Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2015 - 13

MOUNTAIN REPORT

Virginia Masters:
10 Years of Education
The volunteer naturalists have
contributed the equivalent to 250
years of full-time employment
dedicated to the land.
by Cathryn McCue

The Sandy Mush easement protects 265 acres
of North Carolina lands.

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AROUND THE REGION

AROUND THE REGION

NORTH CAROLINA

VIRGINIA

WEST VIRGINIA

Two species of crayfish
in Appalachia whose
habitats are impacted
by road building, mining and other land-disturbing activities could
be protected under the
Endangered Species Act.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed
listing as "endangered"
the Big Sandy crayfish,
with just four known
populations in Kentucky, West Virginia and
Virginia, and the Guyandotte River crayfish,
found at a single site in
West Virginia. If listed,
federal agencies would
be required to prevent
harming the crayfish
and their stream habitat.
biologicaldiversity.org

Although coal is declining in Appalachia, a destructive form of mining called mountaintop
removal continues, and
has been moving even
closer to communities
in recent years, according to a new website
developed by Appalachian Voices. Analyzing
satellite imagery and a
variety of other data, the
group found more than
3,000 communities with
surface mining within a
mile radius, and identified the 50 communities that are most at risk
based on rates of mine
expansion, population
loss, poverty and other
socio-economic factors.
CommunitiesAtRisk.org

The Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy has completed two
important conservation
easements totaling 373
acres that protect scenic
views, healthy forests including one stand with
300-year old trees, rich
agricultural lands, and
critical headwaters of the
French Broad River. The
landowners of the 265acre Icy Cliff Knob tract
in the Little Sandy Mush
community accepted a
greatly reduced price for
their land, and the owners of the 108-acre Early
View tract donated their
land just off Big Sandy
Mush Creek.
appalachian.org

This year marks the 10th
anniversary of the Virginia Master Naturalists program-and its
accomplishments so far
are impressive: 3,500
trained volunteers have
contributed
526,583
hours of service, equivalent to roughly 250
years of full-time employment, valued at almost $12.4 million. Each
volunteer
naturalist
reaches an average of 70
youths and adults each
year through education
and projects, including installing bluebird
houses, counting monarch butterflies, yanking
invasive weeds, and caring for more than 2,500
acres of public lands.
virginiamasternatural
ist.org

After more than a year
of environmental violations at a mountaintopremoval mine adjacent
to Kanawha State Forest,
West Virginia regulators have shut the mine
down. The state issued
a permit last year to the
400-acre mine over the
objections of neighbors and several citizen
groups who use the public forest for recreation.
The state had identified
various problems at the
mine, including failure
to meet monitoring and
sampling requirements
and exceeding blasting
and water quality discharge limits.
kanawhaforestcoali
tion.org

September/October 2015 13

http://www.appalachian.org http://www.kanawhaforestcoalition.org http://www.biologicaldiversity.org http://www.CommunitiesAtRisk.org http://www.kanawhaforestcoalition.org http://www.virginiamasternaturalist.org http://www.virginiamasternaturalist.org

Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2015