Field Trip: Coal wars, mountaintop removal

The mountains are going away, not too far from where I live. Driving down Interstate 77 through West Virginia appears largely idyllic as you pass through rolling, green mountains. But just a mile or so away the hills and valleys are merging into a flat, lifeless, poisoned wasteland.

This wanton destruction of Appalachia is called mountaintop removal (MTR). If there's any evidence that Mordor lurks outside of the fictional realm of Middle Earth, surely it resembles the scars and devastation wreaked by MTR. Sauronesque analogies to the people who run Massey Energy and other coal companies may seem a stretch, but not much of one.

Last month I joined a few dozen colleagues in a fact-finding trip to the West Virginia coal fields as part of the Surface Mining Study at Radford University. Before visiting an MTR site, we first explored the history of the West Virginia Mine Wars, where coal company owners and hired detectives fought pitched battles with miners who were trying to organize unions. One of the most gripping sites was this concrete pillbox, situated on an outcropping overlooking Cabin Creek, where the coal companies and their hired thugs could train machine guns and rifles on the miners in the valley:

The West Virginia Division of Culture and History provides a succinct summary of events:

In 1902, the UMWA finally achieved some recognition in the Kanawha-New River Coalfield, its first success in West Virginia. Following the union successes, coal operators had formed the Kanawha County Coal Operators Association in 1903, the first such organization in the state. It hired private detectives from the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency in Bluefield as mine guards to harass union organizers. Due to these threats, the UMWA discouraged organizers from working in southern West Virginia.

By 1912, the union had lost control of much of the Kanawha- New River Coalfield. That year, UMWA miners on Paint Creek in Kanawha County demanded wages equal to those of other area mines. The operators rejected the wage increase and miners walked off the job on April 18, beginning one of the most violent strikes in the nation's history. Miners along nearby Cabin Creek, having previously lost their union, joined the Paint Creek strikers and demanded:

• the right to organize
• recognition of their constitutional rights to free speech and assembly
• an end to blacklisting union organizers
• alternatives to company stores
• an end to the practice of using mine guards
• prohibition of cribbing
• installation of scales at all mines for accurately weighing coal
• unions be allowed to hire their own checkweighmen to make sure the companies' checkweighmen were not cheating the miners.

When the strike began, operators brought in mine guards from the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency to evict miners and their families from company houses. The evicted miners set up tent colonies and lived in other makeshift housing. The mine guards' primary responsibility was to break the strike by making the lives of the miners as uncomfortable as possible.

As the intimidation by mine guards increased, national labor leaders, including Mary Harris "Mother" Jones, began arriving on the scene. Jones, a native of Ireland, was already a major force in the American labor movement before first coming to West Virginia during the 1897 strikes. Although she reported the year of her birth as 1830, recent research indicates she was probably born in 1845. As a leader of the UMWA's efforts to organize the state, Jones became known for her fiery (and often obscene) verbal attacks on coal operators and politicians.

Not only did the UMWA send speechmakers, it also contributed large amounts of weapons and ammunition. On September 2, Governor William E. Glasscock imposed martial law, dispatching 1,200 state militia to disarm both the miners and mine guards. Over the course of the strike, Glasscock sent in troops on three different occasions.

After this historical background, our next stop was Kayford Mountain, where Larry Gibson is defending his family's land against the destruction of Kayford Mountain, which is literally being blown away around his land. Gibson's courageous stand garnered him praise from CNN, who named him a "hero" for his efforts to educate and raise awareness about the devistation of MTR, particularly through the Keeper of the Mountain Foundation. Below are some photos from the trip, first of Larry talking with us, then of what's left of Kayford Mountain. Take note of the ridgeline behind Kayford - the mountains as far as you can see are slated for MTR.

Larry Gibson talking with us on his land, with the MTR of
Kayford Mountain actively going on behind him.

There's plenty of great information available about MTR. Here are a few good sources:

• ILoveMountains.org
  
• Stop Mountaintop Removal
  
• Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition
• Appalachian Voices
  

Late summer walks in Blacksburg

Here's a set of photos from various morning and evening walks in my Blacksburg neighborhood, mostly strolls up the hill to the public golf course with Asta. Yeah, I document this a lot, but I walk it every day. Captions are below each photo.

A foggy morning in Blacksburg town in late August.
Trees on the golf course.

