Appalachian The Voice October / November 2009 Parks and Forests As three of our regional parks prepare to turn 75, it’s time to get reaquainted with our public lands - and what they mean Plus: Dwelling in a Box • Countdown to Copenhagen • Dolly’s Eagle Sanctuary • Lenny Kohm Wins Award Page 2 The aPPalachian Voice A V InSIde thIS ISSue PPALACHIAN OICE The A publication of 191 Howard Street • Boone, NC 28607 As the realities of climate 1-877-APP-VOICE change begin to knock www.AppalachianVoices.org increasingly louder at our APPALACHIAN VOICES door, we must venture into Appalachian Voices brings people together to solve the environmental problems having the greatest impact on the central and southern Appalachian the wild and remember the Mountains. Our mission is to empower people to defend our region’s rich land we are trying to save. natural and cultural heritage by providing them with tools and strategies for Our National Parks and For- successful grassroots campaigns. Appalachian Voices sponsors the Upper ests hold the last unspoiled Watauga Riverkeeper® and is also a Member of the Waterkeeper® Alliance. cradles of biodiversity in the Editor-At-LArgE Bill Kovarik country and offer a glimpse MAnAging Editor Jamie Goodman into the delicate, intercon- p. 14-21 AssociAtE Editor Maureen Halsema nected ecosystem we must distribution MAnAgEr Amanda Lewis AdvErtising intErn Zach Ollis strive to protect. EditoriAL intErn Julie Johnson Appalachian Voices Staff Dwellbox - Three Boone, NC entrepreneurs are EPA Mountaintop Removal ExEcutivE dirEctor ...................................................................Willa Mays recycling used shipping containers as efficient, affordable Permits Held - The EPA temporarily ProgrAMs dirEctor ...............................................................Matt Wasson p. 4 construction material .... cAMPAign dirEctor.................................................................Lenny Kohm withholds 79 mountain top removal permits p. 12 dEvELoPMEnt & coMMunicAtions dirEctor .........................Sandra Diaz pending further investigation .... in-HousE counsEL ............................................................Scott Gollwitzer Chasing Copenhagen: Part 1 - Editor-in-Chief Bill Kovarik meets with scientists in two EU countries to learn OPERATIONS what they are doing to reduce CO2 emissions and fossil- oPErAtions MAnAgEr .......................................................Susan Congelosi p. 5 AdMinistrAtivE AssistAnt ..........................................................Shay Boyd Dolly Parton: fuel dependency .... PROGRAMS Conserving Southern Appalachia Film - A ten-day festival LEgisLAtivE AssociAtE .........................................................J.W. Randolph America’s Icons - p. 8 with over sixty screening takes place at ETSU .... nAtionAL FiELd coordinAtor .......................................Stephanie Pistello Dolly partners with Great vA cAMPAign coordinAtor .................................................Tom Cormons Smoky Mountains Park vA FiELd orgAnizEr ...............................................................Mike McCoy Focus Pocus - Appalachian Mountain Photography 75th anniversary and p. 8 nortH cAroLinA FiELd coordinAtor .....................................Austin Hall Competition opens for submissions .... uPPEr WAtAugA rivErkEEPEr ............................................Donna Lisenby works to rehabilitate AMEricorPs rivErkEEPEr AssociAtE ........................................Eric Chance eagles in her own park Duke’s Proposed Rate Hike - Outraged citizens tEcHnoLogist ..........................................................................Benji Burrell ....p. 21 across North Carolina express their disapproval at public it sPEciAList ...................................................................................Jeff Deal p. 13 coMMunicAtions coordinAtor .........................................Jamie Goodman hearings .... AMEricorPs EducAtion And outrEAcH ........................Maureen Halsema ForEstry / AMEricorPs coMMunicAtions outrEAcH .......Amanda Lewis OFFICE INTERNS Workstudy .......................................................................Joe de Lapouyade Every Issue: AdMinistrAtivE intErn ......................................................Tootise Jablonski inForMAtion & voLuntEEr coordinAtion intErn ...................Jed Grubbs APPALAcHiAn trEAsurEs outrEAcH tEAM ......................................................... Hiking the Highlands: Appalachian Trail ....p. 7 .......................................Diane Adkins, Lauren Essick, Brittany Newsome AV Book Club ...................................................p. 9 Across Appalachia .........................................p. 10 Appalachian Voices Board of directors Opinions and Editorials ................................p. 22 Chair ------------------------------------ Christina Howe Inside Appalachian Voices ............................p. 24 Cover photo: ViCe Chair ---------------------------------- Heidi Binko SeCretary ---------- Matthew Anderson-Stembridge Naturalist’s Notebook: Rare Species ...........p. 27 Kent Kessinger took this magnificent photograph of a trail At Large: Brenda Boozer, Steve Ferguson, Mary Anne Hitt, Brenda through an evergreen forest Huggins, Lamar Marshall, Kathy Selvage, Bunk Spann, Pat Watkins, Get Involved! ..................................................p. 28 in southern Appalachia. Jim Webb, Dean Whitworth, Sarah Wootton AppAlAchiAn Voice Distribution VoLuntEErs: Jere Bidwell, Blue Smoke Coffee, Charlie Bowles, Jane Branham, Steve Brooks, Chris Chanlett, Ed Clark, Shay Clayton, Tom Cook, April Crowe, Lowell Dodge, Dave Gilliam, Gary Greer, Colton Griffin, Susan Hazelwood, Jennifer Honeycutt, Jim Dentinger, Brenda and Larry Huggins, Allen Johnson, Mark Kidd, Rose Koontz, Frances Lamberts, Loy Lilley, Gail Marney, Keisha Congelosi, Kim Greene