The Long Trail Back: Public Lands Recovery After Hurricane Helene

Wild South’s chainsaw team (left to right: Ben Shaw, Nick Massey and Taylor Hilgeman) lend a hand rerouting a section of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail near Table Rock in response to Hurricane Helene. This section was next to, but outside of, the Linville Gorge Wilderness, so chainsaw use was permitted. Photo by Jonathan Massey, Wild South

Hurricane Helene devastated many of Appalachia’s most beloved natural areas. Thanks to federal, state and local partners and volunteers, many of these outdoor spaces have reopened. But full recovery is far from over. Current and looming federal budget cuts and policy changes have made already challenging land restoration work even more arduous.

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Clean water advocates sue to stop political pressure to bail out Mountain valley Pipeline

Washington, D.C. — Community and clean water advocates today sued to reverse a U.S. Forest Service decision about the controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) that was rushed through under political pressure from the lame duck Trump administration. The Forest Service announced today it approved a plan for the controversial fracked gas MVP to build through…

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Trump administration rams through final Forest Service analysis of controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline

After almost 8,000 people called on the U.S. Forest Service this fall to prevent the fracked-gas Mountain Valley Pipeline from cutting through public land in Virginia, the agency today issued a final report supporting changes to its own environmental standards to accommodate the project. The agency’s Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement confirms its plan to…

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Almost 8,000 call on federal agency to not allow the Mountain Valley Pipeline to cut through public forest land in Virginia

CONTACT: Russell Chisholm, Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights Coalition, russell.powhr@gmail.com, 540-404-2727 Jessica Sims, Appalachian Voices, jessica@appvoices.org, 804-356-1228 With the close of a public comment period yesterday, the U.S. Forest Service has received more than 1,800 personal comments and approximately 6,000 comments through organizational petitions from groups urging the agency to drop its plans to allow…

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Snowshoeing Canaan Valley’s Winter Wonderland

By Molly Moore When fresh snow muffles the sounds of scurrying squirrels and creaking twigs, the winter woods offer a serenity that’s different from the rustling, lively forests of spring, summer and fall. But the deep snow that can make a frosty trail so bewitching can also creep over the tops of otherwise sturdy boots,…

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