SPECIAL PUBLICATION NO. 27


 recreational lakes. It is recommended that acceptance of mined-out
 peatlands as reclaimed be on a case-by-case basis (North Carolina
 DNRCD, 1983). (Recommendations of the North Carolina Peat Mining
 Task Force are included in Appendix E of this document.)
 In response to growing interest in North Carolina's peat deposits by
 developers, a Peat Mining Task Force was created to review permitting
 procedures for peat mining. Recommendations pertinent to all phases of
 peat mining including permits, reclamation, evaluation of environmental
 impacts and monitoring of environmental impacts were prepared.



 Peatland Reclamation in Finland


 Mires are estimated as occupying 24 million acres or 31.9 percent of
 the total land area of Finland (Lappalainen, 1980). Development of
 peatlands in Finland is encouraged as Finland imported 70 percent of its
 energy needs in 1979 (Harme, 1980). Indigenous energy sources which
 accounted for 31 percent of Finland's energy include hydro power, peat,
 industrial waste woods, waste liquers and normal firewood. Finland's
 fuel grade peat resources are estimated to be 32.7 x 109 cubic yards
 (Lappalainen, 1980) and the nation pays subsidies to new users of
 domestic fuels equal to five percent to 20 percent of the total investment
 required for new plants (Harme, 1980).
 Annual (1979) peat usage in Finland was approximately 6.5- 7.8 mil-
 lion cubic yards or about 2.5 percent of the nation's energy consump-
 tion. The aim for the 1980's is to raise consumption to 33-39 million
 cubic yards per year. It is thought that the 26 million level is reasonable
 based on rising coal and oil prices (Harme, 1980).
 Pohjonen (1980) notes that by the end of the century mined-out soil
 surface area will occupy 123,550 acres and the problem of future use for
 those lands must be solved. It is suggested that a number of characteris-
 tics of mined peatlands in Finland make reclamation to "growing environ-
 ment" an attractive option. The bottom peat layer is exceptionally sterile
 and no weeds, diseases or insects are present. This layer is rich in nitro-
 gen and calcium and an underlying mineral soil provides nutrients lacking
 in the bottom peat layer. It is noted that energy willow production would
 be extremely efficient since burning the willow in heating plants yields a
 nutrient-rich ash which may be returned as a fertilizer to the willow
 plantations (Pohjonen, 1980).
 Finland is actively pursuing development of its peat resource for
 energy use in order to offset its dependence on imported energy.
 Researchers are beginning to explore reclamation options which make
 use of residual peats remaining after mining in combination with underly-
 ing mineral soils. The cultivation of energy willows is seen to be an
attractive option, given the renewable nature of that resource.