McClure, Mike McKinney, Linda Milt, Steve Moeller, Dr. Emmanuel Mornings, Dave and Donna Muhley, Dennis Murphy, Catherine Murray, Dave Patrick, Monica Randolph, Carol Rollman, Gerry and Joe Scardo, Kathy Selvage, Jennifer Stertzer, Ray Vaughan, Bill Wasserman, Dean Whitworth, Brad Wood, Gabrielle Zeiger, Ray Zimmerman ocTober/noVember 2009 The aPPalachian Voice Page 3 A note from our Executive Director ad“riCespBt auwhuupelmtapt mtutpehMc ariethnerosog.i e ”snsd itcp ng oJootra omfsiin sn otup he.ga saseB sns dagu eisafret sro iRsuiolu fywmm anw yedee e rrt ife tohlrlh losnoeeaiog meotatkvaW “sahncrsc lb eschlnae Ehdeaetcaa arepgodo ioryws bercpfipow uift sn eWoToue, c enen lpVuteconodlhmsarhTreesonhlut ionstietedynr i,hgn oeolom rrrh,goidlt i ng e reynqneirrshtif sse a aechn fab uowey ia podoptaealaeisroieomn la,crfa v oe r asfa p mauP,mtesy ofintac rutluowo sre psya ishadmdset blCrn, en oeleoh kenfoitulneei egr rreftrsowsitttc ao hiygsantechaaeseiomr ensn h larnsgeceoatoims , etraeyoe dk b tf yw Ws— tlnm op sapes o ceh rtb kdtra aa aeauh.iea ihay lV nccvgtnsncaintaCsee aairoh cate sicdbdn r u leeie.t whloshjud a raaesssodwos ui —orreta tnntaabtlsh ntedshiaorwdnntdiscc as ces esrrtp ydheah.,nrdha l aey a ssTie eyoptcdgnea cn i.oree dorn oohiea utedTns s ennmtidu,fep ital t hsau hvs mtaathmt .ocaaa pledwhehstee llicgno hr poeca el eaattbeaeuroa d sste oryp awssNcw ltettta. whtas.oherio d iwhNr ceeosTttdelassnw lslhh w ytheieuy hak.a nbwi a ctoie tM sgtagtdYh tysao yhfthritetoonenno theea re bcP ehocecrtw nepmw oo—ssyierbkpi yroer d aaenstvo eses tTrth ln ttio ,pyano ie taafri awoaftsrnfo pmppa ee.tteh uwnld t p otasrllwHflriiesoe,u dlspos ee nyolssa. enttnyn berte wteeracsSaeser ecrtd pahly o eravtdgeif laene wtaoeaprodc uichc dtu d soul“tii lttrehflepantena sAhoerryhrhlme ttoog’lr eas aossl iailsesmyol g S irebr xss trantsrahi seteteio tleinsrd oeaae qernsg uettt ,natmnr houh duhs1ehrn tsndiap sail3. ih dwiara”a fcetc tr hefe ttefbnda:kieetthoadornprieiheerrscatnel rrtepies b, asi tt neyte ’yonti rtt neo lwa sts sldlotsp,od.ae fsco tr .eae”n - MvAbopiVwmdpoueoaepnnonit caMeteudsael rnauaiowsntbpc fa a MKPDBWDAThlptPioeoooynaianiaaoala riusm ltttlSnvvo srtlronec rDittiii tuaot dda hc lp FeeHoBeoomu ineoMm ScaDEarzaernwrrdg etnisnglcsoebEe Cosp amoayeo arurAdfkriinoupat n osedniwonhtmfioipr dgztfdevceaaaafo aeoa esrrtiintrdnenhrltai eessos scitevoha,ln.o n e n las yaTsMn-bon lp ubeh uodme ecaru Pacc iaesnniweunianistnsalshd r k geitgi nocos .tor hh tfoh h P eTJMSJJEAKAuateewr ueuirtohallipmoyalyldrifpdiipnte fe lersth elp i opl ep t t PoPelRyvhpheSafceor oar aearo SruactnnmlPP inoosli rvMscul aPahdrlttrSiesehaetbdasstoeoiecmyrotcr klerereirehaonetena nbc dauhlgr,tioeAf exehes fnprripe ea pssgwrrtpd r sohosatiahttesocehlaa tutc ibtcactt hh ap eodeic raruoeoknnr---f ttieionov hnpeesnrr Io ae Wbtcneerctaol tisvse hosavi ulAenur gip etct puoiinsanl t ul cuafplcore ehrta o inwla eu .Aeas dm—pepuryassolhtau ipcp, hra oginatudenic dmst attrenhe—ceae mte.o cTs ob haseyen e sdlvte eetamhrd eves i srtgsohihulaaintpn ds tmu iosnuft apstirtrn eoc eitostem cfirnteoi n tmfhgroe ot mhwuo rius nAesd —pw. pWhtaholeea d ccphoaen inoa’pton tll heo i enowrkhih tetarooge lnreie.vt glIeyfu waplanletad owc revsa i ansonitrt MADSaloaaynrnegn HaaJr aaeHrctma kHr stamlbaenisen GDLVyiarrengwgninno Ti raShy woU Smanmndaseistorhwn-Houondnicutt ArpeprcoprteaeWalcatteicio nhangir a eai. t rfT eaohalrlest ub psenhecaoaatrpuei lsnteeog w t hhthhaeovey e ala ararenew dAiensp ctiepanrpasdpleae icprwhieniintaghd. nepanrttii.vo Yanotaeul lphaaanvrdkeos aw, rpneoemwrsae.r rkTfauhble lv eho neicaaeltti. hoSn toaafnl dofou wrre isetthcs o,u sasyn asdtne dwm hosna dvdeeep ryfeounuld rss tA aotpne- NCESraa.n rrSeaotshlu t Ka MLeretial hlJteimonrngaensn RMNJauiicncthheho aVYleaoalsnu W dnYegooruosndagll palachian Voice heard. Thomas Moore We’re counting on you! Willa Coffey Mays Executive Director of Appalachian Voices Join Appalachian Voices Today! Through donating money, time or talent, Appalachian Name ________________________________________________________________ Voices’ members provide critical support to help reduce Address ______________________________________________________________ air pollution, protect the health of our forests and end City______________________________________ State________ Zip____________ mountaintop removal mining. Join us in protecting and Phone_______________________E-mail____________________________________ restoring our irreplaceable Appalachian heritage. Become a member of Appalachian Voices. ❑ I prefer e-communications. Please do not send me print communications. (Email address required for this option. You will still receive the bi-Monthly The Appalachian Voice newspaper) All members receive a Sign up Today! Please indicate your donation level for the next year. one year subscription ❑ $500 Sustainer ❑ $25 Individual Member (six issues) of The 1 Visit our website at: ❑ $100 Supporter ❑ $15 Student/Limited Income www.appvoices.org/donate Appalachian Voice. ❑ $50 Contributor ❑ $_______ Other All donations are tax- Call our toll-free number: ❑ Become a Mountain Protector (monthly contributer) $_____/month ($10 min) 2 deductible. 