Across Appalachia
Environmental and cultural news briefs
Fire Destroys Office at Highlander Center, White Supremacy Sign Found
The main office of the historic Highlander Research and Education Center in New Market, Tenn., burned down in March. A symbol associated with white supremacy was found spray painted outside the racial, social and economic justice organizing center.
Clinch Coalition Draws Attention to ATV Impacts on Streams
Southwest Virginia environmental watchdog group The Clinch Coalition is expressing concerns about damage to streams and wetlands from some of the Spearhead Trails network’s off-road vehicle trails.
Plans for Development at Tennessee’s Rocky Fork State Park Meet Opposition
Conservation advocates claim that the state’s plans to build build a visitor center, parking lot, bridge and two-lane road at the rustic state park would endanger wildlife habitat.
Tribal Governments Dispute Proposed Casino
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians claims that a federal bill allowing the Catawba Indian Nation to build a casino in North Carolina is “a modern day land-grab” of Cherokee aboriginal lands, while the Catawba argue that they have rights to the land.
EPA Rejects Proposed Oak Ridge Landfill
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rejected a controversial landfill in Oak Ridge, Tenn., that was to contain low-level radioactive and mixed waste from a federal laboratory and security complex.