BUREAU OF GEOLOGY


extraction. Additionally, the method and equipment utilized in peat
extraction and the environmental impacts of peat extraction are synony-
mous with those commonly attributed to mining, not harvesting.
 This study concludes that harvesting should be applied only to the
removal of living Sphagnum or other living plants and that the extraction
of peat should be categorized as mining.

 Environmental Impacts of Peat Mining

 Peat occurrence in Florida is, in nearly every case examined, coincident
with a current wetland area. Thus the environmental impacts associated
with peat mining may vary widely depending on the type of wetland, the
location of the wetland, the function of the wetland, the extent of min-
ing, the type of mining, and other physical parameters of the site.
 This study concludes that an accurate assessment of the environmen-
tal impacts of peat extraction will be site specific and can be anticipated
to range from minor to severe.

 Reclamation of Peat Mines

 Reclamation or the return of mined land to a beneficial use is applicable
to most mining operations and would be so with peat mining. Restoration
or the return of mined land to the pre-mining function is only partially
applicable to most mining operations and would not be practical with
peat mining. The higher the ratio of overburden to the mined product, the
higher the percentage of original landform and contour that can be
achieved in reclamation. In peat mining, where the mined product typi-
cally has no overburden, the extraction leaves a hole which will typically
become a lake in areas where the water table is high.
 This study concludes that reclamation of mined peatlands to a benefi-
cial use as an aquatic or uplands system is achievable; however, the
restoration of mined peatlands to premining contour and function is prob-
ably not financially feasible.

 Agricultural Use of Peat

 The in-place use of peat and related organic for agricultural purposes
such as in the Everglades Agricultural Area appears to be a nonconsump-
tive use of peat, while in fact, the exposure of peat to air allows aerobic
bacteria to oxidize the peat causing a gradual loss of peat accompanied
by subsidence of the land surface. It is predicted that by the year 2000,
approximately 250,000 acres in the Everglades Agricultural Area will
have subsided to thicknesses of less than one foot.
 This report concludes that agricultural uses of in-place peat should be
viewed as a consumptive use of peat and that research and planning
should be carried out to determine the impact resulting from peat loss
and land subsidence on potential future land uses.