1-877-277-8642 (APPVOICE) MC/VISA # ___________________________________________________________ 3 Mail in your form today: Expiration date_____________________Amount $____________________ Thank you for Cut out the form to the right Signature _____________________________________________________________ your support! and mail or fax it back to us Clip & mail to: Appalachian Voices, 191 Howard Street, Boone, NC 28607 ocTober/noVember 2009 Page 4 The aPPalachian Voice Dwellbox: Building Blocks for sustainaBle Homes By Jamie Goodman log cabin.” The sustainability of the When you drive by the interior work that Dwellbox tiny red house on Hill Street does is entirely up to the near downtown Boone, it client. “We openly advertise looks like any other college- that we are adept at integrat- student dwelling— a small, ing renewable energy into square, structure with an our structures,” said Pond. apartment perched atop a one car garage. Building Out Upon closer inspection, Aside from their however—perhaps a casual Pictured are Dwellbox’s first shipping residential dwellings, container construction projects. At top, rap of your knuckles against Dwellbox is working the small, stand-alone apartment on Hill the siding—you will dis- Street in Boone, N.C. At left, a 1,600 to bring the concept of cover that the structure of sq ft’ home called Tad Asana which “shipping containers as the house is made not from took three 40’ and two 20’ containers to building blocks” into construct. The cantilevered design required traditional wood, but the other, less mainstream, significantly more engineering than 14-gauge steel hull of a ship- the square apartment building. Photos markets. ping container, the kind that courtesy of Dwellbox Their newest project, crisscrosses oceans perched still in the design phase, in huge stacks—sometimes foot apartment on Hill Street, constructed is a Mobile Learning Lab 9 or 10 high, and as many as 10,000 per of two 40-foot containers cut in half and requirements of the construction site. Weld- for Caldwell Community load—on cargo ships that ferry imports stacked. It was a learning process for the ing cuts are made into the container’s steel College in Lenoir, N.C. The school, recently and exports around the world. group, but after 90 days, some broken using heavy-duty welding tools, carving out awarded the state’s Green Business Fund, You have just met your first Dwell- tools, and a little sweat and determination, door and window holes and removing walls wanted to use the funds to create a lab for box. the first dwellbox was complete. where two containers will be connected teaching aspects of traditional trade skills An Ocean’s Worth of “The steel [in shipping containers] is together to make a larger space. integrated with renewable and sustainable Opportunity very strong, not the type you can use a The containers are then driven to the technologies. normal skill saw on,” Dwellbox Principal site and cranes hoist them into position on The partners are also hoping to Many shipping containers make only CEO Casey Pond said with a chuckle. the foundation, which can be like traditional venture into temporary workforce and one trip around the world, starting out in From an environmental standpoint, home foundations or more unusual such as disaster relief housing for governmental countries like China and ending up on the using recycled shipping containers as concrete pylons. agencies such as FEMA and Homeland shores of the United States and other con- the structural element of a home is a no- The interior is finished very similar to Security. They have proposed converting sumer countries. It is often cheaper for com- brainer. “For the basic building block you a regular home. An interior frame is con- shipping containers into rapid deploy- panies to store the containers rather than start with, you do not have to use any new structed, drywall is applied, and insulation ment structures that would be far sturdier send them back empty; between 300,000 product,” said Pond. sprayed between the inner and outer walls. than traditional tent cities often erected in and 700,000 empty containers sit dormant From a framework standpoint, the Isonene is the preferred insulation for ship- disaster zones such as in the Gulf Coast in in U.S. shipping yards at any given time. benefits are simple–the heavy-grade steel ping container homes, as the primary—and Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath. A trend of using these, well, unused superstructure and exoskeleton or “skin” indeed one of the few—issues with these “In the whole disaster relief area, we shipping containers as building founda- means less need for reinforcement and dwellings is a tendency to create conden- stand alone,” said Pond. tions has been growing internationally for fewer structural concerns, allowing the sation, and the sprayed insulation creates Finally, the Dwellbox team hopes years. Places like Australia, New Zealand containers to be cantilevered , stacked , or a barrier which eliminates this problem. to educate other builders, and even the and Western Europe have embraced the cut to produce large clear spans. Plumbing, electricity, and other finishing government, on the benefits of recycling concept of recycled container houses, but Add in the speed of construction, jobs are applied in the normal fashion. shipping containers. “We are working on the trend has been slower to catch on in inherent added efficiency (shipping Dwellbox is currently able to build a trying to put together a guide on how to the U.S. As of last spring, there were fewer containers are almost air-tight from the turnkey shipping container home for around work with the containers,” said Pond. than 80 activated permits for shipping start), and a lower cost per square-foot $100 a square foot in a market that averages “Since there is no building code for these container houses in the entire country. than traditional frame homes, and ship- between $150 and $350 per square foot for structures yet, we also hope to help set the A little over a year ago, three young en- ping container dwellings firmly establish a traditional structure. The company can code standards so that you wouldn’t have trepreneurs from Boone, N.C.,—Casey Pond, themselves as a formidable alternative. also just design and prepare the steel struc- to get an engineer for these projects.” Ethan Anderson, and Jeffrey Scott—became ture, letting the client either do the interior “Like Adult Legos” enamored with the concept. The partners work themselves or subcontract the finish- all had previously worked on sustainable Preparing a shipping container for ing work themselves. How little—or how building and renewable energy projects, so a house is relatively simple in terms of much—a client spends on a home depends the opportunity to utilize recycled shipping construction. In-house designer Adrian of course upon the complexity of the design containers as structural building materials Tate works with the client to determine the and the extent of finishing touches. