The Appalachian Voice
Serving Virginia Parks
The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation is launching the inaugural year of its Virginia Service and Conservation Corps program. Participants will maintain trails and improve natural habitats at Pocahontas, Leesylvania or Hungry Mother State Park.
Read MoreA First-Hand Look at Emerging Opportunities in Eastern Kentucky
When eastern Kentucky residents shared their regional vision at Appalachia’s Bright Future Conference this September, they could point to real examples. The main highlight of the conference, which attracted more than 100 people from across Appalachia, was a collection of 20 tours of local businesses, farms, music and art venues, tourist attractions, and community cooperatives.
Read MoreThe Catawba River’s “Pollution Solution”
Keeping doggy waste off the lawn and using eco-friendly fertilizer are gaining ground as efficient approaches to healthy waterways. In North Carolina three ninth-grade students developed a curriculum to teach their peers these practices.
Read MoreOne Artist’s Experience with Coal Ash
Caroline Armijo began an environmental justice art project after seeing many friends and family die from cancer in her North Carolina community, near one of the state’s largest coal ash impoundments. In this excerpt from her website, she describes the circumstances that shaped her paper sculpture creation, titled “Gray Matter.”
Read MoreRescuing the Red Spruce Ecosystem
After a hike up a mountain, Andrea Brandon gently places a red spruce sapling into the rich West Virginia soil. Though only twelve inches tall, this small tree and others like it are a promising start to the restoration of an entire ecosystem.
Read MoreDr. Fred Hebard: Resurrecting the American Chestnut
By Kimber Ray More than one hundred years ago, benevolent giants flourished in North America’s eastern forests from Maine to Mississippi, reaching up to ten stories tall and broader than the widest embrace. By the time Dr. Fred Hebard was born in 1948, this towering population of American chestnut trees was decimated. But as chief…
Read MoreThe Truth About Coal Ash
Coal ash — the byproduct of burning coal for electricity — is currently less regulated than regular household garbage. Filled with heavy metals, coal ash is proven to contaminate groundwater and pollute communities with dust.
Read MoreEducating Youth Takes Flight with the Snowbird Youth Center
Children beamed in Robbinsville, N.C., as the Cherokee chief cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony of the Snowbird Youth Center in July, which marked the first time since forming in 2002 that the Snowbird youth group will have a building to call their own. The new space is expected to boost efforts in preserving traditional heritage among the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ Snowbird community.
Read MoreDavis Wax: A Spirit of Service in the Mountains
A former editorial intern with The Appalachian Voice, Davis is as comfortable writing an article about electricity transmission as he is teaching diverse groups of new volunteers the ins and outs of trail building.
Read MoreCompensation Remains Elusive After Elk River Chemical Spill
By Kimber Ray Prospects of a full cleanup are uncertain at the site of a chemical leak that contaminated the drinking water of 300,000 West Virginia residents last January. Freedom Industries in August submitted a proposal to the state bankruptcy court outlining its intention to abandon the site that housed the culpable chemical storage tank…
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