File:An analysis of Pennsylvania's forest resources (1982) (17981890710).jpg

Title: An analysis of Pennsylvania's forest resources
Identifier: analysisofpennsy69powe (find matches)
Year: 1982 (1980s)
Authors: Powell, Douglas S; Considine, Thomas J
Subjects: Forests and forestry Pennsylvania; Forest management Pennsylvania
Publisher: [Broomall, Pa.  : United States Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station]
Contributing Library: U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library
Digitizing Sponsor: U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library

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High Volatile Bituminous Coal Anthracite Medium Volatile Bituminous Coal Semi Anthracite Low Volatile Bituminous Coal
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Figure 25.—Distribution of the bituminous and anthracite coal fields in Pennsylvania (Source: Edmunds and Koppe 1968). 12,000 acres, polluting the landscape and rivers. Because of improved tech- nology (more efficient furnaces that can burn powdered coal) and higher prices for anthracite coal, much more coal is being extracted from this "waste" material. Efforts are being made to reduce these banks by using the leftovers as substitutes for cin- ders on roads, ingredients in cinder- block mix. road surfacing materials, and even as potting soil. Surface mining of anthracite reached a peak of 13.5 million tons in 1948 and fell to 2.9 million tons in 1979. Stripping the often vertical an- thracite seams calls for large, open pit or quarry-type operations, cre- ating problems not encountered in bi- tuminous strip mines. After the coal has been removed from the mine, the hole is backfilled with the overburden that was removed at the outset. It is virtually impossible to restore the pit so that it is filled to the rim. The re- sult is much like a basin with sloped highwalls to the rim. Thus, reclama- tion to the original contour of the land is difficult, and drainage is often changed considerably. An estimated 28,000 acres have been disturbed by anthracite strip mining. The story of bituminous coal mining and its effect on the forest re- sources is much different. From 1965 to 1977, 1.2 billion tons were pro- duced, and 39 percent came from sur- face (strip) mines. In 1965, stripping production was 23.7 million tons, or 30 percent of the total. In 1979, strip- ping had almost doubled to 45.1 mil- lion tons and accounted for 51 per- cent of the total. Stripping produc- tion was near the record high of 46.6 55

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