Both the sight and sound of a pileated woodpecker are unforgettable. The call of the bird has always struck me as jungle-like, sounding more like a chattering monkey than a chirping bird. Most folks who spend any amount of time…
Monthly Archives: February 2005
Personal Geography
We are marked by the place we call home, not the house or people (though that is true, too), but by the land. I am the daughter of the mother of mountains, child of this earth’s oldest river, suckled by…
One Valley, Two Worlds
Climbing the steps at C.D. Owen High School in Black Mountain, NC, as hundreds of my classmates do each morning, offers two unique and contrasting perspectives. Looking straight ahead, as most do when preparing to start their school day, we…
Appalachian Treasures Project Launched
In March, Appalachian Voices and Coal River Mountain Watch will begin touring the country to build a national network of people who will work together to protect coalfield communities from mountaintop removal. Dubbed the Appalachian Treasures Project, the effort will…
Toxic Lakes of Goo and You
Members of Coal River Mountain Watch, concerned coalfield residents and the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition are working together on a “Sludge Safety Project,” www.sludgesafety.org. The Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation is funding the initiative. Focusing on West Virginia, the project’s goals…
Action Alert! Help Stop Rollbacks of Clean Air Laws
As the 109th Congress launches its session, the administration in Washington is clearly determined to advance new air pollution laws that will undermine the existing Clean Air Act. Their first attempt comes in the form of the Clear Skies Act,…
Student Volunteers Take Appalachian Voices by Storm
Editors note: Students from Appalachian State University have been flooding the offices of Appalachian Voices for nights we call “Pizzas and Vistas,” where they mobilize dozens of volunteers to advance Appalachian Voices’ clean air campaign. We thought one night per…
Small Farms Get Creative to Survive
images/voice_uploads/MaverickCircle.gif They’re all mavericks of a sort – unmarked and unbranded, apart from the crowd and outside of the mainstream, and just outside of Boone, NC. They believe the traditional family farm is in danger, yet they are not all…
How to Help Stop Global Warming
There are many groups both national and regional that are working to educate people and encourage political leaders to take global warming seriously. One of the most interesting of these is the Climate Connection, a program of the North Carolina…
Too Hot to Handle?
images/voice_uploads/MtRogers.gif We’ve heard about the threat of global warming for decades, but for those of us who live in the Appalachian Mountains, the danger may seem far away. Amidst all the talk of melting ice caps and flooded coastal cities,…
