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! The FREE 15 Yearsand & stillCounting... Appalachian August/September 2011VOICE From backyard chicken coops and community kitchens to logging with horses Living and existing completely off the grid, the back-to-the-land movement is broader— Land and more popular—than you think. ALSO INSIDE: Three Weeds to Feed Your Needs • Microhydro • The Art of Mushrooming The Appalachian A Note From the Executive Director Dear Readers, VOICE The majority of Americans anticipate a bright future of renewable A publication of AppalachianVoices energy and energy efficiency, and an end to pollution of our water, air and land. Yet Congress is out of touch with this vision, working instead to take 191 Howard Street • Boone, NC 28607 1-877-APP-VOICE us back to pre-1972 America, when rivers caught fire, swimming could be www.AppalachianVoices.org hazardous to your health and smog routinely killed people. [email protected] Forward Thinkers Move Back to the Land Sound’s crazy, right? Not when you realize that last week, the U.S. By Rachael Goss of activism shared by many of the Appalachian Voices is committed to protecting the land, air homesteaders. House of Representatives actually passed a bill—the Clean Water Coopera- When we think about the 1960s, ...................................................................................... 10 and water of the central and southern Appalachian region. A New Twist on Husbandry In the 1970s, as the national Our mission is to empower people to defend our region’s rich tive Federalism Act of 2011 (HR 2018)—revoking the federal government’s certain iconic images pop up. From Appalachian Colleges Plant Seeds of Sustainability .................. 12 conscience became more in-tune natural and cultural heritage by providing them with tools and ability to enforce pollution limits and giving authority to individual states. The two flower children and festivals to Green Colleges... with a growing environmental strategies for successful grassroots campaigns. Appalachian lead sponsors of the bill are cronies with agriculture and mining interests. fierce protests and racial unrest, the Turtle Island ... Living off the Land with Intention & Integrity ................................... 13 ® movement, West Virginia saw Voices sponsors the Upper Watauga Riverkeeper and is also decade was marked by a turbulent ® We have clear thinkers in the Senate to help us work towards the bill’s demise, but it is evident Sustainable Wood Products From Forest to Finish ......................... 14 a Member of the Waterkeeper Alliance. Draftwood ... many of its natives and newcom- there is a strategic, determined attack on our right to clean water and air. change in the social and political Back-to-the-Land Goes to Town ................................. 16 ers joining forces to speak up EDITOR ....................................................... Jamie Goodman Every American must get involved in the fight for these environmental protections and their fabrics of our nation. No Longer A Rural Thing ... MANAGING EDITOR ......................................... Jillian Randel for the land and culture they so enforcement. Our work in Kentucky—where we have identified over 40,000 violations of the In the late 1960s, many idealis- Taking Food from Farm to Table ........................................ 18 CONTRIBUTING EDITOR .......................................Bill Kovarik Community Kitchens ... valued. ISTRIBUTION ANAGER Clean Water Act—illustrates that state regulatory agencies can be ‘captured’ by local industries. tic young Americans turned away D M .................................. Maeve Gould ......................................................................................... 19 Ultimately, the rural relocation EDITORIAL ASSISTANT ........................................Meg Holden from the mainstream and sought The Art of Mushrooming Kentucky regulators failed to take action until we filed notices of intent to sue, and, shockingly, trend served to highlight many GRAPHIC DESIGN ASSISTANT ............................Meghan Darst refuge in a rustic lifestyle. After Agricultural Nitrates Infiltrating our Waterways ................. 