Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining Research Articles

Legacy coal mining impacts downstream ecosystems for decades in the Canadian Rockies

Mountaintop removal coal mining leaves a legacy of disturbed landscapes and abandoned infrastructure with clear impacts on water resources; however, the intensity and persistence of this water pollution remains poorly characterized. Here we examined the downstream impacts of over a century of coal mining in the Crowsnest Pass (Alberta, Canada). Water samples were collected downstream of two historical coal mines: Tent Mountain and Grassy Mountain. Tent Mountain hosts a partially reclaimed surface mine that closed in 1983. Selenium concentrations downstream of Tent Mountain reached 185 μg/L in a lake below the mine spoil pile, and up to 23 μg/L in Crowsnest Creek, which drains the lake and the mine property. Further downstream, a well-dated sediment core from Crowsnest Lake records increases in sediment, selenium, lead, carbon, nitrogen, and polycyclic aromatic compounds that closely tracked the history of mining at Tent Mountain. In contrast, episodic discharge of mine water from abandoned underground adits at Grassy Mountain drive periodic (but short-term) increases in iron, various metals, and suspended sediment. These results underscore the lasting downstream impacts of abandoned and even reclaimed coal mines.

Can Banks Save Mountains?

Abstract We study bank policies to limit lending to companies engaged in mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining, a form of coal extraction that has raised many environmental concerns. Using the staggered introduction of these policies, we document that these policies did not lead to meaningful changes in average bank lending or MTR mining. However, larger banks, banks that are under media pressure, and banks operating in the affected states are more likely to reduce MTR loans. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that banks announced these policies under pressure and to improve their green credentials. (JEL G21, G28, G32) Authors have furnished an Internet Appendix, which is available on the Oxford University Press Web site next to the link to the final published paper online.

Flood fatalities in eastern Kentucky and the public health legacy of mountaintop removal coal mining

ABSTRACT Heavy rains at night caused severe flooding in eastern Kentucky on 28 July 2022, resulting in 39 deaths. Using publicly available information, we assembled a database of these fatalities, including demographic characteristics and location of death. We perturbed fatality locations and plotted them on a topographical map highlighting mountaintop removal mining with valley fill sites, where mountaintops were excavated to mine thin seams of coal. This map reveals many flood fatalities occurred along rivers or streams near such sites. Previous research suggests that surface mining has contributed to the majority of land cover change in this region, and this has increased storm water runoff. The legacy of coal mining in Central Appalachia could thus present immediate challenges to public health and safety beyond more frequently studied health outcomes associated with occupational and environmental exposures. A review of prior surface mining legislation to assess its effectiveness is warranted.

Mountaintop removal coal mining impacts on structural and functional indicators in Central Appalachian streams.

Mountaintop removal coal mining (MTR) has been a major source of landscape change in the Central Appalachians of the United States (US). Changes in stream hydrology, channel geomorphology and water quality caused by MTR coal mining can lead to severe impairment of stream ecological integrity. The objective of the Clean Water Act (CWA) is to restore and maintain the ecological integrity of the Nation's waters. Sensitive, readily measured indicators of ecosystem structure and function are needed for the assessment of stream ecological integrity. Most CWA assessments rely on structural indicators; inclusion of functional indicators could make these assessments more holistic and effective. The goals of this study were: (1) test the efficacy of selected carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling and microbial structural and functional indicators for assessing MTR coal mining impacts on streams; (2) determine whether indicators respond to impacts in a predictable manner; and (3) determine if functional indicators are less likely to change than are structural indicators in response to stressors associated with MTR coal mining. The structural indicators are water quality and sediment organic matter concentrations, and the functional indicators relate to microbial activity and biofilm production. Seasonal measurements were conducted over the course of a year in streams draining small MTR-impacted and forested watersheds in the Twentymile Creek watershed of West Virginia (WV). Five of the eight structural parameters measured had significant responses, with all means greater in the MTR-impacted streams than in the forested streams. These responses resulted from changes in source or augmentation of the original source of the C and N structural parameters because of MTR coal mining. Nitrate concentration and the stable carbon isotopic ratio of dissolved inorganic carbon were the most effective indicators evaluated in this study. Only three of the fourteen functional indicators measured had significant responses to MTR coal mining, with all means greater in the forested streams than in the MTR-impacted streams. These results suggest that stressors associated with MTR coal mining caused reduction in some aspects of microbial cycling, but resource subsidies may have counterbalanced some of the inhibition leading to no observable change in most of the functional indicators. The detritus base, which is thought to confer functional stability, was likely sustained in the MTR-impacted streams by channel storage and/or leaf litter inputs from their largely intact riparian zones. Overall, our results largely support the hypothesis that certain functional processes are more resistant to stress induced change than structural properties but also suggest the difficulty of identifying suitable functional indicators for ecological integrity assessment.

