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North Jones - Phase II
June 1997
Planting finished
August 1998, Monitoring to continue through June 2002
Latitude: 610 44’
N Longitude: 1480 56’ W, State: Alaska, Borough: Matanuska-Susitna |
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| Pre-Restoration
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Sutton, Alaska which
about 3 miles to the southeast
The earthwork was bid
at $377,163.61. Revegetation associated cost was $64,568.00. Monitoring
completed to date $5,300.00
Department of Natural
Resources, Division of Mining, Abandoned Mine Land Program (AML)
The North Jones
Reconnaissance Survey, which was undertaken for the general area
affected by previous coal mining in this locale, concluded that
the east end of the North Jones strip pits contained the most hazardous
feature associated with this general area. The project area designated
as North Jones - Phase II contained 1150 lineal feet of highwall
varying from 120-230 feet in height. The highwall was easily accessible
on three sides by standard highway vehicles, all-terrain vehicles,
and by pedestrians. There was a small impoundment at the base of
the highwall and it’s depth ranged from 2 to 7 feet. The highwall
was designated a “Priority 2” hazard by the AML ranking
system and was approved for reclamation by the federal Office of
Surface Mining (OSM). It was entered into the federal Abandoned
Mine Land Inventory System (AMLIS).
The North Jones -
Phase II project area is located on the north side of Wishbone Hill,
a prominent land feature in this part of the Matanuska River Valley.
The project area is at an elevation of approximately 1500 feet.
The Jonesville and Premier Coal Groups outcrop on both the north
and south sides of Wishbone Hill. Some of the first large-scale
underground mining in the State occurred in this area starting in
about 1917. Surface mining in the area occurred from about 1952
to 1968. The project area has been extensively underground mined
and surface mined. The Phase II area includes a portion of an abandoned
surface mining pit that was over a mile long. The majority of the
general area consists of unreclaimed pits 100-230 feet deep and
large spoil piles dumped over the outslopes on the north and south
sides of Wishbone Hill. Natural revegetation of the area has been
slow to non-existent over the 30 to 50 years since the site was
abandoned resulting in a loss of wildlife habitat and reduced water
quality. The area is within the legislatively designated “Matanuska
Valley Moose Range” which emphasizes moose habitat as one of
its primary considerations.
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| Pre-Restoration
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The Environmental
Assessment proposed an action that was to eliminate the 1150 lineal
feet of dangerous highwall, reclaim 16 acres of drastically disturbed
land to wildlife habitat, and improve water quality. Reclamation
was to consist of: reducing the highwall to a 3:1 slope using blasting
and/or ripping combined with pushing the unclassified material with
dozers; re-establishing a non-discharging impoundment with a depth
of 2-4 feet thus creating less than one acre of wetland; and revegetating
the area with plant species that would both control erosion and
improve moose habitat. All of the fill material was to come from
the project site.
- The primary permits, clearances, approvals, and documentation
required for the project included:
- Environmental Assessment (EA) for National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA) compliance;
- State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) clearance
for Section 106, Historic Preservation Law compliance;
- State Attorney General’s Determination of Eligibility
for AML Program compliance;
- General area, plant and animal reviews, for US Fish and Wildlife
Service (USF&W) Threatened and Endangered Species compliance;
- Right of Entry for legal ingress, egress, and work purposes;
- Water Use Permit approval for Division of Water, water
withdrawal and usage;
- Completed OSM form-76, Problem Area Description (PAD),
for OSM compliance;
- Completed transmittal letter and copy of the contracting
documents for OSM approval;
- Applicant Violator System (AVS) clearance for contract
award.
Reclamation in Alaska
as a holistic body of relevant knowledge is poorly defined and poorly
refined, therefore, the approach we take in the AML program is fairly
simplistic, direct, and without many frills. The basic goal of all
our reclamation is to return a site to being part of a self-supporting
ecosystem so that it will again be a suitable environment for those
organisms that previously inhabited the site. This is coupled with
short and long term erosion control, and enhancing aesthetic values
through this process by encouraging techniques that emphasize the
eventual return of native plant species. Most sites are reclaimed
to some type of wildlife habitat.
Some simple general rules are followed: (1) Use the best growth
medium available. This means topsoil where possible. Don’t
underestimate the benefits of topsoil and don’t under utilize
what you have. At the same time, be aware that topsoil can be diluted
to a point where it is a component of something else and will no
longer function as desired. (2) Where you have to build a growth
medium, save and use any available organic material. It is an important
component of a growth medium’s air and water holding capacity,
a readily available seed or regenerative plant source, and it contributes
to nutrient retention and cycling. (3) Design for water in all its
many forms. This includes normal and storm runoff, spring break-up,
snowmelt, overflow, and aufeis, while being cognizant of the freeze/thaw
potential of the site. Areas should be designed not just to carry
water off-site, but to utilize it where possible. (4) Make use of
any defined boundary between two or more relational elements of
the system such as those involving different landscape components,
plant communities, disturbed and undisturbed areas, etc., with the
goal being to increase the “edge effect”. Since most of
our projects are on lands where wildlife habitat is the desired
outcome, we try to increase diversity in all aspects of reclamation
unless a specific species is identified as the key to success. *Creating
irregular boundaries and fertilizing beyond just the newly seeded
area to enhance adjoining area native seed production are examples
of utilizing the “edge”. (5) Use local or adapted native
plant materials as much as possible to achieve the desired outcome.