The sun coming up through the fog.

Sunrise, a few days later.

The ol' Asta and the Thin Man shot, this time with the sun setting behind us.

A spiky implement of golf course maintenance.

Late afternoon, looking east on the road beside the golf course.
Turn left and you'll see cows and crows.

See! There be crows ! (OK, just one posed for me. There were plenty more, but they were camera-shy. They showed up en masse a few weeks ago. )

The field across the road pictured above. Pastoral. eh? This is in Blacksburg, and this small slice of pasture (about 30 acres) has been established as a conservancy to ward off development.

Rice Fields on the Appalachian Trail

A few weeks ago Asta and I trekked up the Appalachian Trail on Peters Mountain to the Rice Fields, on the Virginia-West Virginia border. The day began with a beautiful drive out 460 West from Blacksburg to Pearisburg, with Peters Mountain looming above as you approach Pearisburg. A short jaunt off 460 on Hwy 641 brings you to the AT crossing. The trail starts with a hike up a (then) drought-dry creekbed, then climbs to the top of a spur (the crest of the spur is pictured to the right). A few weeks earlier and we would have found the hillside covered with blueberries, but only a few stragglers remained, which were quickly consumed. Nothing like wild blueberries - call them huckleberries if you want.

After cresting the spur we crossed a saddle, then began a long series of switchbacks up to the top of Peters Mountain. Peters is one of those long ridge-and-valley mountains described in an earlier post, and runs for at least 15 miles along the Va-WVa border. After about 2 miles of switchbacks you reach the top of Peters Mountain, where it's typically very flat, sometimes several hundred yards wide, other times a few dozen yards across. It was wonderfully cool and breezy on the top, and we had a pleasant stroll on the ridgetop for about 2 miles to the Rice Fields.

Asta running atop flat, fern-covered Peters Mountain

Checking out a turtle.

The AT heading north across the Rice Fields.

Looking northwest into West Virginia from the Rice Fields.

Southwest view of WV from the Rice Fields as Asta frolics.

Separation of Church and State at Radford University

Sign on the athletic field by the New River at Radford University. No dogs were available for comment.

Interlude: Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Murdoch

Perhaps it's because I spent a week at the University of Virginia that I've been thinking about Thomas Jefferson, but the following article about the Fox News empire prompted these meanderings:

In a recent Atlantic Monthly article entitled "Mr. Murdoch Goes to War," Mark Bowden paints a bleak picture of Rupert Murdoch's takeover of the Wall Street Journal and its assimilation into the Fox News empire. When one watches Fox News' rampant disregard for the truth in its quest to score conservative points, it's hard not to think about the yellow journalism of early print tycoons like William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, when snappy, attention grabbing headlines were far more important than in-depth -- or factual -- reporting. Remember the Maine! Remember WMD!

We had a long discussion last weekend about the current state of journalism, and how outlets like Murdoch's Fox News deliberately mislead the public, reflecting on how it's only going to get messier as the US Presidential election heats up this fall. (To see how Fox News routinely disseminates lies and rumors about Barack Obama, check out "Fox Attacks Obama.") Murdoch asserts that there's a "liberal bias" in the media, thereby justifying his right-wing approach as "fair and balanced."

The truth is that there is no liberal bias, as studies repeatedly show. Just last week George Mason University released a study showing that the mainstream media is tougher on Obama than McCain, hardly a sign of liberal bias. The media watchdog group FAIR has consistently reported on the effects of media ownership by large corporations, resulting in news organizations that are loathe to report negatively on other branches of their corporate entity - more a sign of corporate spin than liberal bias. In such instances, the corprotocracy takes care of itself.

As we all know, the Web is a primary outlet for news (that and Jon Stewart's brilliantly satirical and insightful Daily Show). With the mainstream media losing credibility as valid, unbiased news sources, and with the corresponding demise of print media in general in favor of the Web, it's no surprise that the Web has become the primary information source for many Americans.

But what do you get when you rely on the Web for news? A simple Google search on any controversial topic typically brings up pages of bloggers, each with their own viewpoint. Or pages of supposedly "legitimate" websites offering "facts" about issue A or issue B. We spend a good deal of time as academic librarians attempting to show undergraduates how to evaluate websites for accuracy and authority, but how many Web surfers use these skills? Search, and the answer shows up, providing enlightenment byte by byte.

