2010 – Issue 2 (Summer)
Home Grown: Appalachia’s Farmers Build Community
Story by Julie Johnson As locally produced foods gain popularity, Appalachia’s family farmers help create a supportive system of community services to reclaim the marketplace. Sprouting a Small Farm “In this region, where people have always relied on self-sufficiency, agriculture is about making a job,” said Martin Richards, a former farmer and current Economic Development Organizer for…
Read MoreSeverance Tax Leaves Kentucky in the Red
By Julie Johnson The money that coal, timber, oil and natural gas companies pay in severance taxes is less than the subsidies provided by the state to the same companies, according to a recent study by the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development (MACED). MACED examined Kentucky’s 2006 revenue from the coal industry—including severance taxes—and…
Read MoreSustainability and Conscious Sound: Music on the Mountaintop
By Megan Naylor Moving into its third year, Music on the Mountaintop festival, an event that unites music and environmental consciousness, has swiftly evolved into one of the largest-scale music festivals ever to be held in Boone, N.C. The two-day event will take place August 27 to 28, and will feature headliners Sam Bush, Keller…
Read MoreWhat’s the Buzz About Honey Bees?
By Maureen Halsema Empty hives around the globe have alerted beekeepers and scientists to a crisis: honey bees are disappearing, and no one knows exactly why. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), honey bees are essential for production of over 90 food crops and $15 billion in added crop value. Honey bees…
Read MoreOperation Medicine Cabinet: A Huge Success
By Derek Speranza River conservationists and law enforcement officials collected approximately 188,563 pills and 20.2 gallons of liquid medication during High Country’s second prescription drug take back event on May 22. More than 38 volunteers and 16 law enforcement officials from Watauga and Avery counties participated in Operation Medicine Cabinet, and the amount of drugs…
Read MoreStrong Support at Wind Stakeholders Meeting
Appalachian Voices recently partnered with the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and Catawba College Center for the Environment to host a successful North Carolina Wind Energy Development Stakeholders meeting. Participants came to the meeting to address concerns about developing wind energy in North Carolina. They represented groups from a variety of interests, including, landowners, county…
Read MoreIn Loving Memory: Sarah Percival
By Austin Hall When I first started as a volunteer at Appalachian Voices, I quickly learned that this was no ordinary organization. The members of the staff and the volunteers function as a family, working feverishly together to right some of the most egregious environmental wrongs in our country. It is this tight knit familial…
Read MoreWhen Tragedy Struck: Reflections on Upper Big Branch Mine
By Daniel A. Hawkins When the tragic explosion of the Massey owned Upper Big Branch mine rocked the small mining community of Montcoal, W.Va., on April 5, 2010, reverberations of sadness and fear echoed throughout the Appalachian Mountains, touching the hearts of nearly everyone laboring in the coal industry. Words could not possibly describe the…
Read MoreLawsuit Puts Bat Concerns on Wind Industry’s Radar
By Marsha W. Johnston Developers say the future for wind energy in Appalachia remains bright despite a federal court decision that has imposed requirements under the Endangered Species Act. In 2009, the Animal Welfare Institute sued to stop a project on Beech Ridge in Greenbrier County, W. Va., which it said posed a threat to…
Read MoreBeware of Muggles: The Quest For the Geocache
Story by Maureen Halsema Space Cadet reads out the clues of the cache. While Zergle decodes the hidden message, Map Man checks the GPS. “We should be right on top of it,” Map Man says. Space Cadet scans the area as Zergle pauses to think. Where could the cacher have hidden the treasure? The hunt…
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