DEVELOPING A GEOSPATIAL DECISION TOOL FOR DATA-BASED PRIORITIZATION AND TRACKING OF REMEDIATION AND ASSESSMENTS OF HAZARDS POSED BY MINED LANDS IN THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES

Active and abandoned mined lands can pose many environmental and human hazards; thus, there is broad interest in their reclamation potential. However, centralized data regarding their location, characteristics (i.e., dates of active extraction, commodity, type of mining operation, etc.), reclamation status, and associated human and environmental hazards are lacking. To address this, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is developing a decision support tool combining national and regional data in an online, accessible, and query-able geospatial application for practitioners and managers of mined lands. The application leverages existing geospatial datasets to identify potential hazards and prioritize remediation activities. Moreover, this tool will allow users and decision-makers to identify vulnerable communities, visualize relevant datasets and generate metrics that can assist in evaluating the impacts of land disturbance and monitor the effectiveness of reclamation projects. Field activities in 2023-2025 will leverage application-derived metrics to prioritize sample locations for ground-truthing and in-depth investigations within the Appalachian region. This project is a partnership between the USGS, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, National Park Service, and the Fish and Wildlife Service. Iterative and collaborative development with partners and stakeholders will ensure a robust web application that presents useable information regarding mined lands to support well-informed decision-making processes.