Natural processes have been restoring natural disturbances since the beginning of time. This full-day workshop will explore how these natural processes can be applied to the restoration of sites that humans have disturbed to greatly reduce the cost of restoration. Traditional reclamation treatments can be costly and fail to generate the ecological goods and services that were lost during the disturbance of the site. This workshop will look at how disturbed sites can be re-integrated with the natural successional processes that operate to create productive, self-sustaining ecosystems. We will look at common constraints (filters) to recovery – erosion, compaction, low nutrients, lack of propagules, herbivory, etc. and how natural systems solve these problems. We will explore practical methods of applying these solutions to anthropogenic disturbances often at a fraction of the cost of some current reclamation practices. Specific details will be provided to address issues that are commonly found at mines and industrial sites (e.g. compaction, steep slopes, adverse soil texture, toxic materials and lack of organic matter or “soils”). The course will include a brief overview of monitoring and maintenance strategies.