas. Results from these experiments indicate that American chestnut grows very well on these sites. As a result of this initial research, TACF is interested in determining the suitability of its potentially blight-resistant American backcross chestnut, developed in the breeding program at Meadowview, Virginia. As TACF prepares for restoration of the American chestnut, open land suitable for chestnut growth will be needed. Previously surface mined lands could provide ample planting area throughout Appalachia. American, Chinese, and three levels of American-backcross chestnut were used in the study. The objective of the study was to determine if differences in performance and growth exist between the five genotypes of chestnut when grown on formerly surface mined lands. Sites were selected by TACF in cooperation with research scientists at the University of Kentucky, the University of Tennessee, Ohio University, West Virginia University, Pennsylvania State University, and the University of Maryland. Sites were chosen in Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Maryland, and Ohio, and at three locations in Pennsylvania that reflected reclamation practices as recommended by ARRI and the FRA.
Results/Conclusions
Results indicate that there are no significant differences among the growth rates of American, Chinese, and the three levels of American backcross chestnuts when grown on previously surface mined sites when grown using the FRA. Based on these results, TACF’s potentially blight-resistant backcross chestnut should provide a suitable level of growth and performance in a mixed-species hardwood stand on these surface mined sites. Chestnut as part of a mixed-species hardwood forest should provide additional value and management options to landowners as they explore different post-mined land uses.
