The Life and Death of the Mountains

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“Centered in southern West Virginia, the mesophytic has issued for more than a hundred million years from the black, unglaciated loam of the Central Appalachian coves. Studying the virgin forest in 1916, Braun theorized that these coves are the likely ancestral source of most temperate-zone forest species in the eastern United States. Ecologists are calling it the "mother forest.” Whereas most forest types are dominated by two or three species, the mixed mesophytic harbors eighty woody species in its canopy and understory.“

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• What is Mountain Top Removal Mining?

Mountaintop removal / valley fill coal mining (MTR) has been called strip mining on steroids. One author says the process should be more accurately named: mountain range removal. Mountaintop removal /valley fill mining annihilates ecosystems, transforming some of the most biologically diverse temperate forests in the world into biologically barren moonscapes.

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"The love of wilderness is more than a hunger for what is always beyond reach; it is also an expression of loyalty to the earth, the earth which bore us and sustains us, the only home we shall ever know, the only paradise we ever need — if only we had the eyes to see.” - Edward Abbey

A Priceless Piece of Industrial Heritage

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Nuttallburg Coal Camp Ruins - New River Gorge, WV

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“Possibilities for old Nuttallburg mine to be discussed National Park Service, public to talk about preserving remaining resources of historic treasure’

By Steve Keenan For The Beckley Register-Herald - January 22, 2006

In 1919, historical accounts say, renowned industrialist Henry Ford began developing a kinship with the Mountain State. According to National Park Service accounts and re-tellings in such historical tomes as GEM Publications’ ‘West Virginia Panoramic Coalfield Photography 1900-2005,’ Ford purchased the Nuttallburg mine that year and began its revitalization. According to the latter book, Ford formed a bond with the community and made further investments in coming years. The Nuttallburg Mine had played out by the mid-1950s, says Richard Segars, a historical architect with the New River Gorge National River in Glen Jean. The community of Nuttallburg, which began when enterprising Brit John Nuttall relocated from Pennsylvania and initiated a successful mining operation in the early 1870s, went by the wayside afterward. Even after all those years, it’s still a compelling story. 'It’s very important,’ Segars said. 'The history of coal in the New River Gorge is an incredibly undertold story. And this is a magnificent opportunity to tell (an important portion of) it.’ While the national river’s general management plan process unfolds over the coming year, the public will also be able to weigh in on the creation of an implementation plan to preserve the remaining resources of the historic Nuttallburg mine. Those resources are extensive, Segars says. A majority of the equipment used to extract black gold from the ground during the Ford era and beyond is still in place. 'The interesting thing about Nuttallburg is that there is a complete mining colliery (still on site),’ Segars notes. That includes the mine portal, tracks, a conveyor, the tipple and other portions of equipment. What’s still at Nuttallburg gives 'a visual path of the coal from the mine all the way to the railroad car,’ Segars said. 'It’s very significant.’ Nearby, remnants of the Keeney’s Creek branch line — a C&O spur line envisioned by John Nuttall — are still visible, as well. Segars said extensive research has shown very few places nationwide that still have as much equipment in place. Normally, what is left behind are coal camps and administrative buildings. The park service, however, is involved with preserving the Big South Fork tipple in Tennessee. The Nuttallburg property, acquired by the park service in 1998, is eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. Remaining objects — such as foundations and a road system — from the adjacent town which arose from the mine’s success allow you to 'get a sense of the proximity of the town.’ At a certain point, county Route 85/2 leading to Nuttallburg is now closed to vehicles due to construction, Segars says. Some members of the public now hike about 15 minutes to get to the site, which is posted as dangerous property. The issue in future months and years is to reinforce and preserve the machinery and begin making it more accessible — and safer — for the public for possible interpretative efforts. During meetings for the implementation plan, the park service will discuss, in addition to preservation matters, such topics as how the public would like to see the property used and the creation of easier access. 'There is a range of possibilities and alternatives,’ Segars said. Although pieces of the former mining operation are still there, Segars says they are in 'bad physical condition.’ More than $2 million has been appropriated thus far for emergency stabilization of the tipple and work on the conveyor and the headhouse. Segars said preliminary work in soil boring and engineering design of some shoring materials is already under way. Officials hope further money is eventually freed up for the project.”

OFFLINE - The New American Fossils.

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The first time I stepped into the turbine room of an abandoned powerplant it caught me off guard and almost stole my breath. The scale of the chamber gave the shell a holy, cathedral like air. Both beautiful and horrible the space quickly transforms into the sinister hulking shell of a metal dinosaur leaving the viewer inside with the disconcerting knowledge that they are now stuck in the middle of its rusting and rotting bowels filled with machinery that becomes very serpentine. These places are overwhelming, so cold, alien, and inhuman, so dirty and decayed and neglected, yet they still hold so much power and continue to have a presence and a life of their own. Like they are -almost- still breathing or perhaps just took their final exhale.