County: Cherokee

Date: April 5, 2016

Photographer: Catherine Evans/KGS

Place Name: Mined Land Wildlife Area

Short description: During strip-mining operations, overlying soil and rock is stripped away using power shovels to expose coal beds too thin to be mined underground. Before widespread land reclamation was required in 1969, abandoned strip-mined trenches filled with water. Thousands of acres of strip-mined land are now part of the Mined Land Wildlife Area maintained by the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism.

Hi-Resolution Version

Credit: This photo may be reproduced for non-commercial and educational purposes. When using this photo in a publication, website, or presentation, please credit Kansas Geological Survey. For information about use for commercial purposes, please contact the KGS editor.