Mourning Keeper of the Mountains Larry Gibson, and the Appalachians He Defended
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-biggers/thousands-mourn-larry-gibson_b_1869435.html
More than four years ago, decked out in his trademark yellow cap and shirt, Larry Gibson famously waited his turn at a political rally in Beckley, W. Va., and finally got the chance to ask then-presidential candidate Barack Obama whether he would defend the land and people of central Appalachia.
Few people in our country were so fearless in the face of political pressure, bankers, Big Coal backlash and even death threats; and fewer people had the inspiring impact of this determined mountaineer, who had spent the last two decades crisscrossing the country, leading protests and beseeching power brokers to defend his Appalachian mountains from reckless strip mining operations.
His message was simple and to the point: Love them or leave them, just don’t destroy them.
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http://ejforall.wordpress.com/2012/09/10/west-virginia-man-who-fought-coal-mining-practice-dies/
(September 10, 2012) Yesterday, environmental activist Larry Gibson, creator of the Keeper of the Mountains Foundation, passed away at age 66. Devoting his life to saving the mountains he loved, his work began trying to save Kayford Mountain. Gibson worked to protect mountain tops throughout Appalachia.
Mountain top removal is a terrible practice that involves dynamiting away top soil and rock to expose coal seams. This method of surface mining leads to stream burial, contamination of watersheds, fish kills in freshwater systems, and increased local incidence of cancer and birth defects. Five percent of land surface area in the Central Appalachians have already been converted from forests into active and reclaimed surface mines. The Obama administration has taken steps to halt this habitat destruction, but much more needs to be done to save these mountains and the communities that live among them.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/10/west-virginia-antimining-larry-gibson
West Virginia anti-mining crusader Larry Gibson dead at 66
Decades-long fight to save family’s land from mountaintop mining drew the praise of politicians and activists alike
Larry Gibson, who turned a lonely vigil to save a remote West Virginia mountain from coal mining into a national environmental cause, has died.
Gibson suffered a heart attack on Kayford mountain, land that had been in his family for generations and that he turned into a prime exhibit of the highly destructive practice of mountaintop removal. He was 66, an email from his Keepers of the Mountain Foundation said.
In his decades-long struggle, Gibson brought national attention to mountaintop removal – described by activists as strip mining on steroids for the epic destruction it visits on mountains and streams.
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