Illinois Administrative Code › Title 62 - MINING › Part 300 - SURFACE MINED LAND CONSERVATION AND RECLAMATION ACT › Subpart A - SURFACE MINED LAND CONSERVATION AND RECLAMATION ACT › Section 300.120 - Criteria For Types of Land Reclamation

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
a) Reforestation
1) Minimum Stocking Standard
Five hundred (500) living trees per acre will be the minimum
				  standard for acceptable stocking after one (1) growing season. In this text the
				  term "trees" will include acceptable shrubs. Survival counts may be made after
				  the second growing season if requested by the operator. In such a case, four
				  hundred fifty (450) living trees per acre will be the minimum standard for
				  acceptable stocking after the second growing season.
2) Sampling Procedure to Determine Stocking
Determine the average spacing between planted rows and
				  between trees within rows. From this calculate the number of planting spots per
				  acre (and for the area to be examined) as shown below:
43,560
=
planting spots/acre
Spacing between rows (feet) X Spacing between trees
							 in row (feet)
A) Determine
				the number of planting spots that must be examined to constitute a ten percent
				(10%) sample.
B) Plot four (4)
				randomly selected lines across the area, perpendicular to the planted tree
				rows. All planted species will be taken into consideration. Based on the number
				of rows across a given area, determine the number of rows that must be examined
				for the ten percent (10%) sample, assuming that ten (10) or twenty (20)
				planting spots will be examined along each row.
C) Locate a series of transects perpendicular
				to, and balanced along the random lines as shown in Illustration A. The
				transect's width will extend on either side of a planted row halfway to the
				adjacent rows. Each planting spot on the transect will be examined and if a
				living tree, either planted or an acceptable volunteer, occurs then that spot
				will be tallied as "living" on a tally meter. If no such living trees occur,
				tally the spot as "dead" on another tally meter. A planting spot will be
				considered as a rectangle defined by the transect boundaries and extending
				along a row from a given planted tree halfway to adjacent planted trees. After
				transect tallies have been completed calculate the Percent Survival as follows:
Number of Planting Spots With Live Trees of
							 Acceptable Species
of Acceptable Species
=
Percent Survival
Number of Planting Spots With Live Trees of
							 Acceptable Species PLUS Number of Planting Spots With Dead Trees or No Trees or
							 Unacceptable Species
D)
				Volunteer species that are acceptable or unacceptable will vary for different
				parts of the State, with compatibility of species, and with soil and site
				conditions. Acceptability will be based on decisions made by the reclamation
				technician engaged in an examination of a given site.
E) The number of acceptable live trees per
				acre can be calculated by multiplying the percent survival times the number of
				planting spots per acre.
F) Both
				temporary and permanent water and roads will be omitted from the sampling
				area.
G) Openings, or failed spots,
				larger than one-quarter (1/4) acre will be identified on the plan map by the
				examiner and will not be approved until replanted and the minimum stocking
				standard attained.