Abandoned Mine Lands (AML) Reclamation  

    Sycamore Trails RC&D is working with landowners to reclaim deteriorating sites where coal mining operations caused damage years ago, but have been declared "abandoned" because no one is legally responsible to reclaim the land. The RC&D will be working to correct water quality, erosion, and subsidence problems. 

The Council has received funding agreements from IDNR Division of Reclamation and Indiana Department of Agriculture to implement this project.  Citizens in Clay, Fountain, Montgomery, Owen, Parke, Putnam, Sullivan, Vermillion, and Vigo Counties are eligible for funding under this program.  For more information, download an information brochure, call the RC&D office at (765) 653-9785, or email us.

A word from our Project Coordinator, Mike Wilkinson --

The coal mine industry is one of the only industries to incorporate the past, present, and future. By removing the fossil fuel, the coal industry opens the past. The coal, once a living organism, now puts the wheels of industry into motion.

 The once-living plants and animals fuel the boilers and generate electricity for an industrialized nation. Without fossilized fuel, the present would not be possible.

The removal of this fuel, however, has created a problem for not only the present but also the future.

The water that is now contaminated by abandoned coal mine operations already affects the future. The eroded coal fines that filter into road ditches and high walls sloughing into the lake affect the future. Acidic water that is leaching into the waterways also affects the future.

 Until the late 1970’s, coal mine reclamation was not well regulated. The coal was removed and the land left to erode into the waterways of the nation. Some of these areas healed pretty well, others, however, did not. Water carries the light coal fines and residue into the streams; the heavy metals contained in these fines leach out causing an acidic condition in which desirable species cannot exist. There are a number of these sites that can be improved.

Acid water kills fish and aquatic life. Acidic ground keeps plant life from growing, thus allowing the soil to erode. These areas make sustaining wildlife, like rabbits and quail, a problem because they have little cover and no food. Therefore, predators kill off young that normally would be able to survive. There are a number of these sites that can be improved.

Barren gob piles in fields could be raising a hay crop. Sagging areas in a crop field could be raising grain instead of cockleburs. The improvement of these sites would increase productivity. Do you have any of these areas on your property? 

Sycamore Trails RC&D in partnership with the Department of Reclamation and the local SWCDs would like to see if your site might be improved with this program.

As project coordinator for the Sycamore Trails abandoned mine land steering committee, I would be happy to see if assistance could be provided to improve your abandoned coal mine site.

The water everyone uses and needs starts with you. Let us all work together to keep it for the next generation. We know that water is life. No water no ?

 If you own a site that you believe may be eligible for assistance from this program, please call.  We will be glad to see if we can help solve the problem.

Send mail to webmaster@sycamoretrails.org with questions or comments about this web site.
Last modified: 7/12/10