Across Appalachia
Tennessee Grandfather Cleans Up Creek, Wins Volunteer Award
Sierra Club members Carl and Iva Lee Wolfe moved from Florida to Mountain City, Tennessee, three years ago, after Carl retired. That’s Carl at left, pictured, with granddaughter Mariah. “We were impressed with the beauty of the area,” says Iva Lee. “But the condition of the road and the nearby Falls at Fall Branch was…
Read MoreBlasting Begins on Coal River Mountain
By Julie Johnson On Oct. 24, Massey Energy began blasting on Coal River Mountain, a ridgeline that has become symbolic in the nationwide campaign to end mountaintop removal coal mining. This West Virginia mountain is home to the highest peaks ever slated for mountaintop removal in the state. The state’s Department of Environmental Protection has…
Read MoreTensions Continue to Grow Over Mountaintop Removal Mining
By Sandra Diaz From civil disobedience with ever-increasing fines to public-hearings-turned-shouting-matches, the tension between mountaintop removal factions has turned explosive. Fines for acts of civil disobedience in actions opposing mountaintop removal have been increasing, but the additional costs have not stopped the protests. On Sept. 9, four protesters, along with a journalist covering the event,…
Read MoreAIRE and MOTM: Combining Music With Renewable Energy
By Jeff Deal The 4,200 folks who turned out for this year’s Music on the Mountaintop (MOTM)raised $5,000 for community driven renewable energy. The August festival in Boone, N.C. hosted stellar performances by four-time Grammy Award winner Sam Bush and music favorites Acoustic Syndicate and Kellar Williams. The Appalachian Institute for Renewable Energy (AIRE)—an organization…
Read MoreN.C. Residents Speak Out About Four-Lane Highway Proposal
By Julie Johnson A proposal for a four-lane highway through the Stecoah Valley drew residents from Graham County, N.C. and surrounding areas to speak out at a packed community center on Oct. 28. This ten mile, split-median road is being proposed by the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) at an estimated budget of $350…
Read MoreInaugural New River Trail Race A Success
Runners of the first New River Trail 50K (NRT 50K) began their race with foggy 48 degree temperatures on Saturday, October 11, but finished with bright skies and sunny conditions. Of the 102 racers at the start of the 50K (31.1 miles) course—known as an “ultramarathon”—100 crossed the finish line and 96 finished in the…
Read MoreStream Buffer Zone Rule Repeal Deserves President Obama’s Attention
To the outrage of environmentalists across the Appalachian region, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved a severe weakening of a rule protecting streams from coal mining pollution in early December. The Stream Buffer Zone rule had been in effect since 1983 to protect the nation’s headwater streams from being buried by valley fills from mountaintop…
Read MoreInaugural New River Trail Race a Success
Runners of the first New River Trail 50K (NRT 50K) began their race with foggy 48 degree temperatures on Saturday, October 11, but finished with bright skies and sunny conditions. Of the 102 racers at the start of the 50K (31.1 miles) course—known as an “ultramarathon”—100 crossed the finish line and 96 finished in the…
Read MoreFilm Festival to Showcase Environmental Shorts From Across the Nation
The Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival, presented in joint effort by Patagonia, Blue Ridge Mountain Sports, and Appalachian Voices, will be held November 11, 2008 at the Lyric Theatre in Blacksburg, Virgina. The event is a benefit for Appalachian Voices. Screenings will begin at 7 p.m and will include ten short films made for…
Read MoreACE conference starts needed conversation
At the first ever Appalachian Community Economics (ACE) conference held September 19-21 in Abingdon, VA, participants brought that old maxim “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” into contemporary context. The conference focused on developing sustainable, local economies that don’t rely on coal. Prior to the conference, participants had the option of taking a…
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