The Road to Blair Mountain: Saving a Mine Wars Battlefield from King Coal

The Road to Blair Mountain: Saving a Mine Wars Battlefield from King Coal

The Vanishing Landscape of the Southern West Virginia Coalfields

Within the landscape of the Central Appalachian coalfields, entire areas exist under the threat of mountaintop removal coal mining and depopulation. This article offers, for the first time, a description of the contemporary landscape of the southern West Virginia coalfields (SWVC) from a cultural landscape perspective. Through a directed qualitative content analysis (CA) of Ann Pancake’s novel <i>Strange as This Weather Has Been</i> (2007), the study examines the novel’s depiction of the landscape as a space of endangered, low-forested mountains and narrow valleys, heavily altered by industrial activities and made vulnerable to human-made disasters, whose inhabitants grieve its disappearance and the vanishing of the mountain culture. This portrayal of the SWVC landscape is validated by scientific literature in various disciplines. The investigation provides a new perspective on how a CA of a work of fiction—when coupled with “‘holistic’ models of landscape” interpretation (Stephenson, 2008, 129)—can be used to reveal aspects of a landscape that are often disregarded, such as its cultural values. It also shows that CA can be a reliable source of information in landscape studies and be used as a valuable alternative when primary sources are unavailable. The study presents a unique representation of the SWVC region that underlines the often overlooked tangible and intangible qualities of its landscapes.

Linking mountaintop removal mining to water quality for imperiled species using satellite data.

Environmental laws need sound data to protect species and ecosystems. In 1996, a proliferation of mountaintop removal coal mines in a region home to over 50 federally protected species was approved under the Endangered Species Act. Although this type of mining can degrade terrestrial and aquatic habitats, the available data and tools limited the ability to analyze spatially extensive, aggregate effects of such a program. We used two large, public datasets to quantify the relationship between mountaintop removal coal mining and water quality measures important to the survival of imperiled species at a landscape scale across Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. We combined an annual map of the extent of surface mines in this region from 1985 to 2015 generated from Landsat satellite imagery with public water quality data collected over the same time period from 4,260 monitoring stations within the same area. The water quality data show that chronic and acute thresholds for levels of aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, conductivity, copper, lead, manganese, mercury, pH, selenium, and zinc safe for aquatic life were exceeded thousands of times between 1985 and 2015 in streams that are important to the survival and recovery of species on the Endangered Species List. Linear mixed models showed that levels of manganese, sulfate, sulfur, total dissolved solids, total suspended solids, and zinc increased by 6.73E+01 to 6.87E+05 μg/L and conductivity by 3.30E+06 μS /cm for one percent increase in the mined proportion of the area draining into a monitoring station. The proportion of a drainage area that was mined also increased the likelihood that chronic thresholds for copper, lead, and zinc required to sustain aquatic life were exceeded. Finally, the proportion of a watershed that was mined was positively related to the likelihood that a waterway would be designated as impaired under the Clean Water Act. Together these results demonstrate that the extent of mountaintop removal mining, which can be derived from public satellite data, is predictive of water quality measures important to imperiled species-effects that must be considered under environmental law. These findings and the public data used in our analyses are pertinent to ongoing re-evaluations of the effects of current mine permitting regulations to the recovery and survival of federally protected species.

