The long-term goal of reclamation at the Usibelli Coal Mine is to establish self-sustaining plant cover on the mined site that helps restore ecosystem function and maintain long-term water quality. This involves backfilling and regrading the mined sites to appropriate topography, then seeding herbaceous species and transplanting woody seedlings to control surface erosion in the short term. This initiates the establishment of long-term plant cover that will change naturally, much like on floodplains and deglaciated areas.

Grass seedings are critical to stabilize the surface for plants to take hold and add significant organic material to the soils. The seed mix is a combination of cultivars of commercially available native and introduced species selected for their suitability to the environment shortly after regrading. The introduced species usually grow more quickly than native species, thus providing protective cover more quickly. Grasses are used, even though they are not common in the surrounding vegetation, because their fibrous root network that helps minimize surface erosion. However, as the soils develop and shade is provided by grasses and woody plants, the plant community changes into one dominated by local plant species, especially the woody plants that dominate the surrounding vegetation. The original grasses provide initial cover, temporary litter cover and organic matter; help catch seeds dispersed by plants in native vegetation; and eventually disappear from the site.

The four main species helping with soil stabilization in older seedings include Arctared red fescue, Manchar brome, Meadow foxtail and Nugget Kentucky bluegrass. Meadow foxtail and Manchar brome are introduced species, but are used as forage grasses in Alaska. Neither brome nor meadow foxtail have been observed outside the revegetated areas and are minor components, at most, of the community after 4 to 7 years. More recently Norcoast Bering hairgrass has been added to the mix, and it grows reasonably well in the short term on topsoil on Two Bull Ridge.

In addition to the grass seedings, UCM reclamation crews plant thousands of woody seedlings on the sites each year. These plus the grasses provide the first stages of succession. Seeds from surrounding vegetation are transported by wind and animals, and those plants start colonizing the reclaimed areas. Over, maybe 5 to 8 years, the original seeded grasses die back, the litter decomposes, and the colonizing species may dominate the site by year 10. But the seedings and transplants help the native vegetation become established by stabilizing the site, providing wind protection, and adding organics to the soil.

Arctared red fescue (Festuca rubra) is the workhorse of the seed mix. It usually provides good cover under a wide array of conditions with lower nutrient requirements than many other grass species. It tolerates low pH (near 5) typical of topsoil materials. Arctared originated from Alaskan collections and was released by Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, Palmer.

Over the years a couple other red fescue varieties have been used, some being Canadian varieties such as Boreal Red fescue. Red fescue is a major revegetation grass throughout much of the United States, and many commercial varieties exist for different regions and conditions.

Red fescue is one of the dominant grasses on revegetated sites. Initially, it produces a thick litter mat that helps reduce surface erosion, but might appear to slow down colonization by native species in the short term. However, in test plots, colonization is frequently better on seeded plots than on unseeded controls. Red fescue persists longer than most of the other grasses under a low nutrient regime. Root structure is fairly fibrous, thus holding soil in place. Litter may serve as hiding cover for small mammals that may bring in plant propagules. Raptors may be attracted to these areas.

Manchar brome (Bromus inermis) is an introduced forage grass that seems to grow better on the warmer, south-facing sites. It may still be found in limited quantities on sites that are about five years old. The roots appear fairly robust and deeper and stronger than red fescue's. Brome grew better on sandstone and was almost non-existent in the loess in the sandstone-loess study on Poker Flats.

Meadow foxtail (Alopecurus pratensis) is also an introduced forage and conservation grass that generally grows better on north-facing slopes or moister areas. In the short term, it may also produce a thick litter mat that may be thicker than red fescue's because the plant is taller. [Note: Please do not confuse this forage and conservation species with foxtail (or squirrel-tail) barley (Hordeum jubatum), which is an invasive species that has long awns that can injure wildlife. Meadow foxtail in the Usibelli mixes is a forage species.]

Nugget Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis) grows better on higher nutrient sites. Although it occurs in the youngest stands, it does not appear to persist in competition with the taller grasses, especially with no fertilizer. It did persist on a high nutrient site but has since declined there also. However, there was some bluegrass detected in Gold Run Pass evaluation in 2006. Material for Nugget was originally collected near gold mines in Alaska and released by the Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station.

Norcoast Bering hairgrass (Deschampsia beringensis) has been a successful revegetation species in some places in Alaska. Where it does not grow well, Nortran tufted hairgrass (Deschampsia caespitosa) generally grows well. It was selected from germplasm from mostly Alaskan plants although there is Icelandic component in it. Both varieties were released by the Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station. (It is a very successful revegetation grass in Iceland, and they are producing the grass seed themselves.) It appears to do well in early seedings on Two Bull Ridge topsoil reclamation and did on the test plots.  [Nortran tufted hairgrass (Deschampsia caespitosa) was successful at Wishbone Hill and out competed the undesirable bluejoint reedgrass (Calamagrostis canadensis), as hoped. While it persisted longer than some other grasses, Nortran too eventually died back even at Wishbone.]

Annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) is used for quick cover.

Scaldis hard fescue (Festuca trachyphylla) grows on similar sites to the red fescues, but is not as abundant in the resultant plant cover. An advantage in using multiple fescues is that if one of them is not successful in a particular seeding, then one of the others may be.

Tobin rapeseed (Brassica campestris) is a yellow-flowered, fast-growing forb (broad-leaved, herbaceous plant) that provides a flag of what was seeded in the current year. It does not reseed. The broad leaves may provide an umbrella that reduces rainfall impact on soil. Its root system is more like a taproot compared with the fibrous network provided by grasses such as Arctared.

Peace and/or Rangelander alfalfa (Medicago sativa) are nitrogen-fixing cultivars that can contribute plant-available nitrogen to the soil. Their success has been spotty. In most years when revegetation was monitored, few, if any, plants were found. However, sometimes the plants were very large.