All Posts
Former Executive Director Receives Award
Former Appalachian Voices’ executive director Mary Anne Hitt recently received the University of Tennessee’s Notable Woman award. The award, given every year since 1995 by the University of Tennessee Commission for Women, honors “a woman whose accomplisments bring distinction to the university.” Margaret Crawford, who serves as chair of the commission, says they were drawn…
Read MoreResolution in Support of Developing a Wind Farm on Coal River Mountain (H.C.R. 52) killed in Committ
“Controversial” resolution – introduced by Raleigh County Delegate Sally Susman with 41 Co-Sponsors and strong Raleigh County support – prevented from going to House Floor for a vote CHARLESTON, WV – Early Wednesday evening, Speaker Rick Thompson and other members of the House Rules Committee decided to prevent H.C.R 52, or the “Resolution Supporting the…
Read MoreAppalachian Mountains Preservation Act Still on the Table in North Carolina
Story by Sarah Vig Mountaintop removal is hard to ignore when it’s in your backyard. This is a well-known fact for Bo Webb, whose home on Cherry Pond Mountain lies near an active mountaintop removal mine. In his recent letter to President Obama, asking him to take executive action against the destructive mining practice, Webb…
Read MoreEarth Day 2009
Americans celebrated the first nationwide Earth Day 39 years ago, in 1970. Usually we remember such events when they fall on a decade or a century mark, and of course, next year’s 40th anniversary will be on everyone’s calendar. It’s important to remember, however, that by this time 40 years ago, a nationwide Earth Day…
Read MoreTest Results from TVA Ash Spill Warn of Serious Environmental Impacts
Story by Sarah Vig A respected team of scientists and water quality experts from North Carolina and Tennessee recently released a report analyzing water, sediment, and fish tissue samples taken near the site of the 1 billion gallon coal ash spill that occurred in Harriman, Tenn. last December. The report’s authors include Upper Watauga Riverkeeper…
Read More6th Annual Dine Out for the Mountains
April 22 Earth Day event to benefit Appalachian Voices If troubled economic times have meant cutting back on your charitable giving or if you’ve been looking for a good reason to go out to eat, Dine Out for the Mountains has come to the rescue. On Wednesday, April 22, a number of restaurants in the…
Read MoreCitizen Lobby Effort Wins Cosponsors for Clean Water Protection Act
Week in Washington Results In New Sponsors For H.R. 1310 Story by Sarah Vig In the largest lobby effort to end mountaintop removal to date, nearly 150 people from 30 states joined forces in Washington, D.C. March 16 through 19 for the fourth annual End Mountaintop Removal Week in Washington. Their goal was to gain…
Read MoreFilm Explores Appalachia’s Environment
Story by Linda Coutant A new film about the Appalachia region underscores a universal truth Western Civilization seems to struggle remembering: humanity is part of the environment, not separate from it. Appalachia: A History of Mountains and People airs on PBS four consecutive Thursdays beginning April 9. Produced by award-winning filmmakers Jamie Ross and Ross…
Read MoreScientists Describe Champion Trees of Virginia
Story by Maureen Halsema As I scrambled down the hill along the Appalachian Trail in Craig County, I could see gargantuan branches protruding in every direction. I realized that I had found the Keffer Oak. The massive branches spiraled around this centuries-old tree trunk covered with moss and snow. I stepped over a section of…
Read MoreHistoric Blair Mountain Battlefield Wins Recognition
Organizers Hope Register Status Will Help Protect The Mountain Story by Peter Slavin The nearly 30-year struggle for federal recognition of the Blair Mountain battlefield in West Virginia, scene of an epic military clash in 1921 between thousands of armed union miners and the coal establishment, climaxed on March 30 with its placement on the…
Read More