Coal Mining in the Green Area

In regard to reclamation, the predisturbance inventories carried out as a function of the EIA or D&R Approval, dictate to a large extent the vegetation cover or land uses that will be established. As a general rule, those lands considered to be productive, as defined by our Alberta Forest Service Phase I II Specifications, will be required to be reforested. This would mean that, if predisturbance inventories indicate that a certain percentage of the land base contains productive forest land (as defined by our Phase III), this same percentage must be restored. At present, while we have strong reforestation guidelines for the forest industry that clearly outline their responsibility, we do not have the same for lands being reclaimed. We are presently requiring productive forest lands to be restocked with acceptable tree species as specified by the Timber Management Regulations. The minimal stocking standard, as specified in the regulations, would require 1,000 seedlings per hectare to be established before the end of a ten-year period. Our experience to date indicates that, in order to· meet this standard, an average of 1,250 seedlings per hectare for average sites and up to 1,700 seedlings for harsh sites would have to be planted.