Stewards of Eden: What Scripture Says about the Environment and Why It Matters

Stewards of Eden: What Scripture Says about the Environment and Why It Matters

Using residential histories in case-control analysis of lung cancer and mountaintop removal coal mining in Central Appalachia

Population-based ecological and cross-sectional studies have observed high risk for several cancers in areas of Central Appalachia where mountaintop removal coal mines operate. Case-control studies could provide stronger evidence of such relationships, but misclassification of exposure is likely when based on current residence, since individuals could have inhabited several residences with varying environmental exposures over many years. To address this, we used residential histories for individuals enrolled in a previous case-control study of lung cancer to assess residential proximity to mountaintop removal coal mining over a 30-year period, using both survey data and proprietary data from LexisNexis, Inc. Supplementing the survey data with LexisNexis data improved precision and completeness of geographic coordinates. Final logistic regression models revealed higher odds of high exposure among cases. These findings suggest that living in close proximity to mountaintop removal coal mining sites could increase risk for lung cancer, after adjusting for other relevant factors.

Chemistry of streams draining mined and unmined watersheds in the mountaintop mined landscape of Central Appalachia, USA.

Mountaintop removal coal mining is the predominant form of surface mining in the Appalachian Region of the United States and leads to elevated levels of chemical constituents in streams draining mined watersheds. This data set contains measurements of water chemistry in the mountaintop mined landscape of Central Appalachia. These data were collected to determine the accumulation and transport of mercury (Hg) and selenium (Se) across environmental compartments in mountaintop mining-impacted waters as well as the impact of mountaintop mining on the aquatic-terrestrial subsidy. Samples were collected in summer 2017 and spring/summer 2018. Data predominantly include Se, THg, and methylmercury (MeHg) in the following environmental compartments at sites impacted and unimpacted by mountaintop removal coal mining: water, sediment, biofilm, larval cranefly, adult aquatic insects, and spiders. Additional water parameters that have been found to vary across a gradient of mountaintop mining impact (total organic carbon [TOC], total nitrogen [TN], sulfate [SO4 ], nitrate [NO3 ], chloride [Cl], pH, sodium [Na], potassium [K], magnesium [Mg], calcium [Ca], manganese [Mn], sulfur [S], specific conductance) were also measured. The majority of sites represented are headwater streams, although some settling ponds below valley fills are included. This data set also includes taxonomic characterization of the adult aquatic insect community as well as measurements of spider density at a subset of sites. There are no copyright restrictions; please cite this data paper when the data are used in publications.

Four plus one dimensions of transferability: defining a framework for the application of a landscape characterization in the USA

This perspective article presents considerations based on an attempt for initiating a landscape characterization in the United States using the Landscape Character Assessment (LCA) method initially developed in Great Britain. Literature on LCA underlines the issue of its transferability and the necessity to address, both theoretically and practically, its adaptation when the method is transplanted to other territories. The authors focus on the development of a theoretical framework for the adaptation of the method to a different cultural, geographical, social, political, and institutional context from the one it was designed for. The region of application are West Virginia southern coalfields where mountaintop removal coal mining coexists with rural landscapes, forested mountains, and scarcely inhabited valleys. The significance of conducting a landscape characterization in such an area is acknowledged as well as the necessity to address five dimensions of the question of transferability: physical, cultural, disciplinary, political, and social. In the article the authors examine the British and USA character-based approaches to landscape highlighting the main differences. The environmental history of West Virginia southern coalfields is introduced, and the current landscape is described. Finally, the authors discuss how the five dimensions of transferability can be addressed in the USA context stimulating further theoretical developments and practical attempts of landscape characterization.

Peripheral gully and landslide erosion on an extreme anthropogenic landscape produced by mountaintop removal coal mining

AbstractMountaintop removal/valley fill coal mining (MTR/VF) in central Appalachia has buried an estimated 4000 km of headwater streams, but the long‐term geomorphic consequences of the anthropogenic valley fills and associated mined landscapes are poorly understood. These anthropogenic landscapes are not intended to be maintained in perpetuity once reclamation is complete. Here we present the first ever field‐based study of erosional landforms on this type of mined landscape paired with the subsequent examination of 10 regional LiDAR (light detection and ranging) datasets for gullies and landslides in a transect from eastern Kentucky to central West Virginia. Field observations indicate that overtopping of or intentional discharge from drainage systems and overtopping of valley fill terraces can initiate gullying. We manually extracted 1328 gullies from 512 km2 of mined landscape within the LiDAR datasets. Gullies are predominantly located along the perimeter of the mined landscape with the majority of gullies associated with drainage systems. The number of gullies linearly scales with mined area (R2 = 0.66). We observed 387 landslides along the perimeter of MTR/VF. Within the datasets, landslides per km2 ranged from 0.1 to 3.9. We observed 34 landslides within fully reclaimed valley fills, a heretofore undocumented phenomenon. Over 90% of these landslides were in Kentucky datasets, which covered only 47% of total mined area analyzed. Previously measured regional differences in the angle of friction of mine spoils or construction practices may explain the abundance of gullies and elevated level of landslide occurrence in eastern Kentucky valley fills relative to West Virginia. Observations of erosion on regionally extensive MTR/VF landscapes warrant further study to better ascertain ecological impacts. Large‐scale alteration by surface mining in steep landscapes may generally lead to peripheral gully erosion. © 2020 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Contaminant Subsidies to Riparian Food Webs in Appalachian Streams Impacted by Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining.

