Harper's Creek Trail, Pisgah National Forest, NC. Photo by Jamie Goodman.

The region of central and southern Appalachia has more national land of any other region east of the Rockies.

If you combine just two of our eight national forests—the adjacent George Washington and Jefferson national forests—you have one of the largest chunks of public land in the eastern U.S. That region encompasses 39 counties in Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky and includes notable spotlights like Shenandoah National Park, Rapidan Wildlife Management Area and Douthat and Grayson Highlands state parks. With 2,193 hiking and biking trails—including 330 miles of the Appalachian Trail—in these two forests alone, even the most rabid eco-tourist should have plenty do to for a while.

The parks and forests of Appalachia bring tourism, and tourism brings tourist dollars which help to boost the economies of our small mountain communities. Areas that had no major industry or relied on agriculture or a single industry before the 1970s have either dwindled or flourished, depending on which side of the tourist fence they now stand on.

After the railroads were closed in the late 1970s, the construction of the 34-mile Virginia Creeper biking trail on an old railroad bed and the embracing of Appalachian Trail thru-hikers virtually transformed the dying town of Damascus, Va., into an outdoor mecca today, complete with an annual Trail Days Festival which draws thousands of visitors.

“The trail competely changed [Damascus] from empty store fronts to a bustling town,” said Nancy Lamb, an active resident also known by some as Mrs. Damascus. “The difference was the leaders who put it together. They were very farsighted.”

In contrast, the small hamlet of Lansing, N.C.—located on the same old railroad line as Damascus—elected not to continue the Creeper Trail into their area. Today, Lansing storefronts sit empty and the once charming mountain town has a sad, neglected feel.

But although we have a wealth of state and federally-designated land, Appalachia is also faced with serious issues that threaten the tranquil beauty that has helped some communities prosper.

In the eastern part of West Virginia, near the George Washington National Forest, mining towns like Fayetteville and Ansted experience economic stability and diversity in spite of the mining threatening their towns, thanks to the yearly influx of hikers, kayakers, climbers and car campers that come to the national forest and New River Gorge area to vacation.

Yet if you look at map of western West Virginia or eastern Kentucky—where mountaintop removal coal mining is the most prevalent—you would be hard-pressed to find much of the green that designates national and state forests or parks. If you compare this to a map outlining the most poverty-stricken areas in those states, the correlation would be strikingly clear.

Towns like Benham, Ky., which once grew a thriving tourism trade, are now being threatened as dwindling coal supplies force companies to move extraction sites closer to populated areas. Outdoor recreation destinations such as Boone, N.C., cave to pressure from state agencies against items such as providing bike lanes to enhance the town—perks that would elevate Appalachian towns to rival the tourist meccas of the country’s western states.

But as long as the blue and green misty mountains of Appalachia stand strong, people will come.

People will come to escape the heat of the southern cities, to let the cool mountain breezes and soft summer clouds invade their senses. People will come to sit beneath majestic old trees and peer deep into the valley far below, to contemplate how small they are in this enormous world. People will come to wade in our streams and marvel at the cold, crisp waters, to listen to mountain music and to revel in the ethereal, eternal and ancient beauty that is Appalachia.

Yes, as long as we preserve our mountains, people will come.

Blair Mountain: Preserving Our History, Our Integrity

“And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed—if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became truth. ‘Who controls the past’ ran the Party slogan, ‘controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.’” — 1984, George Orwell

Few things can be considered more contemptible than the deliberate and systematic erasure of history. It is dishonest to our future generations, an act unworthy of free people in a democratic republic.

Early this June, a week-long march will take place to stop the destruction of a national historic monument in West Virginia. The cause these marchers represent deserves a lesson in every U.S. classroom.

Blair Mountain was the site of an armed confrontation between tens of thousands of miners and coal company mercenaries in 1921. It was the largest armed conflict in the United States since the Civil War, triggered by a long series of grave injustices endured by generations of Appalachian miners.

For 15 years, the Blair Mountain site has been strongly recommended for national preservation by historians working for the U.S. National Park Service and a large number of archaeologists, labor historians and historical societies of the highest caliber. As a result of their work, the Park Service finalized the national designation of Blair Mountain as a protected historic site in March of 2009. That should have been the last word.

