Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2014 - 13

M Deer Return to Cherokee Lands
Cathryn McCue

Mountain
Report

THE WHITE-TAIL, A PART OF INDIAN LIFE FOR CENTURIES, HAD BEEN
HUNTED TO NEAR-EXTINCTION IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA.

Virginia Outdoors Foundation easements, from left: The133-acre Madison easement is along the Robinson River near Shenandoah National Park;
the 109-acre Floyd easement has been in the same family for more than 100 years; the185-acre Grayson easement is along the New River.

1 2 3 4 5

North Carolina

Tennessee

Virginia

Biologists are working
with the Cherokee
Indians to restore whitetail deer to tribal lands in
western North Carolina,
according to the Raleigh
News & Observer. Deer,
once plentiful here,
were central to the
Cherokee way of life for
centuries, but were
hunted to near extinction by the middle 18th
century. "It's important
for our school kids to
understand this historic
connection to a cultural
resource," says Mike
LaVoie, fisheries and
wildlife management
director for the Eastern
Band of Cherokee
Indians.

Thanks to an agreement between conservationists and the U.S.
Forest Service, the
agency will leave intact
important ecological
areas while logging
other areas near the
Devil's Courthouse in
the Pisgah National
Forest. The conservationists objected to the
original plan to log in a
state-designated
Natural Heritage Area
that includes the headwaters of the French
Broad River, oldgrowth stands and
habitat for rare plants
and animals. The Forest
Service will also regrade a road to reduce
its environmental
impact. southern
environment.org

The Tennessee Valley
Authority has reduced
heat-trapping carbon
dioxide emissions from
its power plants by 23
percent from 2005 levels, more than President
Obama's target of 17
percent in his national
Climate Action Plan. At
the current rate, TVA
will cut its carbon pollution 40 percent by
2020. The reduction is a
"critical step toward
mitigating climate
change impacts while
proving that cleaner
energy will protect the
air and water in the
Tennessee Valley," says
Stephen Smith, executive director of Southern
Alliance for Clean
Energy. cleanenergy.org

The Virginia Outdoors
Foundation, among the
nation's largest holders
of conservation easements, protected
56,697 acres of open
space in 2013 across
the commonwealth -
its fourth best year
since starting in 1968.
VOF recorded nearly
200 easements in 62
localities, bringing its
overall total to 729,186
acres, an area nearly
the size of Rhode
Island. Newly elected
Gov. Terry McAuliffe
has pledged to conserve 400,000 more
acres during his term;
past governors have
made the same pledge,
but not succeeded.
virginiaoutdoors
foundation.org

Environmental groups
in January filed suit
against Penn Virginia
Operating Co., claiming
it polluted streams in
Wise County with selenium from former coal
mining sites on its property in violation of the
federal Clean Water
Act. A naturally occurring mineral, selenium
can be toxic to aquatic
life at higher-than-normal levels and may pose
a risk to humans who
eat fish from polluted
streams. Selenium is
exposed during surface
mining and can continue to pollute streams
at abandoned and
reclaimed mine sites.
samsva.org

MAY/JUNE 2014 | 13

http://www.samsva.org http://www.cleanenergy.org http://www.virginiaoutdoorsfoundation.org http://www.southernenvironment.org http://www.southernenvironment.org http://www.virginiaoutdoorsfoundation.org

Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2014