SPECIAL PUBLICATION NO. 27


the discharge waters. Water resource parameters are not expected to be
severely affected by small scale operations but may be more seriously
impacted by larger scale development. The impacts of mining on air
quality arise from mining, processing, and utilizing peat as a fuel. They
are specific to an operation's size, mining method, and the intended use
for the product. Endangered species, both plant and animal, may inhabit
peatlands. The change in habitat brought about by peat mining might
lead to the destruction of certain stressed species associated with a
mined area.
 Research in Minnesota, North Carolina, Finland, and New Brunswick,
Canada, show that reclamation techniques can be successfully applied
to peatlands; although, reclamation techniques are specific to those
areas and do not address problems inherent to Florida peatlands. Recla-
mation of Florida's peatlands may involve a change from wetland sys-
tems to other systems (probably aquatic systems). Restoration of mined
peatlands to their original state (for the most part wetlands) will, in all
probability, be financially unfeasible.

 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

 The initial outline for this study was read and improved by David Gluck-
man, representing the Florida Chapter of the Sierra Club; Charles Lee,
representing the Florida Audubon Society; and Katherine Ewel, Helen
Hood, John Kaufmann, and Marjorie Carr, representing the Florida
Defenders of the Environment. Richard P. Lee, Florida Department of
Environmental Regulation offered helpful comments on the outline and
sent valuable references concerning wetlands. Irwin Kantrowitz, United
States Geological Survey read the outline and offered assistance. Ronnie
Best of the Center for Wetlands, University of Florida, provided an excel-
lent perspective on the values attributed to wetlands provided a most
useful reference. Roy Ingram, Professor of Geology at the University of
North Carolina, Chapel Hill, provided work space, access to his personal
collection of peat reference works and the benefit of his research experi-
ence through numerous informal conversations concerning various
aspects of peat.

 PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF THE STUDY

 This study was undertaken in response to a directive from the Florida
Legislature originating in the Natural Resources Committee of the Florida
House of Representatives. Florida is currently faced with immediate
expanding industrial interest in the exploitation of its peat resources for
fuel use. The study is primarily a compilation of literature pertinent to
peats of Florida and their use for agriculture and energy applications. It is
conceived as providing an information base for decisions concerning
both the utilization and conservation of Florida's extensive peat
resource.