Christmas tree production can be an excellent use for reclaimed mined lands in Virginia. Most species do quite well on mine soils because they are more tolerant of infertile and droughty conditions than agricultural or horticultural crops, yet they do respond to active management. Christmas trees can be harvested within seven to 10 years, while timber crops take much longer to mature. For the person with time to invest, Christmas trees can be an ideal way to put small parcels of reclaimed mined lands to profitable use. Individual growers can conveniently maintain up to 5 acres of trees in their spare time.

This publication describes procedures for re-establishing native forest trees on surface coal mine reclamation sites in southwestern Virginia and elsewhere in Appalachia.

This publication describes plant communities occurring on mine sites that were reclaimed during different eras, and using different reclamation methods.

This publication describes procedures for converting reclaimed mined lands that are unmanaged into productive forest ecosystems with native trees as dominant vegetation.