Building Back a Forest

In Appalachia, the total area of surface mined land is estimated to be around 1.5 million acres.   Much of this land is non-forested and unused.  But the American Chestnut Foundation and Green Forest Works are two organizations developing an innovative approach — planting hardwood trees including the threatened American Chestnut — for making these vast […]

Clinch River Protection to Boost Local Economy

Though we often hear in the coalfields that job creation and environmental protection are two things that cant happen at the same time, a growing coalition of individuals and organizations believes that the Clinch River, €”one of the most biodiverse river systems in North America, €”could itself be the backbone of a brand-new economy in […]

“Stop and Listen to West Virginians”

Last December the Environmental Protection Agency issued rules that limit the amount of mercury that coal-burning power plants can put into the air. Mercury is a nerve toxin, especially dangerous to children and the unborn, and the mercury rules had been a long time in the making. Like other actions of the Environmental Protection Agency, […]

An Idea Bank for the Future

A WMMT report from the East Kentucky Leadership Conference, recently held in Prestonsburg, KY.  One conference session engaged participants in discussion of a number of possibilities for the region’s economic and social future, including the establishment of permanent severance tax funds to support economic transition in the coalfields, Helen Lewis’s vision of “a clean glass […]