20 made moves to protect the offending coal companies. Our saving grace comes from having the law Threats to the Land ... of West Virginia’s natural and an issue of The Mother Earth News Organizational Staff on our side (the Clean Water Act), and so far we’ve prevailed in court. Without this cornerstone cultural treasures. In addition to waxed poetic about the beauty and EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR .................................................... Willa Mays law, we would have no rights. by their deeply rooted neighbors. movement sparked the creation of advocating a simpler, more hands-on PROGRAMS DIRECTOR ...................................................Matt Wasson value of land in West Virginia, many We need your voice in this fight. As economic pressures increase, industry will keep harping Many new residents took keenly Tamarack: The Best of West Virginia, lifestyle, the new arrivals brought at- DEPUTY PROGRAM DIRECTOR / VIRGINIA DIRECTOR ..... Tom Cormons literally took to the hills. DIRECTOR OF WATER PROGRAMS ............................. Donna Lisenby on tired myths that regulations kill jobs while they continue to pollute our nation in front of our to traditional crafts and music, estab- a state attraction that commemorates tention to Appalachia’s vast litany of CAMPAIGN DIRECTOR ................................................... Lenny Kohm Back-to-the-landers came to nearly very eyes. An unhealthy environment can never lead to a healthy economy, so join us today and lishing a greater bond with the rich the state’s cultural heritage and unique art forms and heritage crafts, creating a OPERATIONS & DEVELOPMENT every county in the state. Lincoln, keep flaming rivers and toxic air where they belong; in the past. Appalachian culture. In fact, the back- history by showcasing traditional arts, niche market for tourists and Americans OPERATIONS MANAGER ..........................................Susan Congelosi Greenbrier and Pocahontas counties ADMINISTRATIVE ASSOCIATE .............................................Shay Boyd For our water, to-the-land movement in West Virginia crafts and foods. outside of the region to appreciate. DIRECTOR OF MEMBERSHIP ...................................... Parker Stevens drew particularly large crowds. While sparked a renaissance for traditional The simple living crusade forever By celebrating our regions’s heri- DIRECTOR OF FOUNDATION RELATIONS ....................... Rachael Goss Willa hostilities did arise between the old DIRECTOR OF LEADERSHIP GIFTS ..............................Kayti Wingfield mountain music and art forms. changed the face of West Virginia. The tage, vistas and landscapes, we too can and new West Virginians, many of the PROGRAMS Regulars As elders began to pass on their environmental values espoused by The see what the back-to-the-landers seized NATIONAL FIELD COORDINATOR ..................................... Kate Rooth state’s newest citizens found that the knowledge to newcomers, West Vir- Green Revolution magazine, published on forty-odd years ago: that Appalachia LEGISLATIVE ASSOCIATE ..................................................Thom Kay Hiking the Highlands .........4 values associated with their new life on FIELD COORDINATOR ...................................................... Austin Hall CORRECTIONS ginian arts and crafts traditions were by an intentional community near is a natural and cultural treasure worthy Across Appalachia ......... 6 the land—hard work, thrift, community FIELD ORGANIZER .................................................Kaitlin Finneran strengthened and revitalized. The Hamlin, spoke to a common thread of preservation. NORTH CAROLINA CAMPAIGN COORDINATOR .................. Sandra Diaz In our June/July issue, we incorrectly located the Dolly Sods Wilderness on our map of Naturalists Notebook ........ 8 and simple pleasures—were also held TENNESSEE DIRECTOR .............................................. J.W. Randolph West Virginia. The area we identified as Dolly Sods is actually the Cranberry Wilderness. IRGINIA AMPAIGN OORDINATOR Mike McCoy V C C ............................... Dolly Sods is farther north and east. Also in our June/July issue, the photo of the salamander This Green House ......... 21 WATER QUALITY SPECIALIST ....................................... Eric Chance on page 18 was identified as a long-tail salamander, but in fact is a red-spotted newt. In WATER QUALITY EDUCATION & OUTREACH ASSOCIATE ..Erin Savage Coal Update ..............22 TECHnologY & COMMUNICations addition, in the June issue we inadvertently left off some photographer’s credits on the Name of Member ___________________________________________________________ TECHNOLOGIST.............................................................Benji Burrell Waterfall Guide Page. Following is the complete list: Crabtree Falls (Va.) — Joe Tennis; AV Book Club .............24 Address ___________________________________________________________________ IT SPECIALIST ....................................................................Jeff Deal Peach Tree Falls (W.Va.) — Jaime Pettry; Princess Falls (Ky.) — Barb Richardson; Fall COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR ............................ Jamie Goodman Creek Falls (Tenn.) — Rich Stevens of ncwaterfalls.com; Tom’s Creek Falls (N.C.) — Rich Opinions and Editorials ..... 25 City______________________________________