In 1996, the Oil Sands Vegetation Reclamation Committee was formed to prepare guidelines on the establishment of forest vegetation and ecosystems, with an emphasis on providing appropriate “starter vegetation” for use in reclaiming oil sands leases in northeastern Alberta. The outcome of this process, the first edition of the Guidelines for Reclamation to Forest Vegetation in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region (referred to as the Revegetation Manual), was released in 1998. The task of updating this manual currently resides with the Reclamation Working Group (RWG) of the Cumulative Environmental Management Association, a multi-stakeholder non-profit organization whose members include representatives from oil sands industry, government regulatory agencies, and local communities. At the end of 2009, RWG completed the 2nd edition of the Revegetation Manual, which was published by Alberta Environment in 2010. Use of this manual for reclamation of upland ecosystems by oil sands mining companies is mandated by their operating approvals under the Alberta Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act. Thus this manual and its successors will inform revegetation activities on over approximately 30,000 ha of current disturbed footprint, and eventually as much as ~200,000 ha of mine- related disturbance.