When conducting restoration in areas that have been dramatically modified by human use, such as mine sites, it is challenging to restore habitats that are both successful in the short term and resilient in the long term. Using a public-private partnership, the Butterfly and Burrell mine sites in the White River National Forest (WRNF) were restored using site-specific restoration techniques. The goal of the restoration was to provide a field evaluation of seeded and planted local native plants in combination with soil amendments, as determined by site conditions; create wildlife and pollinator habitat; increase diversity of native plant species; serve as a genetic repository and facilitate the increase of site-specific ecotypes; demonstrate tools and techniques as well as the cost-to-benefit ratio for future projects; and reduce the spread of invasive/exotic species.
Results/Conclusions
After site cleanup efforts to remove mine waste and soil contamination, revegetation began in 2013 with seed collection and soil characterization to design site-specific soil amendments. Planting and seeding began in 2015 along with monitoring. Seed emergence and plant survival was strong for all plots except in previously compacted road areas. Some species had higher seed emergence and survival rates: slender wheatgrass, mountain brome, and lupine were very high, while Dore’s needlegrass did not recruit as highly. Survival rates of native plants varied among plots. Survival rates for 2015 through 2016 were between 53% to 65%. At some plots, establishment resulted in too much groundcover for the habitat type and may result in carbon crashing in the future. Invasive plant establishment was between 2.5% and 4%. These results are preliminary as all data has not yet been analyzed, but as of now the restoration looks as though it will fulfill most of the goals.