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - seemed a natural fit. Realizing there was a basic schematics of the structure; an engi- “A lot of people that are into container Dwellbox, based in Boone, N.C., is formally distinct lack of builders offering this unique neer then makes alterations to ensure the homes are into more contemporary de- incorporated as High Country Green Box, service, they created Dwellbox. designs match with the structural integrity signs,” said Pond, “but the truth is you LLC. For more information, visit their website Their first project was the 320-square of the shipping container and the technical can make them look like anything, even a at www.dwellbox.com ocTober/noVember 2009 The aPPalachian Voice Page 5 Chasing Copenhagen In search of climate consensus before the December 2009 summit more than those employed life. Also, solar photovoltaic panels receive Part I of 2 in coal mines. The program a 48 cent per kilowatt hour subsidy. is projected to grow to half The rates are high, but they reflect new By Bill Kovarik a million jobs by 2020. production, European prices for electricity, So this is the speed of The reason for all this is and the avoided costs of environmental light. to comply with international impacts from other technologies. The fact We laugh as the solar- carbon reduction treaties, that they don’t have to clean up ash spills, powered boat glides silently such as Kyoto and the an- for instance, is worth a few cents at least. down the Spree River through ticipated Copenhagen treaty. Also, the rates are continually reduced as the heart of Berlin, Germany. Germany has reduced CO2 costs for new energy production from re- As monumental buildings by nearly 20 percent so far, newable energy come down. Photovoltaic drift past, our captain, Arno and is willing to reduce 40 panels for instance cost about half of what Paulus, points out a series percent as compared to 1990 they did only five years ago. Wind tur- of 64-year-old bullet holes in levels, and possibly more, if bines, too, have become more reliable and the stone walls alongside the the Americans will join the easier to set up and operate, and “smart river. effort. grid” renewable energy systems are being It’s a sobering moment in Not all of this is to be built with the enthusiastic cooperation of the new Berlin, a city where taken at quite face value--as the utilities. Capt. Arno Paulus pilots a solar photovoltaic boat down the Spree River ghosts still flit through the much as half of the reduc- The “feed in tariff” is a structure that in Berlin. The boat cruises at about 2-3 knots on one KW of rooftop Tiergarten and where hol- PV power. Dozens of these boats, and thousands of less photogenic tion in CO2 came rather is being adapted around the world. While lowed-out churches still draw photovoltaic installations, dot Berlin and the German countryside, due easily, from shutting down something like it was used to start wind crowds on the Ku-Damm in part to strong government subsidies. Photo by Bill Kovarik inefficient steel mills in East farms in California in the 1980s, Ger- boulevard. Germany after the wall came many and other European nations have And it’s because of this down. spent a decade developing the complex past, Paulus says, that Germany has a for Copenhagen in December of 2009. But in a way, that’s part of the point. program. moral obligation to help change the world. Appalachian Voice is very welcome, By shutting down the inefficient mills and The feed in tariff means that anyone “We can do it,” he says, “but we can’t do one German official says diplomatically, turning to renewables, they are creating can buy a set of photovoltaic panels, or it alone.” because Appalachian coal is so well known cleaner new industries with more long a windmill, and get help and technical And so our journey starts with a in Europe. But Europe is in the process of term employment. advice, and then collect a check every few photovoltaic boat tour as a kind of tribute closing down its coal fired electrical plants, Rather than costing money, the gov- months based on how well the panels per- to the new Germany, grimly aware of its and he hopes that we will convey this mes- ernment projects in the climate protection form. Individuals and companies of vari- history but determined to set the example sage: that change need not be disruptive; plan will increase GDP by over 50 million ous sizes – and not just the government or for a remarkable future. that new jobs and economic stability can Euros. the utilities – are making investments and Its all part of the “road to Copenha- come from renewable energy; and most One reason that renewable energy has innovations because there is a predictable gen” climate change tour that also includes of all, that the world needs American grown so quickly in Germany is that the rate of return based on performance. formal meetings with German officials and leadership. subsidies work through a “feed in tariff” The feed in tariff is set so that there is informal talks with German scientists. That leadership could take a page mechanism. At present, wind energy re- about a 10 to 12 year payback period for I’m among seven American journalists from the European example. ceives about 13 cents for onshore and 19 the equipment, after which, the checks who have been invited to Germany and With more than 15 percent of Ger- cents per kw for offshore production. The keep coming and the owner of the panel Denmark by both