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Environmental Concerns

Mountaintop removal - permanent threat to nature

During Annual Conference 2004 in West Virginia we became aware of an environmental problem affecting West Virginians. The culprit is called Mountaintop Removal (MTR). It is defined as the strip mining practice of blasting off the tops of mountains so that huge machinery can mine thin seams of coal. The coal companies will then fill valleys and streams with the mountaintops to create what is called “valley fills”. This process of flattening a mountain and filling its valleys is converting beautiful mountain landscapes into barren acres of sparse nonnative grasses.

Moutaintop removal

Important facts about MTR:

  • Environmentalists predict that in two decades half the peaks of southern WV’s skyline might vanish.
    - US News & World Report
  • Approximately 6.8% of the forest in West Virginia and Kentucky has been, or may be affected, by recent and future mountaintop mining.
    - US EPA, 2002
  • Approximately 1200 miles of streams were impacted by MTR between 1992 and 2002. Valley fills from 1985 to 2001 covered an estimated 724 stream miles.
    - Programmatic Environmental Impact Study, Draft-May 2003
  • Over 60,000,000 board feet of new growth hardwood timber is lost every year, forever, to mountaintop removal mining.
    - Bill Maxey, Retired Director, WV Division of Forestry

In 1973, the Church of the Brethren General Board has encouraged Congress to pass legislation to combat strip mining, a similar practice to MTR. (GB 73 M Strip Mining)

For more information about MTR and whom you can contact to voice your concerns about what is going on in West Virginia please contact the Brethren Witness/Washington Office.

ROADLESS AREA CONSERVATION RULE
– PROTECT OUR FORESTS

valley
(photo courtesy of the USDA)

The Roadless Area Conservation Rule, enacted in 2001 to protect 58.5 million acres of public forests from additional road-building and logging, was developed after years of discussion and millions of public comments. We continue to believe the Rule is sound policy and reflects our responsibility to be good stewards of God’s world. In the summer of 2004, there were proposals that threatened many aspects of the Roadless Rule as well as the possibility of passing legislation the spring 2005 on drilling in the Alaskan National Wild Refuge.

As people of faith, we humbly recognize that we are but a part of the interdependent web of life, entrusted by God with the obligation to protect all of creation. Protection of these pristine forests provides needed habitat for fragile species, safeguards water by protecting rivers and streams, and preserves areas for recreation, reflection and renewal for this and future (photo courtesy of the USDA) generations. For these reasons, among others, thousands of voices from the faith community have joined the chorus of those demanding protection of national forest roadless areas.

The Brethren Witness/Washington Office collaborates with other faith based organizations to support the Roadless Rule. Contact our office for more information in the future as we continue to follow this issue.