WesMonTy in partnership with the US Forest Service, and others has begun Phase II work on a restoration project of a former surface mine near Cheat Bridge, WV.
Barton Bench located on Cheat Mountain in Randolph County is named for it's three separate strip mine 'benches' separated by steep slope. This area was mined for coal in the 1970's and 1980's. It is now part of the Monongahela National Forest.
Deep tillage (also called deep ripping) is a practice whereby a large steel shank is dragged through the ground.
This can serve several purposes such as bringing buried nutrients to the surface, and breaking up compacted soils. In this case, the soils of the former mine site are extremely compacted and are inhibiting plant growth. By breaking up the compacted soil, and encouraging native plant growth the opportunity, a native ecosystem will begin to take hold in the area and restore the ecosystem to it's previous state. Due to the dominance of invasive grass species in the area, native plants have been unable to reassert themselves and the ecosystem development has therefore remained stagnant over the last 30 years. By giving a toehold to native species, it is expected that this will give them a trajectory with which to begin the redevelopment of the area into a native habitat.
The information on deep tillage from NRCS can be found here:
The Barton Bench Restoration Project has the potential to convert a long-standing brownfield into a high profile demonstration site that can be used to showcase the natural resources of West Virginia. The project goals are threefold:
- Restore watershed conditions and the native red spruce-northern hardwood ecosystem within the project area;
- Use the results of this project to move forward with large-scale native species restoration across the previously mined areas of the Mower Tract, and;
- 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.
On Thursday when the site was visited, the weather was cold and rainy in the lower elevations. However, when reaching the elevation of Cheat Mountain (4,000 feet), we encountered snow.
Fortunately, this did not stop work, and everyone was able to see some deep tilling in action!
This is some soil that was upturned by the machine:
We will be posting a video of the deep tilling very soon. Stay tuned!
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