Instead, in November of 2009, the State Historic Preservation Office of West Virginia requested that the site be “de-listed” due to a set of transparently flimsy technicalities. The Park Service capitulated in January 2010, and “de-listed” Blair Mountain. Historians and citizens were shocked.

Blair Mountain is standing in the way of mountaintop removal coal mining; and how convenient for the coal industry—destroying a reminder of its sad and shameful history of labor and environmental injustices.

Not surprisingly, lawsuits have been filed and outrage, grief and sheer disbelief have filled the blogs and op-ed columns.

After all, erasing history is what made George Orwell’s “big brother” government so despicable in his novel “1984.” Erasing history was one of the great crimes, among many, of Soviet communism. Contempt for history is why there will always be a profound disconnect between Americans and the governments of communist China, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Burma and far too many others.

This June of 2011, a peaceful assembly of our fellow Americans will walk the route taken by the miners marching to Blair Mountain that summer 90 years ago.

It is our highest hope that the National Park Service and West Virginian “historians,” now in a position counter to their noble charter and Our Nation’s highest principles, will join in solidarity with these Blair Mountain marchers at their journey’s end.

For more info, visit marchonblairmountain.org.

Caring for the Earth So That We May Care for Each Other

Excerpted from a sermon
by Rev. Pat Watkins

Creation care is not just about caring for the earth. It is about caring for one another. Human beings are also a part of God’s beloved creation. Nearly every human struggle comes back to the earth in some way. Wars have been fought over land, oil, water, access to ports or control of shipping routes. Infants die for the lack of clean water. We cannot care for our fellow human beings without caring for the earth. We lament for all the humans God has created and especially for those who suffer due to the misuse of creation by those who choose to ignore the consequences of our wealthy lifestyles.

It’s so easy to dwell on the trouble part, isn’t it?

But even when we lament what is happening right now, it puts things into perspective to remember just how good God has been to God’s people throughout the ages. Colossians talks about all of creation being rescued, of being saved, of Christ being the redeemer of all that God has created. John talks about Christ being present with God at creation. How can we not believe that God will continue to love and care and heal His own creation?

I hate to admit this, but part of the tension for me is the knowledge that I am so very passionate about healing the earth while at the same time I realize that I am part of the problem. I stay torn between lamentation and praise.

Bishop Donald Ott, a retired United Methodist Bishop from Michigan, says it like this: “We cannot help the world until we change our own way of being in it.”

Whenever I think of a vision of faith and hope, I think of the vision of the Kingdom of God; I think of God’s will being done on earth as it is in heaven. I see no gap between the rich and the poor. I see everyone with enough to eat; I see clean water, enough for everybody. I see air that doesn’t give children asthma. I see the Chesapeake Bay full of crabs and oysters. I taste tomatoes that actually taste good. I see renewable sources of energy. I see species of animals that are not faced with their own extinction. I see farms instead of shopping malls. I see rice that can actually reproduce. I see pigs and cows and chickens that can actually hang out in the fields. I see turkeys whose breasts are small enough so that their legs do not break.

I see solar panels on roofs of homes and churches. I see new forms of transportation that don’t rely on oil. I see glaciers that are actually frozen. I see a government that cares more about the common good than the economy. I see people who care as much about each other and the planet as they do themselves. I see a far more simple life for those of us who live in the west. I see love of God, each other, and the earth all wrapped up in each other’s arms. I see passion on each face. I see greed and selfishness and apathy disappear from the face of the earth.

And whenever I wonder how in the world such a vision can become a reality, I see each and every one of you.

A ruggedly beautiful landscape makes the Mountain State a huge draw for outdoor enthusiasts, but environmentally destructive mining practices pose a growing threat to attracting eco-tourism.

Mountaintop Removal Threatens Outdoor Mecca

By Jesse Wood

Rafting the New River. Photo courtesy of River Expeditions.

Once a booming coal town in southern West Virginia, Fayetteville thrives today because of the outdoor recreation and tourism industry. Yet mountaintop removal threatens the town as coal once again creeps closer to Fayetteville.

“As coal mining waned, tourism picked up the slack and boosted the economy,” said Mark Lewis, executive director of West Virginia Professional River Outfitters. “Most of the places in southern West Virginia where mining occurred didn’t have that. They didn’t have the New River Gorge to fill the void.”

In 1968, the late Joe Dragan started West Virginia’s first commercial rafting business along the New River. His vision of the area for outdoor recreation resulted in the New River Gorge becoming part of the National Park System (NPS) in 1978. Ten years later, the NPS established the Gauley National River Recreation Area.