Given this context, Bowdens' succinct summary of the impact of the Web on serious journalism proves to be quite insightful:

The Web... has yet to develop institutions capable of replacing print newspapers as vehicles for great in-depth journalism, or conscious of themselves as upholding a public trust. Instead, the Web gives voice to opinionated, unedited millions. In the digital world, ignorance and crudity share the platform with rigor and taste; the independent journalist shares the platform with spinmeisters and con artists. Cable television and satellite radio have taken broadcast journalism in the same direction, crowding out the once-dominant networks, which strove for the ideal of objectivity, with new channels that all but advertise their politics. When all news is spun, we live in a world of propaganda.

The worst part of this is, the public doesn't seem to care.

Bowden does point out that good content can be found amidst the din of opinionated blather on the web - excellent journalism can easily be found with a simple Google search, if you're willing to seek. Many respected newspapers have strong Web sites, battered and shrinking as their print divisions might be. Iconic and respected print newspapers such as the Washington Post and The New York Times have done a fine job of crafting a presence on the Web. And other news sources, such as the BBC and NPR, offer Web and traditional TV and radio outlets.

In his Second Inaugural Address, in 1805, centuries before the Web, Thomas Jefferson realized that the risks of an unfettered free press and the potential for falsehood could be tempered by the public's common sense:

Since truth and reason have maintained their ground against false opinions in league with false facts, the press confined to truth needs no other legal restraint. The public judgment will correct false reasonings and opinions on a full hearing of all parties, and no other definite line can be drawn between the inestimable liberty of the press and its demoralizing licentiousness. If there be still improprieties which this rule would not restrain, its supplement must be sought in the censorship of public opinion.

The question, then, is whether an enlightened electorate and the corresponding "censorship of public opinion" have the ability to find the truth? For while ignorance and crudity run rampant on the Web, so does journalistic rigor and taste; good reporting still holds its head high, despite being the same mouse click away as the spinmeisters and con artists. For my money, I hope the electorate adheres to both Mr. Jefferson's vision and to Mr. Townshend's. As in the Who's Pete Townshend, who famously said he "won't get fooled again." Indeed.



Sources: "Mr. Murdoch Goes to War," by Mark Bowden, Atlantic Monthly, July/Aug 2008; Thomas Jefferson on Politics & Religion, University of Virginia

Waterfalls, the Blue Ridge and Valley & Ridge

One of the common misperceptions about Blacksburg is that it's "in the Blue Ridge Mountains." It's not uncommon to label this part of the Virginia Highlands the "Blue Ridge," when in fact Blacksburg is in the valley & ridge geologic range, between the Blue Ridge to the east and the Appalachian Plateau in West Virginia. The Blue Ridge is the eastern most range in Virginia and northwest North Carolina, being that part of the mountains that drains into the Piedmont. Hence, lots of streams and creeks tumble off the Blue Ridge.

Blacksburg is in the Valley & Ridge area, which is just what it implies - a series of long ridges/mountains with valleys between them that run in a southwest to northeast line. Brush Mountain, a classic ridge-mountain, runs beside Blacksburg, extending many miles north of town and terminating with at the New River. You can get some sense of how the ridges run from this photo, taken from the overlook on War Spur Trail. Along the left is Potts Mountain, with War Spur Creek draining into the valley below. On the right, out of view behind the trees, is John's Creek Mountain.

View from the overlook on War Spur Loop Trail

Drainage (that would be creeks and rivers) runs a bit differently in the Blue Ridge than in the Valley & Ridge sections of Appalachia. While there are plenty of creeks and rivers in our neck of the mountains (like the famous Cascades on Little Stony Creek in Giles County), typically they aren't as robust as the streams that drain off the Blue Ridge into the Piedmont. The reasons? Gravity and height - tumbling off the Blue Ridge typically involves a steeper, longer plunge downhill than draining off a ridgeside into a valley. Sure, that's simplified a bit, but there are plenty of examples, one being Rock Castle Creek and the Gorge it carved, described in an earlier post.

Some of the most spectacular, and easily accessible, Blue Ridge creeks are found in North Carolina, particularly in the Pisgah National Forest near Grandfather Mountain. Lost Cove Creek, Harper Creek, Prong Creek, and Wilson Creek drain through the Pisgah National Forest, and there are dozens of miles of streamside trials. There are also many waterfalls, and we made the trek to two of them in June.

