AppalachianThe FREE August/September 2018 VOICE Stewarding Our National Forests America’s public lands are a place of refuge and recreation, but how we manage them is a topic of intense debate ALSO INSIDE PIPELINE UPDATE Legal challenges, protests continue against MVP and ACP REMAKING DOWNTOWNS Communities strive to bring back main street The Tom Cormons enjoying a AppalachianVOICE A note from our executive director swim at Harper Creek Falls A publication of in Pisgah National Forest this summer. AppalachianVoices My three young kids have been belt- major victory for pipeline ing out all six verses to Woody Guthrie’s opponents, the three-judge Giant Hogweed Sprouting up in Appalachia NC: 589 W. King St., Boone, NC 28607 • 828-262-1500 1940s patriotic classic “This Land is Your panel unanimously ruled in VA: 812 E. High St., Charlottesville, VA 22902 • 434-293-6373 Land” this summer. The rousing an- favor of the Sierra Club, Ap- New patches of giant hogweed, a ton, the sap is photo sensitive, meaning it Washington, Michigan, Vermont, New Other Regional Offices: Knoxville, TN • Norton, VA them to the American landscape seems palachian Voices and Wild toxic species indigenous to the Caucasus reacts when exposed to sunlight, but not Hampshire and Maine. AppalachianVoices.org | [email protected] especially poignant now, as thousands Virginia, sending the hastily Mountains in Eastern Europe, have been every individual experiences an extreme The tall plant contains flowers that of citizens rise up to confront goliath issued federal permits back discovered growing in western North reaction. Individuals who encounter the resemble those on the much smaller EDITOR .................................................MOLLY MOORE ASSOCIATE EDITOR .................................. KEVIN RIDDER pipeline companies manipulating the to the drawing board and Carolina’s Watauga County. Accord- sap should immediately wash the area Queen Anne’s lace, and is often confused CONSULTING EDITOR & DESIGNER.......... JAMIE GOODMAN system to wrest long stretches of land leading FERC to issue a stop- ing to Dr. Jim Hamilton, director of the with soap and cold water and avoid the with cow parsnip, a plant loosely related DISTRIBUTION MANAGER ................... MEREDITH SHELTON from ordinary citizens. work order for the Mountain Unfortunately, such “silent acquies- North Carolina Cooperative Watauga sun. If sap gets in your eyes, rinse them to giant hogweed but native to North EDITORIAL ASSISTANT .............................. SARA CROUCH cence” to the will of powerful interests EDITORIAL ASSISTANT .............................. LOCKE CURTIS This nearly 80-year-old song reso- Valley Pipeline the next week. County Extension, officials have been with water and put on sunglasses. If you America. According to Hamilton, hog- EDITORIAL ASSISTANT ........................ HANNAH GILLESPIE nates in our children’s young ears, I Not mincing words, the court made is too often the habitual response of dealing with the noxious weed in the experience any reaction, call a doctor. weed seeds can live dormant in soil for GRAPHIC DESIGNER ............................. JIMMY DAVIDSON believe, because of its insistence on a clear that the Trump administration those entrusted to safeguard our shared county for the past 10 to 15 years. It was Watauga is the only county in North up to 15 years before germinating, mak- GRAPHIC DESIGNER ..................................CARA ADEIMY truth much, much older. At a deep level, failed in its duty to Americans to protect natural wealth. But we are seeing how originally planted by some homeowners Carolina so far where giant hogweed ing it especially challenging to eradicate. Chad Taylor, plant pest specialist with the NC Depart- DISTRIBUTION VOLUNTEERS: Ellen Adams, Courtney Alley, Alison our system of checks and balances, in the land — like our air and water — is this priceless land: as a decorative yard plant. has been identified. The weed is also If you identify giant hogweed, do ment of Agriculture, has been working for years to Auciello, Jill Averitt, Cathy Bachara, Debbie Bahr, Nelson and Lanie concert with a robust citizen response, something we all share. This truth about “[Mountain Valley Pipeline’s] pro- Giant hogweed can grow to 15 feet found in Clarke, Faquier and Rock- not try to cut it down; instead call your eradicate giant hogweed like this patch in Watauga Bailey, Gretchen Barelski, Ashly Bargman, Becky Barlow, Terrie can compel our decision makers to County, N.C. Photo courtesy of Dr. Jim Hamilton, Baumgardner, Laura Bayer, Sara Bell, Bob Belton, Teresa Board- our relationship to the land, and the call posed project would be the largest tall and excretes sap that can badly blis- ingham counties in Virginia, and CBS state invasive species