“We have the New River and the Gauley, two of the best rafting and kayaking rivers in the country, and they are only about 15 miles apart,” Lewis said.

Last year, commercial rafting outfitters guided 140,000 people down the New and the Gauley.

“A lot of the commercial activity is due to the rafting industry, [but] private kayakers, as well as the climbers, make up a significant part of the economy,” Lewis said.

Climbing didn’t prosper in the New River Gorge as early as whitewater did, but the area, with 1,600-plus rope routes, draws thousands of climbers throughout the world each year.

The shift to an economy based on outdoor recreation and tourism altered the town’s demographic and culture. Lewis described Fayetteville as a sleepy town in the ‘80s, where most of the activity revolved around the courthouse.

“There weren’t near the number of restaurants or little businesses in town,” said Lewis. “It’s very different than most towns you’ll find in southern West Virginia because of the whitewater and climbing. This is a unique little eclectic community. It really transformed the town.”

In 2006, Outside magazine named Fayetteville a top-ten destination in the country for its paddling, climbing, biking and trail running.

But that isn’t the only top-ten list the area made. In 2010, American Rivers, a conservation organization, named the Gauley among America’s Most Endangered Rivers because of the devastating effects of mountaintop removal.

As mountaintop removal creeps closer towards Fayetteville, the town, and in turn the economy, may be ruined.

“People of Fayette County are really concerned,” said Stephanie Tyree, organizer for Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition (OVEC). “It’s one of the few areas in the state where tourism has really taken off. You see our state propaganda, ‘Wild and Wonderful,’ yet, just in the backroom, they are blowing up the mountains.”

Unfortunately, the backroom is only 3 ½ miles from town. In the past, surface mining took place on the edges of Fayette County.

“[This] is the first time surface mining has been right in the center of the county,” Tyree said. “It basically surrounds Fayetteville and the New River and is creeping closer.”

Frasure Creek Mining, a subsidiary of Trinity Coal, which is owned by the Indian conglomerate Essar Group, has three active surface mining permits, with six more pending or under review, near Fayetteville.

“[This is] the number one recreation destination in West Virginia,” said Vivian Stockman, project coordinator for OVEC. “And now we have an Indian company buying up all these mountaintop removal permits and with them, they are going to blast away this beautiful tourist hotspot.”

Dolly Sods: Heaven vs. Hydrofracking

By Frank Salzano

If you’ve never been to eastern West Virginia, you might wonder why the Mountain State is nicknamed “Almost Heaven.” If you have been, you’ve probably wondered why anyone ever included “almost” in the phrase.

The highlands country of West Virginia is part of the Allegheny Mountains that run north into Maryland and Pennsylvania. The name Allegheny comes from a Lenape Delaware word for the mythical peoples who first inhabited the area thousands of years ago.

This highlands region falls into the Monongahela National Forest (the “Mon”), which makes up the heart of the central Appalachians. Like the Blue Ridge of southern Appalachia, they construct the Eastern Continental Divide, creating an especially rich, lush ecosystem to the west of the high elevation ridges. The frigid spruce-fir forests of the far north, the north woods of New England and the extremely diverse mixed-mesophytic (moist) hardwoods of Appalachia all meet here.

Flowers bloom at Dolly Sods. Photo by Jaime Pettry.

The northern part of the Monongahela is home to the Dolly Sods Wilderness. The wilderness area is composed of a high elevation plateau that makes up part of the continental divide, and is the highest plateau of its type east of the Mississippi. It includes an area of 10,215 acres of wilderness for backpackers to explore. Covered with extensive rocky plains, upland bogs and sweeping vistas, it is the most popular wilderness area in the state.

The area’s unique microclimate is extremely cold and thus the plants and animals there are similar to ones found about 1,600 miles farther north. Dolly Sods is adjacent to other natural treasures like the Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge, which hosts some of the best cross-country skiing on the east coast, and the Seneca Rocks-Spruce Knob National Recreation Area, home to world-renowned rock climbing.

This area, like all of the Allegheny highlands country, is filled with small farms, tourism and a strong sense of Appalachian old-time culture—but it is currently under threat. Located over the Marcellus shale seam that contains natural gas, Dolly Sods is near several permitted sites to drill for natural gas using hydraulic fracturing methods, or hydro-fracking—a technique of drilling that injects liquid slurry into drilling sites to break up shale rock formations and allow more natural gas to be released.

