[J P Stein]

There are trees growing in the ravines. I don't know when the pic was taken. The soil has been turned upside down.
There is no topsoil or even fallen leaves to hold moisture. Take a look at the blowdown area around MT St Hellens....a much better area to grow foliage to see how the recovery is going there. Much of Alaska has a growing season of about 3 months per year. Things grow slowly there. It ain't Missouri. Most of the coal mine tailings were replanted.......they were forced into that by the Fed & Local govs. I have a shirt tail cousin that developed fertilizer coated seed to make plants grow in that ****.

Stick to things that you know a little about.
There are coal tailings in WA that look just like when they were dumped there.......great for riding dirt bikes cause you can't hurt anything.

Yes, most will ever see it, but it's the attitude that is the problem. You ever see a clear cut right down to the high water mark of your favorite river bank? Have any clue what that does to the river?