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Just a few weeks ago citizens of Blair, WV climbed to the crest of Blair Mountain with over 1,000 new allies. Movement leaders from surrounding states, union workers, students, archaeologists, activists, and friends from neighboring counties and across the country all came together for Appalachia Rising: March on Blair Mountain.

This rally, this stand, was the culmination of a week long march to save the historic Blair Mountain, end mountaintop removal, strengthen labor rights, and demand sustainable jobs for all of central Appalachia. Click here to see footage of the march!

300 marched the 50 miles through the 100 degree heat to meet another 700 on top of Blair Mountain. Thousands joined us for a virtual march online, and across the nation, people heard our stories from over 300 articles covering the march.

We are proud to have been a part of this historic event with you, it would have not been possible without the growing grassroots presence around the US supporting these efforts. See the video here.

This week opens new doors in Blair and new doors for our movement. We have shown that we can struggle through intimidation, we can forge new alliances, we can overcome obstacles and that we will be stronger in the end.

Let’s move forward together! More details on the event and what’s next for Blair can be found at iLoveMountains.org/Blair-Mountain and MarchOnBlairMountain.org.

Thank you for your continued dedication: what we accomplished with the March on Blair is representative of what we are doing throughout the entire region impacted by mountaintop removal, and we couldn’t do that without you!

For the mountains,

Matt Wasson
iLoveMountains.org