Although the industry lobbied against disclosing what the fluids contain, congressional and EPA reports have found that many of the chemicals in the slurry, such as benzene, are known carcinogens, endocrine disruptors and generally hazardous to human health. Studies have shown that the process can pollute local water supplies with heavy concentrations of volatile organic compounds and heavy metals, like arsenic, lead and copper, which also cause cancer, kidney failure and fertility problems.

West Virginia is known for its natural beauty and rugged mountains, but it is also known for its poverty and history of exploitation in the coalfields. The Allegheny highlands and plateau provide an alternative economy to yet another extractive industry. The Dolly Sods Wilderness area is a unique place, as is the rest of the Mountain State. Protecting these mountains from destruction and using them for positive economic development will help ensure their future.

Wheeling: Eat, Shop, Play & Work in the Friendly City

Downtown Wheeling, W.Va., and the Ohio River from Wheeling Island. Photo by Tim Kiser.

By Meg Holden

Wheeling, located in the northern panhandle of West Virginia, has a rich and diverse history. Founded in 1769, trade along the Ohio River and the National Road transformed this frontier town into “the gateway to the West” by the mid-nineteenth century. The Wheeling Convention established West Virginia’s independence from Virginia in 1863. Iron and steel mills on the banks of the Ohio River helped Wheeling become a center of industry by the late 1800s.

Today, Wheeling is known as the “Friendly City.” Civic groups in Wheeling work to preserve the city’s cultural heritage. Historic sites such as the West Virginia Independence Hall, the Victoria Theater and the La Belle Cut Nail Plant represent different aspects of Wheeling’s history. The annual Italian Festival, Jamboree in the Hills, Wheeling Nailers hockey club games and Ogden Newspaper Distance Race Classic are just a few events that attract visitors to the area.

400 hundred years of U.S. history and an eternity of natural wonders run from the Appalachian Mountain Ridges to the Shenandoah Valley and on to a coast that is one of the south’s finest.

Playing to the crowd at the 2010 FloydFest. Photo by Russ Helgren.

Music Tourism Gives Floyd Economy a Boost

By Bill Kovarik and Jason Coleman

If there is a poster child for music, art and recreational tourism in Appalachia, it would have to be Floyd, Virginia.
For most of the 20th century, Floyd County was just another sleepy farming community along the Blue Ridge Parkway, known for little more than high-octane moonshine.

But over the past two or three decades, as retirees and other refugees from urban life settled here, a thriving music, arts and crafts scene came together in a dozen different venues.

Today you can find concerts, gallery openings, wine tastings, art classes, renewable energy workshops, poetry readings and local theater productions going on more or less constantly.

Floyd’s musical reputation goes back to the dawn of the bluegrass era. In the 1980s, local bluegrass bands began playing at the Floyd Country Store every Friday night. The store became a fixture of bluegrass culture and, recently, an important anchor for the “Crooked Trail” heritage music tourism route through southwestern Virginia.

Another major contributor to the music scene is Floyd Fest, celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. Kris Hodges and Erica Johnson, restaurant owners in Floyd, wanted to bring world-class entertainment to the New River Valley. What began in 2001 as a gathering of 1,500 like-minded rock and bluegrass lovers has grown to about 12,000 people enjoying entertainment from around the world.

“Our vision was to produce a world music festival for the entire family and that’s not just a catch phrase, we mean it,” said Linda DeVito, operations director for Across the Way Productions. “We pride ourselves in the fact that most of us have kids, we wanted to provide a festival where a patron, even us, would feel comfortable in bringing our kids to.”

Still other music venues include the Dogtown Roadhouse with concerts every weekend, the June Bug music education center and the National Music Festival, a classical music festival starting this May that, organizers hope, will be an annual event.

Floyd is also known as a Mecca for serious artists and crafts folk, and their anchor is the Jacksonville Center—an old barn near town that was converted ten years ago into an art studio with a gallery featuring pottery, textiles, painting and crafts shows.

According to Lydeana Martin, the county’s community and economic development director, music and arts tourism brings an estimated $18 million a year and at least 200 jobs to Floyd.

Efforts to take advantage of tourism and broaden the county’s economic base include an expanded farmers’ market and two new county task forces to address land policy and agriculture and forest economic viability.