Don’t get caught up in refining details, especially if you
haven’t first met the basics or if they don’t achieve
or contribute significantly to the whole end product.
Reclamation
of the North Jones - Phase II area included several distinct components
- General cut/fill earthwork activities during which approximately
350,000 cubic meters of material were handled for design topographic
formation;
- Supplemental earthwork activities that included bench building,
slope break construction, placement of rock wind barriers, grub
material replacement on a selected portion of the site, berm building,
slope tracking, contour ripping for seedbed preparation, and rock
placement for traffic control;
- Bucket loader transplanting of live vegetation and associated
holistic components;
- Brush layer construction;
- Brush bundle construction and planting;
- Broadcast seeding of a single seed mix; and
- Fertilizer application and testing including 4 different types
of fertilizers (1 chemical and 3 organic) in 7 distinct locations.
Growth media consisted of three basic types:
- Grub material - a salvaged blend of available mineral soil and
organics consisting primarily of small tree and shrub parts. The
grub material was salvaged from areas that had to be disturbed
by the general cut/fill earthwork activities. It was stockpiled
and ultimately replaced on two adjacent areas. One area which
was incidental, as it was the dozer push route, covered about
0.36 acres. The bulk of the material was placed primarily on a
relatively flat, northeast facing location that had been ripped
on the contour to a 24” depth. This area covered about 1.19
acres. Both locations are within the uppermost 1/3 elevation of
the site.
- Transplant material – the holistic components associated
with each individual bucket load of live vegetation material.
Each bucket load was ultimately placed either in a grouped series
to form lineal plantings on the benches, or individually in specially
selected locations.
- General surface material – this covered over 13.5 acres
of the site and consisted of whatever size materials of fractured
and broken sedimentary strata remained at the surface following
the general cut/fill earthwork activities for design topographic
formation. It contained everything from boulder size pieces to
fines derived from mud-stone and clay-stone.
Growth Media: (Table
1)
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| Construction
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| Construction
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University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) – Anne Pasch
- Contractual fossil study, recovery, and documentation
Johnson Excavation & Construction
- Primary earthwork contractor
DNR - Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation
- Reimbursable Services Agreement (RSA) for contract administration
and project management
Girdwood Forest Industries
- Plant stock material supplier
Alaska Mill & Feed
- Seed and chemical fertilizer supplier
Hobbs Industries, Inc.
DNR - Division of Agriculture, Plant Materials Center (PMC) –
Nancy Moore
- Reimbursable Services Agreement (RSA) for cooperative development
of the revegetation plan; field implementation assistance and
oversight of the laborers; basic biannual visual monitoring
and digital image production; and annual written reporting and
documentation.
University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) – Dr. Dot Helm
- Reimbursable Services Agreement (RSA) for plant cover and
fertilizer test plot evaluation, annual reporting and documentation.
Yes
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Success was determined by meeting the original objectives. The
1150 lineal feet of dangerous highwall was eliminated. The 16 acres
of drastically disturbed land was reclaimed to wildlife habitat
by revegetating the area with plant species that both controlled
erosion and improved moose habitat. And finally, the wetland area
is beginning to fill and will contribute to general water quality
improvement.
Supplementary Narrative: Unique additional characteristics of the
project included: the investigation of fossil remains; supplying
the Universities and a local museum with recovered fossil tree parts
for exhibition; the monitoring of the bucket transplants; and the
monitoring of the organic fertilizer test plots.
At the end of the first year, the total vascular cover was significantly
greater in the control and grub replacement areas compared to the
organically fertilized locations. Grass cover was greatest on the
grub replacement area. The site is in very good shape with an excellent
ground cover over about 90% of the seeded area. There is almost
no rilling or gully formation. The transplants all appeared in very
good condition.
For more information on this project, contact:
Bruce Novinska
Reclamation Planning Specialist
State of Alaska
Department of Natural Resources
Division of Mining, Land, & Water
550 West 7th Avenue, Suite 900D
Anchorage, AK 99501-3577
Phone: (907) 269-8634
E-mail: brucen@dnr.state.ak.us
Available Documentation:
State of Alaska, AML Program, North Jones - Phase II Files
Submitted by: State of Alaska, Abandoned Mine Land Program
Date: November, 2001
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