governments, to see first many’s electric supply coming from wind, rate is higher offshore because Germany continues to make money. hand the commitments and the costs, as hydro, biomass and solar, the renewable wants the turbines further out than is the world considers what might be done at energy and conservation sector has grown usual, where there is little danger to bird the international climate summit planned to over 280,000 jobs – nearly 10 times Next issue: Danish wind and biogas power Music from t h e Mountains Offering a diverse mix of music and informative programming for the diverse heart of Appalachia. Your listener supported radio, WMMT. Broadcast from the Appalshop 91 Madison Ave., Whitesburg, Ky • (606)633-0108 • www.wmmtfm.org ocTober/noVember 2009 Page 6 The aPPalachian Voice The Fall Foliage Primer What You Need to Know About the Leaves The Fall Foliage Primer has weekly color reports, which are posted each Wednesday beginning September 23 and extending until November 4. Each weekly report will have photographs taken during the week, weather forecasts, and perhaps information on an upcoming festival or scenic drive. In addition to fall foliage updates, you’ll find tips for improving your scenic photography, activities for children, and a guide to help you identify what leaves you are seeing by shape and color. Find it all, and more, at FallFoliagePrimer.com. Boone • Valle Crucis • Waynesville • Hendersonville • Asheville, NC Greenville, SC • Knoxville, TN • MastGeneralStore.com • 1-866-FOR-MAST ocTober/noVember 2009 The aPPalachian Voice Page 7 Joe Tennis is taking a break from Hiking this issue to visit with Dolly Parton in Dollywood Hiking the Highlands (see page 20 in our parks section). He will return in December with another great hike! Appalachian Trail: “A Great Trail from Maine to Georgia!” Story by Stephen Otis who have gone before you. dream could conjure, but when he The Appalachian Trail Conservancy also became a man, Roberts found that If you were to somehow locate a New thanks you. Founded in 1925, they were dream a reality, standing on the York Evening Post, circa 1922, you would the force behind the 1968 legislation that granite ribs of Katahdin. read this same headline. Penned by Ray- declared the AT America’s first national And there I was with him, de- mond H. Torrey at the behest of William scenic trail. cided only a few days prior to get Welch, director of the Palisades Interstate Myron Avery thanks you, whose some gear (55 pounds of it!) and Park Commission, the article dared to vision carried the Trail northward into accompany his southbound trek to imagine, as Benton MacKaye had one year Maine. “Follow the Appalachian Trail Springer Mountain, Georgia. Legs prior, a grand path connecting forest and across Maine,” Avery wrote. “Remote for like used station wagons and a heart farm all the way from Maine to Georgia. detachment, narrow for chosen company, coated in buttered popcorn. No Today, you can see that vision in winding for leisure, lonely for contem- practice hikes, no cardio, not even splendid array. In fact, if you want (and plation, it beckons not merely north and a casual yoga session. Three days why wouldn’t you want?) you can hike the south but upward to the body, mind and in, I hated everything in my entire length of the great Appalachian Trail. You soul of man.” world. Flies, mosquitoes, ticks, blis- don’t really even need maps. More than Earl Schaeffer thanks you, the first ters, pools of humidity—demons. 165,000 white blazes on the trees mark the thru-hiker on record. That was 1948. “You’re a thru-hiker?” a man way. In fact, right now, there are several He did it again in 1998 (at asked, finding me hundred people doing that very thing. nearly 80 years of age), 80 miles into the Author Stephen Otis stands on top of Mount And as fall approaches, we congratu- proving that retirement wilderness, in a Katahdin at the start of his 5-month southbound late them. Almost at Katahdin, the end, needs no Winnebago or puddle, rubbing trek on the Appalachian Trail. Photo courtesy of you brave (some say crazy, I say willing) comfy chair. mud all over my Stephen Otis souls. And you (yes, crazy) Southbound- And I thank you. body (because it ers, you’re almost at Springer. If you’ve end. What end? The days, goals, miles, My own thru-hike be- felt cool). And that not ever seen Katahdin, you must. Like exhaustion. The torment of probing gan in 2002 as somewhat dumb smile planted a crown she rises toward the heavens, questions. The laughter in the hills. The of a fluke. Colin Roberts, on my head as I said, surrounded by a subservient wilderness sorrow in the trees. All a part of us now, my hiking buddy, had “SOBO’02, you bet!” He of swamp and pine. Her crest is breath- a steady foundation against a former foe dreamed of the long walk tossed me some hope in taking, a fitting reward after climbing up called chaos and clutter. And I didn’t hate since he was five, when the form of beef jerky miles of stones the size of Jack’s giant’s a single thing this morning. I was, maybe he met a thru-hiker on the and said, “See ya at bigger toes. for the first time in my life, steady. And outskirts of Damascus. Springer. Maybe.” As we welcome the thru-hiker class of Colin’s dream, well, he was awake, smil- A giant to the young “What’s Springer?” 