Visit: floydvirginia.com

Douthat State Park

Photo by Jamie Goodman

By Jamie Goodman

Tucked away in the Allegheny Mountains in western Virginia, Douthat provides a sturdy blend between moderately outdoorsy and activity-based family vacations. The 4,493-acre park offers 40 miles of wildlife-rich hiking/biking trails, a 50-acre lake with swimming and boating and a full-service restaurant. Those seeking more remote excursions can explore the surrounding George Washington National Forest, which boasts hundreds of miles of hiking trails and more than 30 campgrounds ranging from primitive to full-hookups. Visit: dcr.virginia.gov/state_parks/dou.shtml.

Small Farming Staying Alive through Diversification

By Bill Kovarik

Historically rich and classically pastoral, the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia is searching for sustainability through agricultural tourism.

On a Shenandoah farm just north of Lexington, Cyrus McCormick launched an industrial revolution in agriculture by inventing the first mechanical harvester in 1831.

A dozen miles away, in the shadow of the Appalachians, farmer-philosopher Joel Salatin launched a different kind of revolution on Polyface Farms. Sustainable agriculture, he hopes, “will see thousands and thousands of diversified farms serving their bioregional locavores.”

Although separated by 180 years of social change, McCormick and Salatin would feel more at home on each others farms than on the sprawling industrial poultry complexes that dominate the landscape further up the valley.

Many of Salatin’s farm neighbors feel the same way—they are not entirely happy with the sprawling suburban developments that threaten the pastoral vistas and the farming way of life. Nor has it been easy to compete with industrial scale farms that produce high quantities of food at the expense of quality and the environment.

The idea of rolling out a big green welcome mat for agri-tourists is, in large part, a hope that small and moderate sized farmers can supplement their income with a wide variety of activities that fall into the category of agri-tourism.

The activities range from farm-stay family vacations to wineries and horse farms that offer deluxe catering for weddings and special occasions. They also include the increasingly familiar activities like U-pick farms, corn mazes, tractor rides and pumpkin patches.

To become better known as a major agri-tourism destination, a group of county and regional planners, working with farmers, is launching a program called Fields of Gold. They hope it will be to agri-tourism what the Crooked Road of southwestern Virginia is to music. The state agriculture department recently approved planning funds for the first stage of the initiative, with every county in the central valley chipping in.

Anchoring the agri-tourism concept is the Frontier Culture Museum, a state-supported living history museum where farm life from Africa, Europe and early North America is re-enacted daily. Offering museum-like tours and summer camps for children, the museum recently faced drastic state funding cuts. The McCormick museum, half an hour south on I-81, also offers a link to the past.

Tourism is not new to the Shenandoah. The region has long been known for its caverns–Luray, Shenandoah, Grand, Skyline and Endless, among others.

The area is also gaining attention for the Shenandoah Valley Wine Trail and for dozens of other destinations that fall under the label of agri-tourism. The process of organizing and marketing animates the Fields of Gold initiative.

“This area has a rich history and culture that surrounds land based economies,” said Monica Plecker, a planning assistant with the Central Shenandoah Planning Commission. “There is an identity, a sense of rural living, that some feel is dwindling. The initiative will brand the region as agri-tourism destination with a variety of options.”

Grayson Highlands State Park

By Meg Holden

A wild pont of Grayson Highlands, Photo by Katie Boyette

Stunning views, unusual geologic formations and wild ponies—Grayson Highlands State Park in the Jefferson National Forest has all these and more. Located on US 58 between Independence and Damascus, Va., Grayson Highlands attracts hikers, campers and equestrians from all over the U.S.
The state park is home to forests, as well as balds, high-altitude meadows with rocky outcroppings and low vegetation. Balds such as the ones in Grayson Highlands threatened to disappear in the early twentieth century, when state and national parks prohibited large-scale livestock grazing. Surrounding forests began reclaiming the exposed grassy and heath balds until maintenance measures were enacted.
The Grayson Highlands balds are maintained by a herd of introduced wild ponies. These ponies are accustomed to visitors and will not shy away from humans, but should not be petted or fed.
Camping, horseback riding, fishing and hiking are permitted in Grayson Highlands. A fall festival is held every year and includes live music, demonstrations of pioneer life, a craft sale and an auction for excess colts from the pony herd. More information is available at dcr.virginia.gov/state_parks/gra.shtml.