Through the merry rhododendron groves along Lost Cove Trail

Our first hike was on Lost Cove Trail, which goes along Prong Creek. There's a great series of waterfalls on Prong Creek, each a small tumble into a great little swimming hole. The uppermost of this series is pictured below.

But the real gem is the popular Hunt Fish Falls waterfall and swimming hold extraordinaire. I've been going here for over 30 years, and it's always a treat. If you're lucky and go mid-week you'll miss the crowds that come down the short, .8 mile hike to the stream. We had such luck in June when we found the place deserted. Here are some photos:

The view from the rocks near the top of the falls, looking down to the swimming hole. It's deep enough to dive just below here. To the left is the second fall. Turning around from here, you'll see the falls pictured below.

Take another step to the left and you're looking at the waterfall from eye-level. Here's the view upstream. Our favorite campsite is upstream to the right.

Asta's not much of a water dog - nary a bit of Lab blood in her that we can detect. But she really enjoyed the water when were here, wading into the pool, chest-high, to fetch sticks, and scampering across the low rapids at the other end of the swimming hole. Here she eyes the waterfall and warily steps back.

View from across the swimming hole to the falls.

July morning in Blacksburg

Some photos from the golf course hill near my house, all taken around 7 AM on July mornings. All of these were taken with my little Fuji Finepix A610 point and shoot, which tucks into my pocket rather nicely.

Blacksburg and Brush Mountain, with a hint of rising fog in the distance.

Perhaps the most fun guy to ever naturally inhabit a golf course.

View east with fog in the Catawba Valley.

Squirrels cavorting in the power lines.

Lost lens, dew-covered on the golf cart trail.

Brainfood #2: Ron Rash

Back to "Brainfood," snapshots of the words and music currently capturing my attention.

Ron Rash's novel The World Made Straight is a beautiful, moving Appalachian coming-of-age novel. It opens with this evocative paragraph:

Travis came upon the marijuana plants while fishing Caney Creek. It was a Saturday, the first week of August, and after helping his father sucker tobacco all morning he'd had the rest of the day to himself. He'd changed into his fishing clothes and driven three miles of dirt road to the French Broad River. Travis drove fast, the rod and reel clattering in the truck bed, red dust rising in his wake. The Marlin .22 slid on its makeshift gun rack with each hard curve. He had the windows down, and if the radio worked he would have had it blasting. The truck was a '66 Ford, battered from a dozen years of farm use. Travis had paid a neighbor five hundred dollars for it three months earlier.

Rash says so much in this paragraph, giving a succinct snapshot of an Appalachian farm boy. He's into fishing, has his .22 in the gun rack, he works on his father's farm, and is self-reliant enough to have bought his own truck. Yet Travis is much deeper than this snapshot - he wants far more from his life than you might surmise. Finding the dope leads him to Leonard, who on one level is a drug dealer hiding from his own past. As Leonard befriends Travis, he transforms himself from small-time dealer to Travis' mentor, bettering himself and the world around him in the process.

Each chapter opens with a passage from the diary of Leonard's Civil War-era ancestor, a doctor who practiced in the region and served as a medic in the war. Through this device the past creeps into the narrative, as the characters each discover that their ancestors played a part in the Civil War's infamous Shelton Laurel Massacre (Travis himself is a Shelton). The novel's characters eventually come to terms with their collective history, sorting out the legacy of the Civil War and the roles their ancestors played.

Rash paints a realistic, detailed portrait of contemporary Appalachia, where demons and redemption come from unexpected sources. A well-told tale that reveals much about how the past and present shape Appalachian life, with wonderfully wrought characters, The World Made Straight captivated me until the end. Highly recommended.

Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land"- the real national anthem

It’s Independence Day here in the USA, the anniversary of signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, when Thomas Jefferson and a bunch of white male colonists severed the political bonds with Great Britain. From this bold act emerged the USA, buoyant, blemished, and most certainly bellicose. And in case you doubt the bellicosity, just give one listen to the "Star Spangled Banner," our official National Anthem. Bombs bursting in the air with all that proud hailing and stuff. Oh, and it’s so easy to sing! (I'm especially fond of the version by Lt. Frank Drebin in the Naked Gun.)

