Habitat and Species Conservation

Appalachian Mountaintop Removal in Google Earth and Maps

Appalachian Voices is an organization which is dedicated to preserving the mountains in the central Eastern US from destruction due to coal mining practices.   Coal miners blast the tops of the mountains so that they can better access the coal.  This practice not only damages the wildlife and the foliage in the area, but also harms the culture of the area.  Residents near the blasting have seen damage to their homes and views from their houses completely changed.  Appalachian Voices has developed a layer in Google Earth called Appalachian Mountaintop Removal that gives a tour of the area, where a user can see the destruction for himself or herself.  Pictures and stories from residents fill the layer and give an estimation of the size of the problem.  The user can connect to the issue because it also allows the user to check if their power plant is using the coal from the destructive mines.  This layer encourages action on behalf of the Appalachian mountains.

Further Study:

KML File: Appalachian Mountaintop Removal

Appalachian Voices Homepage: http://appvoices.org/

Duke Writing 20 Homepage: sites.duke.edu/tlge/