2009 to the roster of the 10,000 others who ing contentedly in the fog. Colin, this hiker was I said, cake-faced in Trail have taken the five million step, 2,175 mile - - - - - - - - - - - weathered and worn, but chocolate. jaunt through fourteen states, six national Stephen Otis and Colin Roberts’ are the authors of “A steady like Odysseus on his But there we were parks, eight national forests; past the 2,000 Road More or Less Traveled,” recipient of three Book way home. “You’re going where? And you five months later, Colin and I, sitting next rare plant and animal species; over trail of the Year awards and the 2009 Eric Hoffer Da Vinci came from where?” It was implausible to to a fire 12 miles from Springer, a cold that thirty clubs and multiple partnerships Eye Award. The book novels their 2002 thru-hike from the boy that a man could walk through fog rolling in, sipping on coffee, slowly (some 40,000 people) maintain; we do so Maine to Georgia. Visit readaroad.com or Amazon to 14 states in one bound, something only a taking in what this day would hold: the with a hearty, “Thank you.” As do those purchase a copy. • Delicious Deli-Style Sandwiches • Homemade Soups • Vegetarian Fare • and Much More! Shadowline Drive, Boone, North Carolina • (828) 262-1250 ocTober/noVember 2009 Color page Page 8 The aPPalachian Voice Southern Appalachia Supports Independent Film with Ten-Day Festival By Julie Johnson breathtaking description, expressed name of Mary Jane Coleman, the in words, paints, and—celebrated this founder of the Sinking Creek Film “Once there were brook trout in the streams in the mountains. You could see October—in cinematography, as East Celebration. Sinking Creek, now the them standing in the amber current where Tennessee State University hosts the Nashville Film Festival was started the white edges of their fins wimpled softly Southern Appalachia International in 1969 and is the longest continu- in the flow. They smelled of moss in your Film Festival. ously running festival in the Ameri- hand...On their backs were vermiculate The opening gala will be held can South. Coleman’s mission was score will be played on the Paramount’s patterns that were maps of the world in Oct. 22nd, as ETSU’s Center and to celebrate film without studio fanfare, Wurlitzer. its becoming...In the deep Archives for Appalachian Stud- and to encourage cinematic education in Films like “Stark Love” exemplify glens where they lived all ies brings “Stark Love” to the the region. the festival’s mission to encourage film things were older than man Paramount theater in Bristol. Environmental films will be shown be- and they hummed of mystery.” production and culture in Southern Ap- This remarkable 1927 silent film tween Oct. 24th and 27th, and Appalachian - Knoxville writer Cormac palachia, as well as to preserve the work was shot completely in North films from Oct. 28th to 31st at the Rogers- McCarthy of past generations of regional filmmakers. Carolina’s Unicoi Mountains, Stout Theater. Wednesday, Oct. 28th, at 5 From Oct. 22nd to 31st, ETSU will host with almost all Appalachian p.m., there will be a panel discussion with For centuries the magic over sixty film screenings on topics rang- actors. It is a window to the Appalachian filmmakers. All screenings and mystery of Appalachia’s ing from Appalachia to Andy Warhol’s wilds of early 20th century Ap- will be shown for free in order to promote landscape has inspired art- original films. There will also be an instal- palachia. This is only the third education for viewers and exposure for ists and authors. The deep lation of art films at Johnson City’s Tipton time the film has been shown in filmmakers. The schedule can be found at greens and heavy mists of the Street Gallery. the region. The movie’s original the festival’s website: www.soapiff.com. mountains lend themselves to Three awards will be given out in the 7th Annual AMPC Photography Competition Focuses On Appalachia Photographers of the world, it’s time “We hope the images submitted will and Fauna; and Landscape. to focus your lenses on Appalachia. create for the viewing public a visual con- The show will be judged by regional Amateur and professional photogra- nection to the scope of the environmental photographers, and chosen entries will hang phers alike are encouraged to enter The 7th damage occurring in Appalachia and in an exhibition at Appalachian State Univer- Annual Appalachian Mountain Photogra- empower people to become involved,” sity’s Turchin Center for the Visual Arts in phy Competition (AMPC), which focuses said Sandra Diaz, Development Director Boone, N.C., March 5 through June 5, 2010. on images that portray various aspects of for Appalachian Voices. Deadline for the competition is 5 p.m. Appalachian life. “The Environment category has con- on Friday, Jan. 29, 2010. Photographers The competition is divided into seven sistently received the fewest submissions must be 13 years of age or older to enter. separate categories, and over $4,000 in of the 7 categories of the competition,” Please visit www.appmtnphotocomp.org cash and prizes will be awarded. said Andrew Miller, Coordinator for for details or to enter the competition. New to the competition this year, Appalachian State University’s Outdoor For more information, call ASU Outdoor Appalachian Voices will be sponsoring Programs and competition Director. Wonder Collides by Jessica Maceda, 2009 Winner, Programs at 828-262-4954. supporter the environmental category, “Appalachian Voices advocacy on issues Flora and Fauna. Courtesy ASU Outdoor Programs The AMPC is a partnership between Appalachian State now known as “Our Ecological Footprint.” important to the [Central and] Southern University’s Outdoor Programs, The Turchin Center for the Entries to the category should document Appalachians will bring focus to this Competition categories include: Visual Arts and the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, and is made possible through the sponsorship of: Virtual Blue Ridge; environmental injustices and detrimental category and will allow us to tap into the Adventure; Blue Ridge Parkway Vistas; Appalachian Voices; Bistro Roca, Inventive American Cuisine; practices that are damaging the rich eco- broad network they have developed in Blue Ridge Parkway Share the Journey®; Footsloggers Outdoor and Travel Outfitters; Mast General systems of the Appalachian mountains. more than a decade’s work.” Culture; Our Ecological Footprint; Flora Stores; and Peabody’s