National Academies Investigate Health Impacts
By Cindy Rank It is never pleasant living near any kind of coal mining operation and the smallest mines can cause health and property damage. However, the scale and location [...]
By Cynthia D. Ellis An anniversary year calls for taking stock of where we are---and who we are. We could be inclined to wonder about the state of our group. We might [...]
From Fighting to Protect the Highlands, The First Forty Years of the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy by Dave Elkinton As recalled by Maxwell Smith “It was a cold, wet, miserable [...]
International Migratory Bird Day at the Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge
By Cindy Rank What fun it was a couple of weeks ago to return to the first bit of land purchased as part of the Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge [...]
Forest Management and Carbon Sinks
What is the role of forest management in carbon dioxide sequestration? We all know that trees play a big role in how much carbon dioxide is in the air. They [...]
By Charlie Feldhake I have left the 12-foot bole of a dead scarlet oak standing about 20 feet from the back of my house. Leaving it stand is not a [...]
Legislature Does Good by Accident
There were two water quality bills in the 2017 Legislature which the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy opposed. This led to weeping, wailing, gnashing of teeth, etc., some of which was [...]
Help Improve the Hiking Guide!!!! Win a Prize!!!!
We are working on a new edition of The Monongahela National Forest Hiking Guide. To do it, we need your help. The Guide describes nearly 200 U.S. Forest Service trails [...]
Find Bird Nests, Win Prizes!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It’s time once again for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Funky Nests in Funky Places. This contest focuses on the quirky places birds sometimes build their nests. Participants have found [...]
Trail Truthing, Part 5: Your Turn
By Hugh Rogers Ever-resourceful Editor John has proposed a contest for hikers who will help us bring our Monongahela National Forest Hiking Guide up to date. Here’s some background. More [...]
Congress Refuses to Unfix a Problem
By John McFerrin In March, 2017, The Highlands Voice reported that Congress was about to unfix a problem with the waste of natural gas on public lands. The Bureau of [...]
Memories of the Early Days of the WVHC
By Rupert Cutler I was an Assistant Executive Director of The Wilderness Society in Washington, D.C., assigned by Executive Director Stewart Brandborg to help pro-wilderness grass roots groups in the [...]
Moving Old Mines Closer to Compliance
The West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, the Sierra Club, and the West Virginia Rivers Coalition have made an agreement with the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection that moves seven former [...]
Planting Some Trees on Old Strip Mines
By Beth Little I just witnessed an operation that has it all: job creation, land restoration, and youth education. The jobs are largely local and varied, from bulldozer operator to [...]
West Virginia Red Spruce Trees for Sale!
The West Virginia Highlands Conservancy organizes volunteers to collect seeds from our native plant species. We contract with commercial growers to grow seedlings for ecosystem restoration projects. All proceeds support [...]
Planting the Seeds & Helping Them Grow 50 Years of Tending the Environment in West Virginia
Honoring the Partnerships that formed the Highlands Conservancy in the first place and the ever expanding network of new citizen and environmental partners we’ve worked with through the past 5 [...]
