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The Ebb and Flow of Appalachia’s Game Species
By Davis Wax From the mythic, raccoon-crowned Daniel Boone to the adventurous, tradition-minded hunter of today, hunting in Appalachia makes up a long and colored tale. Its most intriguing characters may be the game species themselves, each accentuating a pastime and way of life which is slowly becoming history. A Game Icon of Southern Appalachia…
Read MoreThe Custodian’s Conundrum
By Molly Moore A swarthy tree trunk stands in a small clearing, a gap in the forest canopy created by its once-thick crown of leaves. Shrubs and saplings clamor for sunlight around the tree’s base, and carpenter ants colonize the wood’s damp interior, pushing it closer to decay. Sensing this activity, a pileated woodpecker, with…
Read MoreGlobal Connections
Goods we take for granted today, such as spices, sugar, silk and coffee, were once signs of the early global trade system. This collage of accounts from Valle Crucis, N.C.’s Taylor and Moore Store ledger (1861 to 1874) also includes a line for the opium-based laudanum, a common pain reliever and overall remedy used during…
Read MoreFinding a Common Language
By Matt Grimley Lucy Hoffman hears her cell phone buzzing at all hours. At Avery Amigos, a nonprofit dedicated to bridging the gap for the Latino community in northwest North Carolina, she assists Hispanic women and their families with a little bit of everything, including hospital bills, apartment leases, reliable transportation and English-learning classes. The…
Read MoreA Clean(er) World
By Molly Moore No country is an energy island. In the face of a European Union sanction that bans steel imports, Iran is using roundabout trading methods to secure metallurgical coal, used in steel manufacturing, from Ukraine. A state-backed firm in Abu Dhabi plans to invest in Saudi Arabia’s growing renewable energy efforts. And in…
Read MoreExtracting Insight
By Paige Campbell Half a million people live on the hundreds of specks in the wide-open Pacific that form the Solomon Islands. Most live simply, subsisting as small-plot farmers and fishermen. Land is owned collectively by villages and tribes. The economy is tiny, the natural resources vast. Eight thousand miles away in the mountains of…
Read MoreKindred in Song
By Brian Sewell “Greetings from North Carolina.” Doc Watson’s rich, syrupy baritone voice is instantly recognizable in a 1976 recording from Tokyo, Japan, where he took the stage with his son, Merle. “We’ve come to try to spread a little goodwill from our people to your people.” After an extended, solo-filled showcase of “Roll in…
Read MoreA Double-Edged Sword
By Jesse Wood The expansion of global markets and its effect on Appalachia has been a lopsided, double-edged sword, particularly for the furniture and lumber industries. While exposure to foreign markets has checked inflation and opened the door to an array of new customers, it has crippled the Appalachian furniture manufacturing workforce because of cheaper…
Read MoreWorld Market
By Molly Moore Appalachian farms are many things: bucolic, rugged, diverse and productive. But rarely does the word “large” apply. Historically, farm size was not always an indicator of farm success. But today, small farmers aren’t just competing with their neighbors; they’re competing with large multinational conglomerates for space on consumers’ grocery lists. Allison Perrett,…
Read MoreEqual Access
By Paige Campbell Eighth-grader Jarod Knight is having trouble with his homework. At his school in mountainous southeast Ohio, many class projects involve using the school’s broadband internet connection. But if Knight can’t finish during class, those assignments — like a weather-tracking science project — go home with him. That’s the trouble. Getting online is…
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