Wine and Beer Merchants. A GREAT SOURCE FOR LOCAL FOOD! Become an Sign up for our free monthly newsletter and learn more about the work of Appalachian Voices. We’re more than just a newspaper! Or call our toll-free number 1-877-APP-VOICES ocTober/noVember 2009 Color page The aPPalachian Voice Page 9 Serena: Historical Fiction with a Taste for Blood (and Timber) By Sarah Vig timeless quality from the setting and Serena overtakes the landscape of imbue an eerie feeling of iniquity. the novel by eliminating everything Set in the mountains of North The drama of the Pembertons’ around her. Carolina during the early years of timber take-all is countered by the By the end of the novel, Serena the Great Depression, the landscape loosely historical sequence of events is almost a caricature of evil, a sort of Ron Rash’s “Serena” (Harper leading up to the creation of Cruella DeVille of timber. And yet, Collins, $24.95) is at once fa- of the Great Smoky while most of the novel’s events are miliar and foreign. Ser- Mountains National fictitious, it is always apparent that ena is the new bride of Park, which be- the timbering actually happened. timber baron George comes a welcome Perhaps Rash chose his setting and Pemberton--she is doomsday clock created this character in order to try anything but! of sorts for the and imagine a person whose greed Smart, beauti- Pembertons’ and ambition were so great they ful, and fiercely in- seemingly limit- could justify the destruction of such dependent at a time less thirst for natu- beauty. when most women are ral resources at any In the end, “Serena” is a drama decidedly not so, in a dif- cost. of passion, greed, ambition, love ferent novel she might be a Though at first it seems and betrayal that is more than just likeable character. Serena will play second fiddle to her a good story, though it is that; it is Pemberton’s business at the time husband’s ruthlessness—he murders an evocation of a time, a place and left no tree standing as a matter of a man in public within the first few a people and an interrogation of course. So while the mountain ridges pages—she quickly steps up her morality and justice. and small Appalachian communi- game. Like the old-growth forests she ties could just as soon be set now as The wanton greed of a timber baroness and her husband are clear-cutting, then, the denuded slopes remove that takes center stage in this depression- era drama. Reading Questions 1 At a speaking engage- ence had on the novel? How 3 What do you think moti- ment on the campus of do you think it would have vates Serena? Does this Appalachian State University, been changed if she had been change during the course of Rash admitted to being a pro- only a minor character? the novel? Is it the same for lific re-writer, having done 14 Pemberton? 2 Almost from the point of drafts of “Serena” before pub- her introduction, Serena 4 Serena’s eagle figures lishing. According to Rash, is fixated on Brazil. What do greatly into the way the Rachel Harmon was not a you think is the root of her loggers in the camp perceive major character in many of the obsession? Does it represent her. Did it change your percep- original drafts and “revealed” something to her? tion of her character? What do herself in his revisions. What think the eagle and its hunting effect do you think her pres- might symbolize? Online Resources On YouTube photos, pages of Kephart’s manuscripts, and correspondence discussing the preservation of Serena’s trained hunting eagle in the book the Great Smoky Mountains: wcu.edu/library/ was inspired by the Mongolian tradition of digitalcoll/kephart/index.htm mounted hunters using eagles to catch prey, such as fox and wolf, for their coats. You can “National Parks: America’s Best Idea” is a watch footage of such a hunt on YouTube. new six-part PBS series which initially aired Despite its German narration, it is both breath- Sept. 27. The series explores the origins and taking and awe-inspiring: www.youtube.com/ history of the national park system, people who watch?v=5wwvPLPntZk made a difference and park profiles. A compan- ion website is slated to launch when the series Websites and Blogs premieres. pbs.org/nationalparks Just as the fight against private interests to establish a national park in the Smokies is Further Reading based on history, the character of Kephart, a “Pemberton’s Bride,” a short story by Ron reclusive but impassioned writer advocating Rash, served as the seed for “Serena.” Reading for a park, is based on a real person. Western it gives you an insight into the creative process Carolina University has produced an in-depth and how stories are crafted. The story is part of online exhibit titled “Horace Kephart: Revealing a larger collection of stories set in contemporary an Enigma,” which does just that. It contains Appalachia titled “Chemistry” (Picador, $14). ocTober/noVember 2009 Page 10 The aPPalachian Voice Across Appalachia Environmental News From Around The Region As Natural Gas Heats Up, Issues With Extraction Expand By Maureen Halsema expected to increase from about 22 trillion happened in Dimock, Pa., earlier this year. gas. One of the major concerns involved cubic feet in 2006 to 23 trillion cubic feet Maintenance of the vast lengths of pipelines with hydraulic fracturing, is that as of Natural gas is one of the cleanest by 2030.” that transport the gas is also risky. For 2005, natural gas companies have been ex- burning fossil fuels, but as it grows in Over the last couple of years, several instance, on Sept. 14, 2008, a Williams Gas empted from the Safe Drinking Water Act, popularity, concerns are expanding about gas leaks across the nation have led to re- pipeline burst due to external corrosion which protects the public’s drinking water extraction methods and the gas’ inherent ported incidents. In some cases, explosions in Appomattox, Va. The blast shot flames and dictates