The Appalachian Voice
Appalachian Innovation at Work
images/voice_uploads/p2basket.gif Sometimes, creating industry means crafting a work of art. In 1993, community leaders in Asheville, North Carolina were planning a revitalization of the Asheville area. Thinking outside of traditional economic protocols, they realized their community’s strength lay not in its ability to recruit new business, but in fostering the resources it already had, the…
Read MoreRuling Will Allow Destruction of Zeb Mountain to Continue
In the last issue of the Appalachian Voice, we brought you a story about the struggle of people in the Elk Valley region of eastern Tennessee to protect their streams, mountains and communities from a new type of mountaintop removal mining that is on the rise in Tennessee. Unfortunately, a lawsuit filed in Tennessee by…
Read MoreAnother Big Roll-Back in Pollution Rules
Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed to weaken rules regulating both deadly fine particulate matter and toxic mercury air pollution. Knowing that these rules are strongly opposed by the nation’s public health and environmental advocates, the Bush Administration is attempting to legitimize its proposals by conducting three public hearings on February 25th and 26th…
Read MoreBloodroot
One of the first (and fleeting) wildflowers of spring is Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis). In the southern Appalachians, Bloodroot typically blooms from mid-March through April, and is usually found in the loamy soils of deciduous coves and well-drained bottomlands. Desperate to outrun the canopy of spring leaves, it often competes with spring snows and heavy frosts,…
Read MoreDecision Due this Spring on Blue Ridge Mill Permit
CANTON, NC—Responding to requests from concerned citizens, public health advocates and environmental groups, including Appalachian Voices, North Carolina’s Division of Air Quality (DAQ), held a hearing on January 8 regarding Blue Ridge Paper Products’ pending Title V air pollution permit for their mill in Canton. According to DAQ, this employee-owned facility has been operating under…
Read MoreSassafras in America
While the Southern Appalachian Mountains abound in flora traditionally known for their medicinal properties, few equal the sassafras tree in its historical economic impact. The tree triggered a health craze in Europe upon its discovery in North America, when it gained a reputation for curing everything from wounds to rheumatism. Sassafras became a major commodity…
Read MoreLetters
Dear Appalachian Voice, I like to get your paper even if our government will not stop [mountaintop removal mining]. I received my first copy through a friend. I was born and raised in SW Virginia in the beautiful mountains. Now it’s terribly dirty. The mountains in Pardu, VA, north of Appalachia are nothing but one…
Read MoreA Tennessee Fairy Tale
In the Elk Valley region of East Tennessee, coal companies are telling a tale of a new type of mountaintop strip-mining that they say will not destroy homes, rivers, mountains and economies (see story on p.12). This new mining technique is called cross-ridge mining and it differs only slightly from the highly controversial mountaintop removal…
Read MoreCarolina Business Owners Meet with Senator Dole’s Staff to Promote Clean Air
On October 27, two North Carolina business owners, Renea Reed, owner of Snow Toys Ski and Snowboard Shop in Banner Elk, and Amy Vermillion, owner of the Dripolator Coffeehouse in Black Mountain, spoke to Senator Dole’s staff on behalf of the 350 North Carolina members of the Appalachian Voices Business League. They were asking the…
Read MoreUrban Wilderness: Birding in a National Airport’s Shadow
images/voice_uploads/ContentsHeron.gif You may not think of the booming Washington, D.C. metro area, with its population of 5 million, as part of the Appalachian wilderness experience. Think again. If business or political activity takes you to the capital, be sure to seek out one of the most satisfying wildlife experiences possible: observing hundreds of bird species,…
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