ABSTRACT
Pre-mine reclamation planning has long been recognized as an essential element in any cost-effective extraction/reclamation program. Water and other mineral availability data, analyses of the overburden and the likely effect of disturbance and baseline data relating to archeological, social, historical, biological and other resources could be provided to planning agencies by the mining company and used for their mutual benefit. A land use needs inventory for the community, and other data necessary for the development of marketing strategies should be provided to the mining company by public planning agencies in whose jurisdiction the mine will be operating. The reflection of state mined area reclamation laws in the surface expression of site specific reclamation programs is most apparent in coal mining, as compared with other extractive industries, primarily because it is this industry that has been regulated for the longest period of time. In most states reclamation laws are not particularly conducive to longterm land use planning.
