Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 49

he's partnered with the Appalachian Regional
Reforestation Initiative (ARRI) to
rehabilitate the desolate wasteland into
something viable.
A branch of the Office of Surface
Mining Reclamation and Enforcement,
ARRI is dedicated to restoring active
and abandoned mine lands throughout
Appalachia using the Forestry Reclamation
Approach. For a layperson, this approach
can be distilled into two steps:
First, loosen up the soil with a ripper
shank-a dozer attachment that looks
like the prying talons of a hawk. Next,
plant native trees.
Though the second step may seem obvious
enough, mining companies have
long cut corners. After sucking a site dry,
many will compact the soil with heavy
machinery and then plant non-native
grasses in an attempt to mitigate erosion.
But this does little to encourage biodiversity,
wildlife habitat and water quality.
Half-hearted reclamation efforts also do
little to " camouflage the terrible scars left
behind, " says Bryant.
Wanting to create a space his family
could enjoy for generations to come,
Bryant worked with ARRI and other
stakeholders to address invasives and
plant some 50,000 trees on his property,
known to locals as Flying Rooster Farm.
" Name a tree, and it's there, " he says,
rattling off a list of species endemic to Kentucky,
including the American chestnut.
According to Bryant, these " breathtaking "
restoration efforts have attracted
deer, turkey, bear and a number of small
animals like voles, rabbits and mice. The
quail population, which continually
ebbs and flows, is also improving.
" Wildlife has just exploded, " he says.
" It's like they say, 'If you build it, they
will come.' "
Luckily, Bryant is beginning to notice
reclamation efforts in other parts of
Kentucky too. However, in many corners
of Whitley County, the landscape is still
marred by giant swaths of ransacked
soil- " areas that we ravaged, " Bryant
says slowly, his voice tinged with something
like sorrow. But, he rationalizes,
" it was either mine or move for so many
generations of people. "
Needless to say, Appalachian natives
have faced this type of dilemma for centuries.
With limited monetary resources,
they have liquidated the very ground
they walk on-selling their land to mining
companies, commercial and residential
developers and, in my grandpa's
case, a power mogul.
Of course, the results are varied. Most
rational people would argue that condos
are better than coal mines. However, the
sense of loss that comes with watching a
stranger despoil your land is all the same.
It's a bone-deep sort of ache that sticks
with you, that haunts you.
I know for a fact that my daddy
still drives by that three-acre stretch of
flat, soggy pasture. Hubert and Idella
left this earth long ago, but Daddy still
goes back to the land that raised him.
He gets out of his car and walks along
Bat Fork Creek, eyeing the eddies for
bluegill and listening to the chickadees
trill.
Those birds, with their smoky-gray
wings and black caps, almost seem to
say: We miss you. Come back home.
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Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023

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