This paper surveys economic, political, and legal factors involved in decisions to reclaim surface-mined land in the USSR, with particular emphasis on coal and iron ore, two of the most economically significant minerals extracted by surface methods. An initial section presents estimates of areas disturbed by surface mining and subsequently reclaimed. An analysis of selected economic, political, and legal factors follows. These include changing ratios of surface to underground production; a price system which undervalues mineral raw materials relative to finished products; Gorbachev's economic reforms; fragmentation of jurisdiction over reclamation activities; and extant reclamation law and its interpretation.

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