The Appalachian Voice
Operation 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 MoreHigh Country Rapids: Riverkeepers Host Gorge Race
Forty-one of the best kayakers from North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia came out to race for bragging rights at Appalachian Voices’ Watauga Riverkeeper and Penstock Productions’ first annual Watauga River Gorge Race in March. “This race is not for the faint of heart, it is for expert kayakers only,” said Assistant Watauga Riverkeeper and race…
Read MoreCome Celebrate the River
Watauga Riverkeeper Festival July 24 Appalachian Voices is hosting Watauga Riverkeeper Fest, an outdoor recreation celebration, July 24, at the Community Park in Valle Crucis, N.C. from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m., rain or shine. “Outdoor recreation is healthy, wonderfully fun, and leads to resource stewardship,” says Willa Mays, Appalachian Voices’ executive director. “We need…
Read MoreInside AV News Bites
E-nvironmental Kudos Appalachian Voices was recently honored by E Magazine when we were included in the magazine’s “5 Ways to Honor Earth Day.” The number one idea from E was to “Join the Movement,” and E listed Appalachian Voices as one of their favorite causes, among such notables as 350.org, Heartwood, and the Waterkeeper Alliance.…
Read MoreFreewheelin’ Across America
Story by Maureen Halsema Two friends hopped on two wheels and began a cross-country adventure with a flexible route that will transform as the weeks pass and a timeline that has no set dates. Seth Buller began his venture in Richmond, Va., zigzagged through Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina where he met up with…
Read MoreSouthern Representatives Introduce Efficiency Bill
Story by Jed Grubbs A bipartisan coalition of southern Representatives—along with members of the Senate and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association—have introduced federal legislation that promises to conserve energy, save Americans money on their power bills and create tens of thousands of domestic jobs. The Rural Energy Savings Program Act (H.R. 4785), a bill…
Read MoreAcross AV Shorts
A Quilted Memorial The Floating Lab Collective, an arts collective based out of Washington, D.C., is calling for submissions of quilt patches to commemorate mountains lost to mountaintop removal. The patch may be any size or shape, but they must have the name of the memorialized mountain on them. Submissions are due by July 1.…
Read MoreGrowing Community Agriculture
Story by Maureen Halsema A community vision, a team of volunteers and generous donations will transform a 90-year-old school into the new Agricultural Development Center for Polk County, N.C. Mill Springs School is a 40,000 square foot building that rests on six acres of pristine, viable farmland, and is the future site of the County…
Read MoreGET Going–Trekking the Great Eastern Trail
Story by Derek Speranza It is only fitting that poet Robert Frost took “the road less traveled by” in his poetry collection entitled Mountain Interval – and now long distance hikers everywhere have a new opportunity to do exactly that. The Great Eastern Trail is to be a 2,000-mile alternative to the well-worn Appalachian Trail,…
Read MoreThe Battle Over Blair Mountain Rages On
By Bill Kovarik The fight to preserve West Virginia’s Blair Mountain Battlefield has taken a new turn. Preservation advocates thought they had won in March 2009 when the site was formally listed on the federal National Register of Historic Places. However, the site was “de-listed” in December 2009 at the request of state authorities who…
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