division or contact think again. The late Woody Guthrie’s Watauga County Cooperative Extension wine, Roberta Bondurant, Charlie Bowles, Bethann Bowman, Dale to action it entails, seems more relevant pipeline of its kind to cross the Jefferson ter skin and cause blindness if it comes in News reported patches in New York, your local agricultural extension agent. Brady, Lynn Brammer, Ben Bristoll, Steve Brooks, Anne Brown, Paul wisdom, channeled through the next now than ever. National Forest,” the opinion states. contact with eyes. According to Hamil- Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, Oregon, — By Locke Curtis & staff Corbit Brown, Teri Brown, Christa Brusen Bill Bunch, George Buraz- generation, won’t let us forget the rights er, John Calhoun, Pat Calvert, Debra Cantwell, Sarah Caskey, Shay And so we — like families all across “American citizens understandably BY THE NUMBERS and Kim Clanton, Helen Clark, Ridge Cook, Dave Cooper, Dave Cop- our region — celebrated in late July place their trust in the Forest Service to and responsibilities we have to the land River boat access points currently under per, George Cortesi, Sarah Crouch, Darlene Cunningham, Nancy when a federal appeals court rescinded protect and preserve this country’s for- we share. Dagley, John David, Sister Beth Davies, Heather Dean, Deborah Clinch-Powell Clean Rivers Initiative Extended 4 construction by the West Virginia Divi- Deatherage, Tina Del Prete, Rose DeProspero, Denise DerGarabe- the government permits allowing the ests, and they deserve more than silent For a just future, The U.S. Environmental Protection Virginia, will continue working together stress from relatively low-concentra- sion of Natural Resources. 12 are in the de- dian, Cynthia Dunn, Heather Earp, Bill Elliott, Patricia English, Mike Mountain Valley Pipeline to cut through acquiescence to a pipeline company’s Agency, Tennessee Department of En- to restore the watershed over the next 10 tions of metals and polycyclic aromatic sign phase and 10 are in the concept stage. Feely, Sandy Forrest, Frank Fry, H A Gallucio, Lashonna Geter, John the rugged Appalachian landscape of justification for upending large swaths Gillespie Dave Gilliam, Scott Goebel, Lorelei Goff, Bruce Gould, vironment and Conservation, Virginia years through the Clinch-Powell Clean hydrocarbons.” Species in Kentucky that are Gary Greer, Tauna Gulley, Kelly Haber, Christine Harris, Bill Harris, the Jefferson National Forest. In this of national forestlands.” Tom Cormons, Executive Director Department of Environmental Qual- Rivers Initiative. The agencies included in the initia- 300 considered vulnerable or en- Paul Hayes, Michael Hayslett, Susan Hazlewood, Eberhard Heide, dangered. A new membership-based state Sharon Helt, Regina Hendrix, Laura Henry-Stone, Matt Hepler, Pa- ity and Virginia Department of Mines, The Clinch-Powell watershed is an tive aim to reduce the amount of nitro- program called Kentucky Wild aims to raise mela Hill, Sherry Hopkins, Cricket Hunter, Tim Huntley, Dakota Icen- Minerals and Energy are extending a important area for biodiversity in North gen, phosphorus, sediment and toxic funds to protect at-risk species and offers hour, Mary Jacobs, Nicholas Johnson, Mary K, Thom Kay, Alisa 2008 Memorandum of Understanding America and is home to 20 endangered pollution going to the rivers by working Keegan, Denny Keeney, Donita Kennedy, Wayne Keplinger, Katie environmental & cultural events opportunities for members to join biologists Kienbaum, Briana Knisley, Mary Ann Kokenge, Leonard Kosup, GET INVOLVED to protect and restore the Clinch and freshwater mussel species. In an EPA with local farmers to implement best in hands-on conservation projects. Deborah Kushner, Frances Lamberts, Waltr Lane, Don Langrehr, See more at appvoices.org/calendar Powell rivers in Tennessee and Virginia. news release, Clinch-Powell Clean Riv- management practices. They also plan to Geology and Natural ACP Compressor Public Hearing Tennessee counties that will no longer Christine Laporte, Tracy Leinbaugh, Susan Lewis, Loy Lilley, Bill Communities Talk & Walk Sept. 11, 5-9:30 p.m.: Speak at a public hear- Limpert, Joyannah Lonnes, Marion Loper, Maggie Louden, Diane With this extension, the agencies ers Initiative Science Team Chair Braven reduce stormwater runoff, improve local require vehicle emissions testing under Aug. 18, 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m.: Learn about the ing for an Atlantic Coast Pipeline compressor through workshops and lectures. $50, lunch 6 Lucas, Jacki Lucki, Lara Mack, Paula Mann, Gail Marney, Brian responsible for administering the Clean Beaty said that the team’s research has wastewater management and restore a new state law. The law will not go into ef- geology of Brasstown Bald