Iron mining in Michigan's Upper Peninsula has unavoidably impacted regulated wetlands. State and federal laws require these wetland impacts be mitigated by the creation or restoration of compensatory wetlands. Integrating wetland creation with tailings basin reclamation provided the necessary wetland acreage for regulatory compliance. The properties of the tailings and the design of the basins provided not only a suitable medium and location for wetland creation, but also presented substantial challenges. The creation of new wetlands required manipulation of the water levels within the basins and careful wetland design. Michigan Department of Environmental Quality permits required creating emergent, scrub/shrub, and forested wetland communities on neutral tailings. Numerous planting and seeding techniques were used to establish the different plant communities. These techniques included dormant seeding, drill seeding, aerial seeding, and transplanting wetland vegetation. Cover crops of Japanese millet (Echinochloa crusgalli) and red-top grass (Argrostis alba) were used in conjunction with hay mulch minimize erosion and sequester wind blown seeds from the surrounding native areas. Forested wetlands were established by transplanting wetland tree species at specific tree densities to compensate for expected mortality. The established wetland communities were monitored annually for a period five years to document the successful development of vegetation, hydrology, and wildlife in accordance with reclamation success criteria.

Landscapes are composed of soils, vegetation, microclimates, geomorphic surfaces, and hydrology that have evolved over time. What we view is a mosaic of different kinds of cover and surfaces linked with one another. Disturbances such as roads, urban sprawl, forest clear cuts, or mining are discrete patches that disrupt the appearance of natural landscape. Closure activities of a mine site signify the final stage of an ongoing operation that may require considering three options to return of the mine site to some semblance of the premine landscape. To implement closure requires knowledge of the plant growth medium and its ability to sustain vegetation. Planning is essential and implemented with sufficient lead-time to be workable and economically feasible to satisfy closure regulations. This paper discusses reclamation experiences basic to closure activities. Examples are drawn from three decades of study on iron tailings in Northern Michigan. Additional