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Volunteers Put New Trail On The Map
Story and photo by Sarah Vig The Mountains to Sea Trail is halfway home. With over 500 of its 1000 miles completed, the ambitious project is well on its way to spanning the entire length of the state of North Carolina. The Mountains to the Sea Trail (called the MST) owes its start, and continued…
Read MoreCoal River featured in two upcoming cinema releases
The community of Coal River, West Virginia, which has been the center of a battle between residents wanting to save Coal River Mountain and a coal company planning to destroy it, is now at the center of two upcoming films. On Coal River “On Coal River,” directed by Francine Cavanaugh and Adams Wood, is a…
Read MoreCoal Country
Film about Mountaintop Removal Mining to be Screened July 11 in West Virginia Story by Linda Coutant Whenever you turn on your lights or air conditioning, filmmaker Mari-Lynn Evans wants you to consider who pays the price for that electricity. “The people of Appalachia will be hard to forget after people see their faces and…
Read MorePaddling Appalachia
With tumbling rivers and cool mountain lakes, Appalachia is a paddler’s paradise. We offer a list of eight great destinations. Whitewater enthusiasts from across the country come to Appalachia’s rivers for their aquatic adrenaline rushes. Sportsmen often drift in canoes or open kayaks for fishing excursions. A long weekend of canoe camping on a river…
Read MoreFlooding Takes Its Toll In West Virginia
Story by Penny Loeb Tina England knows why flood waters rose seven feet on the road up Big Huff Creek: recent logging and new roads to gas wells at the top of the mountain. “Coming off a big mountain like this, there’s nothing to hold it (the dirt from the roads) back,” England said. “All…
Read MoreMountaintop Removal Activist Receives Goldman Environmental Prize
Maria Gunnoe’s family connections to her land in Boone County, W. Va, stretch back to Cherokee ancestors who hid from forced removal by the government in the 1830s. Her Cherokee grandfather purchased land there in the 1950s; she herself was born and raised there, learning how to hunt, fish and gather plants in the surrounding…
Read MoreHead to the Roof with Project EMMA
Growing on a roof in downtown Asheville, N.C. are beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, salad mix, radishes, lavender, rosemary, lemon balm, basil and other plants. The result of a partnership between the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project and the Council on Aging of Buncombe County, Project EMMA (for Eat better, Move More, Age well) is located on top…
Read MoreJune/July 2009 issue in PDF format
View the complete issue now! (10.2MB pdf file) TO DOWNLOAD A COPY: PC Users: right-mouse click on the link above and choose SAVE AS or DOWNLOAD LINKED FILE AS… Mac Users: control+click on the link above and choose SAVE AS or DOWNLOAD LINKED FILE AS…
Read MoreFilm Explores Appalachia’s Environment
Story by Linda Coutant A new film about the Appalachia region underscores a universal truth Western Civilization seems to struggle remembering: humanity is part of the environment, not separate from it. Appalachia: A History of Mountains and People airs on PBS four consecutive Thursdays beginning April 9. Produced by award-winning filmmakers Jamie Ross and Ross…
Read MoreHistoric Blair Mountain Battlefield Wins Recognition
Organizers Hope Register Status Will Help Protect The Mountain Story by Peter Slavin The nearly 30-year struggle for federal recognition of the Blair Mountain battlefield in West Virginia, scene of an epic military clash in 1921 between thousands of armed union miners and the coal establishment, climaxed on March 30 with its placement on the…
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