So, like many others before, I say it’s time to retire the “Star Spangled Banner” and replace with Woody Guthrie’s magnificent, easy-to-sing populist anthem, “This Land Is Your Land.”

A bit of history of this fine tune: Guthrie originally wrote this on February 23, 1940, in a run-down New York hotel room. Woody had been traveling the countryside for years, living with the people hit hardest by the Depression, which was still raging in the US. Meanwhile, Europe and Asia were engulfed in warfare. And what was on the radio and on jukeboxes across the country? Kate Smith’s version of Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America.”

Woody hated “God Bless America,” and despised Berlin’s Tin Pan Alley patriotism. Woody decided to write a response. Borrowing the melody from a Carter Family song “Little Darlin’ Of Mine,” which was based on the old Baptist hymn “Oh My Lovin’ Brother,” Woody sat down and knocked out a song he originally called “God Blessed America.” Here are the original lyrics:

This land is your land, this land is my land,
From California to the New York island,
From the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters;
God blessed America for me.

As I was walking that ribbon of highway
And saw above me that endless skyway,
And saw below me the golden valley, I said:
God blessed America for me.

I roamed and rambled, and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts,
And all around me a voice was sounding:
God blessed America for me.

Was a great high wall there that tried to stop me
A sign was painted said: Private Property,
But on the back side it didn't say nothing-
God blessed America for me.

When the sun come shining, then I was strolling
In wheat fields waving, and dust clouds rolling;
The voice was chanting as the fog was lifting:
God blessed America for me.

One bright sunny morning in the shadow of the steeple
By the relief office I saw my people-
As they stood hungry, I stood there wondering if
God blessed America for me.

After writing this in 1940, Woody did not do anything with it until 1944, when he finally recorded it for Asch Records (later to become Folkways). By then he had changed the title to what we know now: “This Land is Your Land,” and changed the refrain to “This land was made for you and me.” Woody played with the lyrics over the next several years, adding some verses, changing a few words, but always keeping a strong populist protest element to it. He recorded what many consider the definitive version in 1951. Others have tinkered with it over the years, and Pete Seeger added a few verses with an environmental slant.

And what of Woody's great national anthem? Can we have a national anthem that celebrates the common person, embraces the idea of sharing resources for the common good, and blatantly attacks crass capitalism and greed?

The version of "This Land..." that’s in common circulation has been somewhat sanitized. John Whitmer notes: “Of course “This Land is Your Land” is now sung in classrooms throughout the nation as a nationalist song and the verses critiquing private property are left out as are references to Guthrie’s affiliation with the labor movement.”

Even watered down, as it were, Woody’s iconic tune is deeply woven into American life and culture, and reflects the American ideal of equality far better than that beastly bomb written by Francis Scott Key. It's high time to replace bellicosity with humanity. Here's to Woody Guthrie!

This version of "This Land Is Your Land" is from the official Woody Guthrie website, followed by a film clip of Woody singing it.

Happy Independence Day!

This Land Is Your Land

This land is your land This land is my land
From California to the New York island;
From the red wood forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and Me.

As I was walking that ribbon of highway,
I saw above me that endless skyway:
I saw below me that golden valley:
This land was made for you and me.

I've roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts;
And all around me a voice was sounding:
This land was made for you and me.

When the sun came shining, and I was strolling,
And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling,
As the fog was lifting a voice was chanting:
This land was made for you and me.

As I went walking I saw a sign there
And on the sign it said "No Trespassing."
But on the other side it didn't say nothing,
That side was made for you and me.

In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,
By the relief office I seen my people;
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking
Is this land made for you and me?

Nobody living can ever stop me,

As I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can ever make me turn back
This land was made for you and me.

Woody Guthrie singing "This Land Is Your Land:"



Sources:

1) Woody Guthrie: A Life. By Joe Klein. New York: Knopf. 1980.
2) “Is This Song You Song Anymore?: Revisioning Woody Guthrie’s ‘This Land Is Your Land’” by Mark Allen Jackson, American Music, Vol. 20, No. 3 (Autumn, 2002), pp. 249-276.
3) What Exactly Are We Celebrating on Constitution Day? By John Whitmer. History News Network.
4) Official Woody Guthrie website.