Rehabilitation of land stripped for coal

The usual connotation of the word rehabilitation as applied to land areas is the restoration of that land to its former efficiency. However, in the spirit of conservation that is essential to our standard of living, the word has begun to have added meaning. In the fullest concept, rehabilitation involves a study of soil characteristics and capabilities, and creation of productive uses of which the land was not capable in its original condition. The true conservationist has an opportunity to make a useful contribution to the future generations of this country. The United States Forestry Service and the United States Soil Conservation Service have already made many strides forward in reclamation and rehabilitation. The National Coal Association Land Use Committee and Land Use Advisory Committee; the American Mining Congress Land Use Committee and Land Use Technical Committee; the various reclamation organizations supported directly by the coal operators; and various Federal, state, and university cooperating agencies have combined their efforts to make the nation conservation conscious --Preface, page iii