what chemicals can legally volatility. The Appalachian Basin region result from gas migration caused by mining 300 feet in the air, leveled two homes and be injected into the ground. “As the law is home to one of most expansive reserves operations. According to Pennsylvania’s injured five people. The pipeline that ex- currently stands, the EPA is not allowed to of natural gas—the Marcellus Shale. This Department of Environmental Protection, ploded was one of three lines that run from set conditions for hydraulic fracturing or reserve lies over a mile beneath the sur- “Active underground mining operations the Gulf of Mexico to New York. even require states to have regulations of face and covers a 54,000 square mile area, can lower groundwater levels, reducing The most commonly employed meth- their own,” said Abrahm Lustgarten in his encompassing West Virginia, Kentucky, pressure in aquifers occurring above and od of natural gas extraction is called hy- article, “Natural Gas Politics” published in Tennessee, Pennsylvania, New York, and adjacent to the area of coal extraction. draulic fracturing. This process involves ProPublica in May. “States often look to the Ohio. The region is believed to contain 50 This reduction in pressure can allow gases injecting a mixture of sand, millions of federal agencies for guidance on how to trillion cubic feet of natural gas, enough within the overlying rock layers to migrate gallons of water, and an undisclosed craft environmental rules. And hydraulic to fill the New Orleans Superdome ap- into nearby wells.” If these wells are not chemical cocktail into the gas wells. The fracturing is an especially complicated proximately 327,000 times. According to properly vented, the accumulated meth- pressure of this injection fractures the coal process that scientists say warrants more the U.S. Department of Energy, “Natural ane can lead to explosion, which is what bed seams and forces the release of natural study.” gas consumption in the United States is Judge Recused in Mingo Water Trial By Julie Johnson named Massey contractor As president of Rawl Dr. C. Donovan Beckett as Sales, Blankenship person- This summer, 735 Mingo Co, W.Va. administrator of the pro- ally ordered coal waste to be resident’s quest for civil restitution and gram. Beckett is also Thorn- injected into abandoned mine medical monitoring was the focus of a sbury’s business partner, and sites. Yet, Thornsbury issued series of judicial controversies. former campaign manager. an order precluding plaintiffs Since 2004, these individuals have been He worked with Massey’s from questioning Blankenship involved in litigation with Massey En- attorneys to throw a fund- about his personal knowledge ergy over their water. They claim that coal raising gala for Thornsbury’s concerning injections. slurry—the byproduct of washing raw coal campaign. This is not the first time to remove combustible elements—infected The original draft of the Blankenship’s relationship Used, local aquifers with heavy metals and toxins Judge Michael Thornsbury medical monitoring program with the West Virginia judi- for decades, causing chronic illness, organ Rare & Out included an epidemiological cial system has been a topic failure and tumor growth. Massey subsid- study of residents’ illnesses and connection of controversy. In 2007, while Massey was iary Rawl Sales was permitted to inject coal of Print Books to coal waste. Though he had originally appealing a $82 million settlement verdict slurry into nearby abandoned mines from agreed to support this portion of the pro- in the West Virginia Supreme Court, Blan- Specializing in 1978 to 1987. Books about Black Judge Michael Thornsbury presided gram, at trial Thornsbury allowed Massey’s kenship spent $3 million out of his own Mountain College objections to it. pocket to unseat incumbent Justice Warren over the case since the beginning. On Aug. The company has yet to explain its McGraw in a judicial election. 19th, West Virginia Justice Robin Davis con- reasons for denying this vital part of the McGraw’s opponent, Brent Benjamin, cluded “past relationships could create the settlement. Their insurance company is won and cast a pro-Massey vote in a 3-2 appearance of impropriety and lead to ques- providing the funding for medical moni- decision to overturn the verdict. Another tions about [Thornsbury’s] impartiality,” and toring. With no financial stake in the pro-Massey vote in the decision was cast disqualified Thornsbury from the case. administration or oversight, Thomspon by Justice Spike Maynard, who was pho- These questionable relationships were Barney says Massey’s objective is to “hide tographed vacationing with Blankenship brought to the state’s Supreme Court in a the truth about the true extent of slurry’s in the French Riviera in 2006. recusal motion by Thompson Barney, the health effects on the Plaintiffs.” In 1985, as a private attorney, Judge law firm representing the plaintiffs. They They also claim Thornsbury main- Thornsbury represented Massey Energy call Thornsbury’s action throughout the tained an ex parte relationship with Massey in a suit bought against the company by trial “cronyism at its worst, a clear viola- CEO Don Blankenship. The two were seen coal field residents over blasting near their Jean & Carl Franklin Powered tion of canon and a slap in the face to the by (PV) dining together between the time that a homes. Justice Davis found this to be the 103 Cherry Street Solar Cells plaintiffs.” Black Mountain, NC 28711 settlement was reached and a subsequent most overwhelming reason for recusal. The The settlement agreement in the Mingo (828) 669-8149 hearing in which Massey claimed they were ruling will likely delay the start of the trial case calls for a comprehensive medical [email protected] unable to pay the agreed upon amount. until late October. monitoring program. Judge Thornsbury ocTober/noVember 2009