Selenium is highly elevated in Appalachian streams and stream organisms that receive alkaline mine drainage from mountaintop removal coal mining compared to unimpacted streams in the region. Adult aquatic insects can be important vectors of waterborne contaminants to riparian food webs, yet pathways of Se transport and exposure of riparian organisms are poorly characterized. We investigated Se concentrations in stream and riparian organisms to determine whether mining extent increased Se uptake in stream biofilms and insects and if these insects were effective Se biovectors to riparian spiders. Biofilm Se concentration increased (p = 0.006) with mining extent, reaching a maximum value of 16.5 μg/g of dw. Insect and spider Se increased with biofilm Se (p = 0.004, p = 0.003), reaching 95 and 26 μg/g of dw, respectively, in mining-impacted streams. Adult insect biomass was not related to mining extent or Se concentrations in biofilm. Even though Se concentrations in aquatic insects were significantly and positively related to mining extent, aquatic insect Se flux was not associated with mining extent because the mass of emerging insects did not change appreciably over the mining gradient. Insect and spider Se concentrations were among the highest reported in the literature, regularly exceeding the bird Se dietary risk threshold of 5 μg/g of dw. Risks of Se exposure and toxicity related to mining are thus not constrained to aquatic systems but extend to terrestrial habitats and food webs.

Mapping the Topographic Features of Mining-Related Valley Fills Using Mask R-CNN Deep Learning and Digital Elevation Data

Modern elevation-determining remote sensing technologies such as light-detection and ranging (LiDAR) produce a wealth of topographic information that is increasingly being used in a wide range of disciplines, including archaeology and geomorphology. However, automated methods for mapping topographic features have remained a significant challenge. Deep learning (DL) mask regional-convolutional neural networks (Mask R-CNN), which provides context-based instance mapping, offers the potential to overcome many of the difficulties of previous approaches to topographic mapping. We therefore explore the application of Mask R-CNN to extract valley fill faces (VFFs), which are a product of mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining in the Appalachian region of the eastern United States. LiDAR-derived slopeshades are provided as the only predictor variable in the model. Model generalization is evaluated by mapping multiple study sites outside the training data region. A range of assessment methods, including precision, recall, and F1 score, all based on VFF counts, as well as area- and a fuzzy area-based user’s and producer’s accuracy, indicate that the model was successful in mapping VFFs in new geographic regions, using elevation data derived from different LiDAR sensors. Precision, recall, and F1-score values were above 0.85 using VFF counts while user’s and producer’s accuracy were above 0.75 and 0.85 when using the area- and fuzzy area-based methods, respectively, when averaged across all study areas characterized with LiDAR data. Due to the limited availability of LiDAR data until relatively recently, we also assessed how well the model generalizes to terrain data created using photogrammetric methods that characterize past terrain conditions. Unfortunately, the model was not sufficiently general to allow successful mapping of VFFs using photogrammetrically-derived slopeshades, as all assessment metrics were lower than 0.60; however, this may partially be attributed to the quality of the photogrammetric data. The overall results suggest that the combination of Mask R-CNN and LiDAR has great potential for mapping anthropogenic and natural landscape features. To realize this vision, however, research on the mapping of other topographic features is needed, as well as the development of large topographic training datasets including a variety of features for calibrating and testing new methods.

