no doubt require a few additional years before the first
crop of fruit would be harvested but it would produce an extremely
valuable log when the tree is finally cut.

I would be remiss in my present job if I did not bring the revegetation
program of the Indiana coal stripping industry into the discussion. That
industry produces over fifty percent of the coal mined in Indiana today
and is recovering coal that could not be mined by any other means.

In driving to Rockport many of you no doubt passed by areas of newly
mined land, rough, barren desolate looking areas with no vegetation.
They have the appearance of complete desolation and give the impression
that those lands are forever lost. In that same vicinity you no doubt
passed plantations of pine, or mixture of pine or Locust with our native
deciduous species. Those too were mined areas that a few short years ago
were just as desolate in appearance as the bare areas you saw. These
plantations are the direct result of a reclamation program started by
the members of the Indiana Coal Producers Association, a program that
has attracted national attention.

The first record of an attempt at the reclamation of coal mine spoil is
here in Indiana. In 1918, the Rowland Power Company, now owned by the
Maumee Collieries Company, planted peach, apple and pear trees on mined
land in Owen county. The records show that for a period of years the
trees thrived and were good producers. Then, because the topography was
rough and no spraying was done, disease and insects took their toll of
the peaches and apples. Seedlings of the original apple and peach tree
still grow on the area. The original Kieffer pear trees still stand and
produce large crops of fruit.

In 1926, the larger, more far sighted companies began a definite program
of reforestation of their mined lands under the direction of Ralph
Wilcox, at that time assistant State Forester and fortunately our State
Forester today. That voluntary program was carried on until 1941 when
the Indiana Coal Producers Association, the Association of the mining
companies, sat down with representatives of the Indiana Department of
Conservation, representing the state, and the Indiana Farm Bureau,
representing the people, and drafted a bill which was enacted into law.
This law required each company to obtain a permit from the state to
operate and required that each company revegetate an area each year
equal to 101% of the area they had mined