Objectives
- Map the location and extent of impacts caused by lead mining in Jasper County.
- Quantify impacts in terms of habitat types lost and place these in an ecoregional context.
- Determine baseline conditions at each site.
We defined historic conditions of the Jasper and Newton County mining area, assessed current conditions using GIS, and used GIS to identify what current conditions may have been without the impacts from mining. Newton County historically had much less prairie, and much more forested land concentrated in the southwest portion of the county versus Jasper County. Potential current state analysis indicates that most likely the mined area would have been in agriculture production if it had not been mined.