Supporting energy and mineral development through successful reclamation
Federal lands of the US contain important reserves of oil, gas and other resources important for Unleashing American Energy (SO 3418). After development of these resources is complete, successfully reclaiming disturbed lands is a necessary step towards restoring wildlife habitat, forage production, and maintaining natural resources for future use.
To improve reclamation outcomes on these lands and support Achieving Prosperity Through Deregulation (SO 3421), USGS scientists are working with Federal, State, and industry partners to improve reclamation practices across US Federal lands.
WebDART: A Cutting-edge Web Tool that Evaluates Land Condition
What is Reclamation?
New Guidelines for Successful Oil and Gas Reclamation
Well Pad Reclamation and Research
Approximately 82% of Department of the Interior (DOI) lands are “drylands”, which due to warm climates and low and variable amounts of precipitation, pose unique challenges to reclamation following energy development, mining, and other activities.
Objectives and Methods
Through this research, the USGS is supporting land managers and oil and gas operators in the sustainable development of the Nation’s energy resources.
USGS does this though developing and sharing specific guidance and best management practices to minimize development impacts and successfully reclaiming disturbed lands during and after resource development.
This work is organized around the following specific objectives:
- Develop new strategies to support energy development while maintaining productive land conditions.
- Produce new insights into what governs reclamation outcomes and ways to improve land management practices.
- Use experiments to evaluate cutting-edge reclamation techniques that can accelerate land recovery.
- Complete technical transfer and communication of results with DOI, states, industry, and other stakeholders.
Reclamation that takes place after oil and gas development has several phases, including interim and final reclamation, which each have differing overall goals.
Surface reclamation generally entails recontouring a site to blend into the natural landscape, respreading saved topsoil and other amendments, establishing native vegetation, and minimizing erosion.
The focus of this work is on the Colorado Plateau, a ~340,000 km2 physiographic province in the southwestern United States that houses 33 national parks and monuments and large tracts of land and mineral resources managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
Managing energy development in these vast landscapes is challenging for land managers and policymakers.
Current USGS work includes:
1. Examining and quantifying the effects of past energy exploration and development on ecosystems, wildlife, and society, both locally and cumulatively.
2. Using field data and remote sensing to understand how management, landscape setting, weather, and time may constrain or promote successful reclamation.
3. Co-producing a series of reclamation experiments done with industry and land management partners on abandoned oil and gas pads and mined lands across the region.
4. Compiling and reporting on oil and gas reclamation techniques and methods that provides land managers and oil and gas operators specific guidance and best management practices to minimize energy development impacts and successfully reclaim disturbed lands during and after oil and gas development.
5. Developing new tools that allows federal managers and operators to quickly assess reclamation progress.
Time, climate, and soil settings set the course for reclamation outcomes
Learn more about our reclamation experiments
Learn how we are mapping energy development
Smart Energy Development web tool
Below are science projects associated with this work.
Smart Energy Development: Tools for Informed Development & Successful Reclamation
Federal lands of the US contain important reserves of oil, gas and other resources important for Unleashing American Energy (SO 3418). After development of these resources is complete, successfully reclaiming disturbed lands is a necessary step towards restoring wildlife habitat, forage production, and maintaining natural resources for future use.
To improve reclamation outcomes on these lands and support Achieving Prosperity Through Deregulation (SO 3421), USGS scientists are working with Federal, State, and industry partners to improve reclamation practices across US Federal lands.
WebDART: A Cutting-edge Web Tool that Evaluates Land Condition
What is Reclamation?
New Guidelines for Successful Oil and Gas Reclamation
Well Pad Reclamation and Research
Approximately 82% of Department of the Interior (DOI) lands are “drylands”, which due to warm climates and low and variable amounts of precipitation, pose unique challenges to reclamation following energy development, mining, and other activities.
Objectives and Methods
Through this research, the USGS is supporting land managers and oil and gas operators in the sustainable development of the Nation’s energy resources.
USGS does this though developing and sharing specific guidance and best management practices to minimize development impacts and successfully reclaiming disturbed lands during and after resource development.
This work is organized around the following specific objectives:
- Develop new strategies to support energy development while maintaining productive land conditions.
- Produce new insights into what governs reclamation outcomes and ways to improve land management practices.
- Use experiments to evaluate cutting-edge reclamation techniques that can accelerate land recovery.
- Complete technical transfer and communication of results with DOI, states, industry, and other stakeholders.
Reclamation that takes place after oil and gas development has several phases, including interim and final reclamation, which each have differing overall goals.
Surface reclamation generally entails recontouring a site to blend into the natural landscape, respreading saved topsoil and other amendments, establishing native vegetation, and minimizing erosion.
The focus of this work is on the Colorado Plateau, a ~340,000 km2 physiographic province in the southwestern United States that houses 33 national parks and monuments and large tracts of land and mineral resources managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
Managing energy development in these vast landscapes is challenging for land managers and policymakers.
Current USGS work includes:
1. Examining and quantifying the effects of past energy exploration and development on ecosystems, wildlife, and society, both locally and cumulatively.
2. Using field data and remote sensing to understand how management, landscape setting, weather, and time may constrain or promote successful reclamation.
3. Co-producing a series of reclamation experiments done with industry and land management partners on abandoned oil and gas pads and mined lands across the region.
4. Compiling and reporting on oil and gas reclamation techniques and methods that provides land managers and oil and gas operators specific guidance and best management practices to minimize energy development impacts and successfully reclaim disturbed lands during and after oil and gas development.
5. Developing new tools that allows federal managers and operators to quickly assess reclamation progress.
Time, climate, and soil settings set the course for reclamation outcomes
Learn more about our reclamation experiments
Learn how we are mapping energy development
Smart Energy Development web tool
Below are science projects associated with this work.