2007 – Issue 2 (March)
Green Burial Preserve Breaks Away From Traditional Burial Practices
But let children walk with Nature, let them see the beautiful blendings and communions of death and life… they will learn that death is stingless indeed, and as beautiful as life, and that the grave has no victory, for it never fights. All is divine harmony. -John Muir from A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf…
Read MoreMr. Randolph Goes To Washington
images/uploads/jw_circle.gif Whether we like it or not, decisions are made in our nation’s capitol every day that have a direct impact on life here in the mountains. This year, Appalachian Voices hired a staff member in Washington, DC, to serve as our full-time voice for the mountains on Capitol Hill. J.W. Randolph is Appalachian Voices’…
Read MoreInvestigating Looney Creek: An ecosystem autopsy in which we suspect mining as the cause of death fo
Looney Creek’s watershed stretches up Black Mountain on the Virginia side of the Kentucky border, near Rt. 160. The mountainside up near the ridge line is mixed hardwood forest, logged most recently maybe 15 or 20 years ago but not clearcut, as some older trees remain. Although this slope has probably been logged many times,…
Read MoreKayaks are Fine for Fishing
Self-proclaimed “granola” Woody Callaway sighs as he dips his paddle on the Green River at sunset. “This work is sooo hard,” he says, laughing. The founder of Liquid Logic, a kayaking company based in Hendersonville, N.C., knows that kayaking isn’t always about serene moments. Taking a kayak down class 5 rapids produces a rush of…
Read MoreWayne Bailey Fought to Preserve Eastern Wild Turkeys
Conservationists, turkeys and turkey hunters alike have lost a great friend. Wayne Bailey, one of a handful of people who brought the wild turkey back from the brink of disaster, died Feb. 27 in his Danville, Va. home after a long battle with cancer. Bailey, who was born in 1918 at Rock, W.Va. is known…
Read MoreCoal Synfuels: A Giant Leap Backward
America’s coal companies and their political supporters continue to push for the creation of a massive coal synthetic fuels industry. This time, they say, it would be a real industry, not the half-baked “spray and pray” operations that have legally but unethically siphoned off billions in tax dollars for bogus “synthetic” fuels projects. Recently, a…
Read MoreCelebrating Earth Day
Thirty seven years ago, American rivers were still catching fire and city dwellers had to choke through a pall of smoke just getting to work. Fed up with unregulated pollution, millions of Americans joined together on Earth Day and demanded that air and water pollution be cleaned up. The environmental movement was one of the…
Read MoreSquirreling away secrets at the US Fish & Wildlife Service
images/uploads/squirral_circle.gif “Ginny,” the West Virginia northern flying squirrel (glaucomys sabrinus fuscus) is a charming, big-eyed, nocturnal creature that lives only in the high Allegheny Mountains — in seven counties in West Virginia, and one county in Virginia. At night, Ginny and her family glide from the trees to the moist forest floor, where they feed…
Read MoreThe wiley coyote makes a comeback — and not everyone finds it amusing
Historically, the coyote’s range was restricted to the Great Plains area, but today the coyote can be found from Alaska to Central America, as far west as the Los Angeles city limits, and as far east as the Atlantic Ocean. The coyote (Canis latrans) weighs around 40 pounds and is larger than its western cousin,…
Read MoreKids Connect with Nature at Apple Tree Ridge Farm
images/uploads/green_circle.gif COPPER HILL, VA — Nestled into the side of a mountain near Roanoke, Apple Ridge Farm gives city children the opportunity to learn through camps and nature. “It is important for children to connect with nature,” said Laura Wasko, Environmental Education coordinator. “It’s important…as we’re moving into this electronic age.” The rolling property is…
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