Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2014 - 19

M White House Salutes Youth Effort
by Cathryn McCue

Mountain
Report

SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN WILDERNESS STEWARDS RECOGNIZED FOR

ERIN SAVAGE

PROGRAMS ENGAGING YOUNG PEOPLE IN CONSERVATION INITIATIVES.

Trillium tennesseense , a new species, is unique to east Tennessee.

A coal-slurry spill polluted a creek in West Virginia's Kanawha County.

1 2 3 4 5

Region-wide

Region-wide

Tennessee

North Carolina

West Virginia

In a White House ceremony this spring, Bill
Hodge, director of the
Southern Appalachian
Wilderness Stewards
(SAWS), received a
Champion of Change
award, which recognizes
leaders who engage
youth in conservation
initiatives. Hodge
organizes youth groups
to work in federal
wilderness areas from
the Shenandoah Valley
to Georgia, instilling the
skills and understanding
needed to preserve
these public lands. In
2013, SAWS trained
more than 90 wilderness
stewards and facilitated
some 8,000 volunteer
hours of service across
five national forests.
wilderness.org

The Environmental
Protection Agency
reached a historic settlement in March with
Alpha Natural Resources
- the largest mountaintop removal mining
operator in the U.S. -
for more than 6,000
water pollution violations across Appalachia
since 2006. Alpha was
fined $27.5 million, and
agreed to spend
another $200 million to
treat wastewater and
reduce pollution
discharges from coal
mines. The settlement
covers approximately 79
active mines and 25
processing plants in
Virginia, West Virginia,
Tennessee, Kentucky
and Pennsylvania.
epa.gov

A new species of trillium is making waves in
the botanical world of
Appalachia. Trillium tennesseense was discovered by a landowning
couple who brought it
to the attention of
experts. After much
research, University of
Tennessee biologist
Edward Schilling and
others confirmed the
find. The yellow-petaled
flower is now known to
grow in only three locations in east Tennessee.
Though globally rare,
the new trillium - distinguished by a unique
odor in full bloom of
shoe polish - is not protected by state law.
issuu.com/
appalachianvoice/
docs/02_aprmay 2014

The U.S. Forest Service
has acquired 212 acres
of prime mountain habitat to add to the publicly
owned Pisgah National
Forest. The land, in
Caldwell County, is part
of the larger tract called
Backbone Ridge, which
had been slated for
development. Visible
from Grandfather
Mountain and the Blue
Ridge Parkway, the
mountain was a top priority for conservationists.
The Conservation Fund
purchased the land and
held it while the Forest
Service secured funding.
citizen-times.com/
story/sports/outdoors/ 2014/04/
04pisgah-nationalforest-gets-little-bigger/7331253/

A coal slurry spill from a
processing plant in
Kanawha County in
February resulted in
greater pollution of a
nearby creek than the
state originally said,
according to the nonprofit Appalachian
Voices. The group took
water quality samples
within a day of the
100,000-gallon spill,
and independent
analysis showed high
levels of aluminum,
iron, arsenic, and lead,
as well as "MCHM,"
the notorious chemical
that poisoned tap water
of 300,000 West
Virginians in a separate
spill in January. The
state continues to investigate the slurry spill.
appvoices.org
JULY/AUGUST 2014 | 19

http://www.citizen-times.com/story/sports/outdoors/2014/04/04pisgah-national-forest-gets-little-bigger/7331253/ http://www.issuu.com/appalachianvoice/docs/02_aprmay2014 http://www.issuu.com/appalachianvoice/docs/02_aprmay2014 http://www.citizen-times.com/story/sports/outdoors/2014/04/04pisgah-national-forest-gets-little-bigger/7331253/ http://www.wilderness.org http://www.issuu.com/appalachianvoice/docs/02_aprmay2014 http://www.citizen-times.com/story/sports/outdoors/2014/04/04pisgah-national-forest-gets-little-bigger/7331253/ http://www.epa.gov http://www.appvoices.org

Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2014

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