Search Results: south fork coal
Groups Seek Protection of Virginia Waterways from Mining Pollution
Red River Coal Co. Violating “Last Line of Defense” Clean Water Act Protections Contact: Eric Chance, Appalachian Voices, 828-262-1500 eric@appvoices.org Sean Sarah, Sierra Club, 202-548-4589 sean.sarah@sierraclub.org Matt Hepler, Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards, 540-871-1564 mhepler24@gmail.com Big Stone Gap, VA –Citizen and environmental groups today filed suit in federal court over illegal water pollution from four mines…
Issue 1: February/March 2013
View / Download PDF The Silent Majority From slime molds to songbirds, it’s time we start paying attention to what the planet’s creatures have to say The Custodian’s Conundrum Spelunking the Highlands | Owning the Caves On The Fringe of Life Safe Passage The Ebb and Flow of Appalachia’s Game Species Other Top Stories From…
Appalachian Mussels: Our Living Freshwater Filters
By Jesse Wood When European settlers first waded through Appalachian streams hundreds of years ago, freshwater mussels practically paved the riverbeds. In the early 1900s, the aquatic creatures were so abundant that thousands of pearl hunters flocked to the forks of the Holston and Clinch rivers in Tennessee hoping to strike it rich. Of course,…
The White Squirrel Hiking Challenge
Editor’s Note: We have long featured our region’s fantastic places and phenomenal hikes in the “Hiking the Highlands” column. What we have less frequently focused on, however, is how some of our favorite places were protected in the first place. Non-profit land trusts are committed to the preservation of our region’s natural heritage and scenic…
Reclaiming Appalachia: Can Legislation and Enforcement Restore Mountains?
By Molly Moore Kathy Selvage has lived in Stephens, Va., her entire life. From her front porch, she can almost see the field where her childhood home once sat. Instead of the hardwood forest that surrounded her home, graded hills lean against each other like a lumpy bag of onions beneath a blanket of savannah…
Remembering Buffalo Creek
By Brian Sewell In the morning of Feb. 26, 1972, nearly 132 million gallons of water and coal waste rushed from Buffalo Mining Company’s slurry impoundments through Buffalo Creek Hollow, Logan County, W.Va. The flood coursed through 16 coal mining settlements along the creek where hundreds of families lived, while children slept or watched cartoons…
Appalachian Documentaries
By Theresa L. Burris Residents of Appalachia have encountered prejudice through all types of media, some based on stereotypes of coal mining society. Fortunately, conscientious documentarians have surfaced over the years. They counter negative images of the region and examine the humanitarian struggles that come from the nation’s fossil fuel dependency and its inevitable consequences…
Saving Our Kids and Rivers from Drugs: Operation Medicine Cabinet Hopes to Build on Previous Success in the High Country, October 7th and 8th, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – CONTACTS: Erin Savage, Upper Watauga Riverkeeper 828-262-1500 Lisa Doty, Watauga County Recycling Coordinator 828-265-4852 Captain L. Reed, Watauga County Sherriff 828-264-3761 – – – – – – – – – – – –…
The Waterfalls of Appalachia
Here are but six of the hundreds of named and unnamed waterfalls that tumble and twist through our Appalachian mountains. We hope you enjoy! See the state maps in this issue for location indicators. Virginia — Crabtree Falls By Joe Tennis A mere six miles off the Blue Ridge Parkway, near Milepost 27 in Nelson…
The Heart of the Mountaintop Removal Movement
When Ollie “Widow” Combs laid down in front of a bulldozer that was preparing to strip-mine her Kentucky farm in 1965, it’s doubtful that she realized her actions to protect her land would grow into a movement. Today, women’s voices are among the loudest in the fight to protect not only personal land, but drinking…