AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain
DCL
Reclamation is, according to HowStuffWorks.com, "making land suitable for human use, usually through irrigation or drainage. The term is also used to refer to the restoration of land damaged by mining, erosion, or some other activity or process."
The State of California Department of Conservation explains: "The process of reclamation includes maintaining water and air quality, minimizing flooding, erosion and damage to wildlife and aquatic habitats caused by surface mining. The final step in this process is often topsoil replacement and revegetation with suitable plant species."
Reclamation may involve a wide range of venues, for example: land, mines, rivers, beaches, and water in general. In terms of mines, the U.S. Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 requires mining companies to "restore land that is strip-mined for coal. This restoration generally involves filling in excavations made to reach the coal, grading the land to avoid leaving steep slopes, placing the original topsoil on the graded surface, and planting the topsoil with vegetation."
Unusual form of reclamation: Barns.
