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To Avert Disaster: “Pennies of Promise” campaign begins for Marsh Fork school Ed Wiley, grandfather of a Marsh Fork WV elementary student, and other residents of the Coal River Valley gathered at the steps of the Capitol building in late May to announce the launch of “Pennies of Promise,” a campaign to raise the funds…

Aiming to build alliances throughout the world and call attention to their experiences with mountaintop removal as a form of coal mining, The Coalfield Delegation– told their stories to the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development meeting in May. The delegation was formed by seven organizations representing the voices of the dispossessed in Appalachia The…

This summer, Appalachian Voices’ offices were filled with interns and volunteers from across region working on critical issues and providing valuable assistance to our campaigns. We had 62 volunteers and interns this summer working over 1200 hours for our Clean Air Campaign, Mountaintop Removal Campaign, the Appalachian Voice, and our Sustainable Forestry Program Our Clean…

Two shoe salesmen, the old anecdote goes, were scouting for business on a tropical island. The first sent back a message to the home office that went something like this: “No use, boss. Everyone goes barefoot here.” But the second fellow had a different perspective entirely: “Everyone is barefoot — sales potential unlimited!” In early…

Communities Upset Over Globe Logging Plan A controversial U.S. Forest Service logging proposal has sparked dismay across the high country of North Carolina. The area to be cut includes 231 acres of the Pisgah National Forest adjacent to the town of Blowing Rock and near the Julian Price & Moses Cone Memorial Parks. The area…

images/voice_uploads/BW7-Boone.gif September marks a special anniversary for the New River Valley and for environmental protection in Appalachia. Thirty years ago, in 1976, President Ford signed a bill to protect and preserve the upper New River. The bill designated 26.5 miles of the waterway as a National Wild and Scenic River, shielding that section of the…

Although they are a little known Appalachian group, Melungeons have always attracted the interests of people seeking to understand America’s earliest mysteries. Are they remnants of the Lost Colony? Are they descendants of shipwrecked sailors from South Carolina? And how are they linked to Turkey? Although the questions may not be fully resolved, Turkish-American relations…

The Ongoing…. “Truth, not politics,” should guide energy development, quips Massey energy Co. president Don Blankenship at a WV coal symposium in September. If that were to happen, “American coal will reduce the need for young men and women to die for oil in the Middle East.” … The Ohio Valley Energy Coalition responds: ”The…