Precarious Politics: Friends of Coal, the UMWA, and the Affective Terrain of Energy Identification

Precarious Politics:Friends of Coal, the UMWA, and the Affective Terrain of Energy Identification Sylvia Ryerson (bio) Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 1. Rocky Adkins, then Democratic House majority leader for the Kentucky House of Representatives, speaking at a pro-coal rally in 2012 (Tom Hansell, "The Narrative of Renewal: 'If We Can't Mine Coal, What Are We Going To Do?'"https://dailyyonder.com/the-narrative-of-renewal-if-we-cantmine-coal-what-are-we-going-to-do/2018/10/10/), Adkins is now senior adviser to the governor of Kentucky, Andy Beshear. Photograph by Tom Hansell / After Coal, 2012. In the iconic scene of Harlan County USA, Barbara Kopple's 1976 Academy Award–winning documentary film, shots are fired in the dark at striking miners and their wives, and Kopple's camera is knocked to the ground. The moment captures the violent escalation of the Brookside Strike of 1973–74, organized by the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) against Duke Power, the owner of the Eastover Coal Company's Brookside Mine in Harlan County, Kentucky. In the early morning darkness, the battle lines are clear. The predominantly white UMWA miners and their wives on the picket line confront the company-hired [End Page 719] "gun thugs" working to bring in scabs and break up the strike. With an active membership of 213,113 and 1,329 local chapters nationwide, in 1973 the UMWA remained one of the largest and most powerful labor organizations in the country, and the Appalachian coalfields had long played a central role in the union's history.1 The Brookside Strike gained symbolic significance and moral authority by contextualizing itself as a clear continuation of the Harlan County mine wars of the 1930s known as "Bloody Harlan," the nearly-decade-long battle that first established the UMWA in Eastern Kentucky. Kopple films a local UMWA rally during the Brookside Strike, where the songwriter Florence Reece comes to the podium. Her husband, Sam Reece, was a Harlan County miner and union organizer in the 1930s, and the retaliation they faced inspired Florence to pen the now-famous social justice anthem "Which Side Are You On?" As she sings her renowned verses to the 1970s crowd, Come all you poor workersGood news to you I'll tellHow the good ol' unionHas come in here to dwell Which side are you on?Which side are you on? If you go to Harlan CountyThere is no neutral thereYou'll either be a union manOr a thug for J. H. Blair Which side are you on?Which side are you on?2 Released some forty years later, the 2015 documentary film Overburden follows the fight against mountaintop removal coal mining (MTR) in the Coal River Valley of southern West Virginia, and across the Central Appalachian coalfields of Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee. The drama climaxes at a 2009 anti-MTR rally held outside a Massey Energy–owned coal processing plant near Coal River Mountain, the site of an impending MTR job. The "anti-MTR" activists are met by dozens of "pro-coal" miners and supporters, in an emotional confrontation. As the anti-MTR activists demand that the state intervene to halt the blasting, pro-coal supporters shout back angrily "go home tree huggers!" and wave Massey Energy flags. Thirty-one arrests are made, as the anti-MTR protestors attempt to block the road to the plant.3 Again, the [End Page 720] battle lines are clear—but the political allegiances have completely changed. While the picketers of the Brookside Strike held signs reading "Duke Power Wants Rate Increases for Customers, Poverty for Coal Miners" and "Duke Power Co. Owns the Brookside Mine, But They Don't Own Us," the miners at the 2009 protests held signs reading "EPA = Equal Poverty for All" and "If You're Against Coal Then Turn Off Your Lights."4 In a stunning reconfiguration of roles, this scene played out over and over again in protests and rallies across the coalfields beginning in the early 2000s. The question "Which side are you on?" remained ever present in the coalfields, but the sides were redrawn: one was...

Excess Nitrate Export in Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining Watersheds

AbstractThroughout the Central Appalachian ecoregion, mountaintop removal coal mining (MTM) is the predominant form of land use change. The streams draining MTM impacted watersheds have been reported to contain high stream nitrate (NO3−) concentrations, yet the source and persistence of elevated NO3− remains unknown. Here we compiled data from multiple sources to conduct a regional evaluation of the impact of mining on stream NO3−, examine NO3− persistence after mining cessation, and identify potential N sources. Using water quality data from six large watersheds, we observe elevated NO3− in watersheds with the highest active mining density. At four small MTM watersheds with repeat sampling, we found that high levels of NO3− concentrations declined after mining cessation but remain elevated above reference after several decades. At MTM watersheds, we found annual mass flux of NO3− was 3.68 to 26.4 kg N ha−1 year−1, which is 1 to 2 orders of magnitude higher than a nearby forested reference watershed. Stream water NO3− isotopic ratios at these sites did not match previously suggested NO3− sources such as explosives used during mining and fertilizer applied during reclamation but were highly enriched in both δ15N and δ18O compared to the reference watershed suggesting high rates of NO3− retention. Explosive residue could account for the bulk of watershed NO3− export during active mining phases but other mining related N sources including fertilizer and rock‐derived N, the construction of valley fills, and alterations in watershed NO3‐ cycling likely contribute to the persistence of elevated NO3− export observed in this study.

