Kaford Mountain
"Reclamation" on Kaford
This morning we went to the top of Kaford Mountain to see firsthand what an MTR site looks like. As you can see from the pictures, it's like a giant moonscape with hardly any natural vegetation. The mined areas are only a small part of the mountain, though. Kaford is a powerful symbol for those who oppose MTR because it's owned by a group of people who have put it in a land trust and refuse to let it ever be mined. Larry Gibson is at the head of this group and has been dubbed "Keeper of the Mountains" for his courageous efforts in keeping his mountain out of the hands of big coal; Larry puts up with unofficial industry threats and travels around telling others about MTR and its adverse affects on Appalachia using Kaford as an example of how some have chosen to fight back.
The area I'm looking out over in the second photo is an example of how the coal company attempts to "reclaim" the area after mining. By law, depending on the amount of rain the area receives, the company must provide and maintain tree coverage for about 10 years after mining. In most cases, they get away with only spraying the hydroseed grass you see in both photos. This chemical grass grows straight on the rocks and is not native to the area. A forest like those typically found on Appalachian mountaintops would take upwards of 1000 years to grow because the trees require various stages of ecological succession to pave the way (i.e. make soil, make the soil suitable for growing, and provide other growing conditions).
On this site there is still one exposed coal seam, so it will still be active some of the time although we didn't see any movement today. It's almost eerie how quiet and open the area is, especially when you turn only 180 degrees to see a thriving forest behind.
** The last photo is another story in itself, but I'll keep it short and sweet: we are watching seven dogs. We have to keep the troublemakers tied during the day so they don't run off (a neighbor already informed us that if he saw the one dog again he'd shoot it, then went back to his house and fired off three shots to let us know he wasn't kidding). So, by dusk they're all very restless. Alex and I have been taking them on semi-controlled walks to let them stretch their legs a little.