Joseph D. Witt, 'Religion and Resistance in Appalachia: Faith and the Fight against Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining'

Joseph D. Witt, Religion and Resistance in Appalachia: Faith and the Fight against&#x0D; Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2016), xi +&#x0D; 284 pp., $60 (hbk), ISBN: 978-0813168-12-8.

Pyrite Oxidation Drives Exceptionally High Weathering Rates and Geologic CO2 Release in Mountaintop‐Mined Landscapes

AbstractWeathering is the ultimate source of solutes for ecosystems, controls chemical denudation of landscapes, and drives the geologic carbon cycle. Mining and other land‐moving operations enhance physical weathering by bringing large volumes of shattered bedrock to the surface. Yet, the relative influence of these activities on chemical weathering remains poorly constrained. Here we show that catchments impacted by mountaintop removal coal mining have among the highest rates of chemical weathering ever reported. Mined catchments deliver more than 7,600 kg·ha−1·year−1 of dissolved solids downstream. The chemical signatures of these exceptionally high weathering rates reflect the product of sulfuric acid weathering of carbonate‐bearing rock, driven by the oxidation of pyritic materials. As this strong acid rapidly weathers surrounding carbonate materials, H+ ions are consumed and Ca2+, Mg2+, and HCO3− ions are exported to balance the elevated SO42− exports, generating alkaline mine drainage. The sulfate exports from pyrite oxidation in mountaintop‐mined catchments account for ~5–7% of global sulfate derived from pyrite, despite occupying less than 0.006% of total land area. Further, the suite of weathering reactions liberate 100–450 kg of rock‐derived C·ha−1·year−1 as CO2, with an additional 90–150 kg C·ha−1·year−1 of C released when HCO3− reaches the ocean. This rock C release contributes to the high carbon costs of coal combustion.

Mountaintop removal mining alters stream salamander population dynamics

AbstractAimPopulation dynamics are often tightly linked to the condition of the landscape. Focusing on a landscape impacted by mountaintop removal coal mining (MTR), we ask the following questions: (1) How does MTR influence vital rates including occupancy, colonization and persistence probabilities, and conditional abundance of stream salamander species and life stages? (2) Do species and life stages respond similar to MTR mining or is there significant variation among species and life stages?LocationFreshwater and terrestrial habitats in Central Appalachia (South‐eastern Kentucky, USA).MethodsWe conducted salamander counts for three consecutive years in 23 headwater stream reaches in forested or previously mined landscapes. We used a hierarchical, N‐mixture model with dynamic occupancy to calculate species‐ and life stage‐specific occupancy, colonization and persistence rates, and abundance given occupancy. We examined the coefficients of the hierarchical priors to determine population variation among species and life stages.ResultsOver 3 years, reference sites had greater salamander abundances and were occupied at a much higher rate than streams impacted by MTR. At sites impacted by MTR mining, most salamander species and life stages exhibited reduced initial occupancy, colonization rates, persistence rates and conditional abundance relative to reference stream reaches. Furthermore, the rates in MTR sites showed low variance, reinforcing that species and life stages were responding similar to MTR.Main conclusionsSalamander populations in landscapes modified by MTR mining exhibited significantly reduced vital rates compared to reference sites. Yet, similarity in responses across species suggests that management or restoration may benefit the entire salamander assemblage. For example, reforestation could reduce landscape resistance, repair altered hydrologic regimes and allow for higher rates of colonization and persistence in streams impacted by MTR.

Religion and Resistance in Appalachia: Faith and the Fight Against Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining by Joseph D. Witt

Religion and Resistance in Appalachia: Faith and the Fight Against Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining by Joseph D. Witt