Hands Across the Appalachian Trail

This past weekend the Sierra Club’s Virginia Chapter and a coalition of allied groups hosted three “Hands Across the Appalachian Trail” events at key junctures along the AT in Virginia where the trail is under threat from fracked-gas pipelines.

More than 200 Sierra Clubbers and other environmental and community activists, youth leaders, and elected officials participated in the gatherings, which featured speakers, music, artmaking, and exhortations to protect the Appalachian Trail from the threat posed by the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast pipelines, would together would transport fracked gas more than 900 miles (300 for the MVP and 600 for the ACP) from West Virginia through Virginia and North Carolina.

“The three events embodied the spirit of the fight to protect iconic natural treasures like the Appalachian Trail and spur people into action to combat the climate crisis,” said Virginia Chapter organizer Jessica Sims, below, who co-hosted the event in Pearisburg. Fellow chapter leaders Billy Davies and Kirk Bowers co-hosted the events in Bluemont and Lyndhurst, respectively.

Photo courtesy of Virginia Sierra Club

Each of the three sites had a specific focus: Pearisburg focused on the Mountain Valley Pipeline in Southwest Virginia and West Virginia; Humpback Rocks in Lyndhurst highlighted the fight against the Atlantic Coast pipeline; and Bears Den in Bluemont focused on the need to expand renewable energy resources in the state.

“Virginia communities are actively being harmed by the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast pipelines,” Sims said. “Both projects are destructive, unnecessary, and threaten Virginia’s water, air, land, ecosystems, and communities. There is no way they can be guaranteed safe, as evidenced by the hundreds of erosion control and sediment violations along MVP's route. The pipelines will also exacerbate the climate crisis by introducing massive amounts of greenhouse gases. Virginia's future cannot include these ruinous projects.”

In Pearisburg (photo atop post, courtesy of Sierra Club), Ryan Wesdock, chair of the New River Valley Greens, spoke of the need to divest from financial institutions that support the fossil fuel industry and reinvest in communities. Shayla Utzinger and Christian Shushok of the Appalachian Youth Climate Coalition spoke about stewardship and the importance of being the "voices of these mountains” in warding off threats like the Mountain Valley Pipeline. "Our fight will go on as long as there is still an Appalachia to protect,” Shusok said.

Also speaking were Russell Chisholm of P.O.W.H.R. (Protect our Water, Heritage, Rights); Maury Johnson of Preserve Monroe; Rachel Spector of the Virginia Tech Environmental Coalition; and State Delegate Chris Hurst, who spoke of the need for immediate action on climate change and a return to an era of conservation. "Everything we are doing to try and save the planet and save our species needs to happen with even more urgency than what we are doing today,” Hurst said.

At Humpback Rocks in Lyndhurst, below, attendees enjoyed live music, participated in an interactive art exhibit, and heard about ways to protect the AT from the danger posed by the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Speakers included Kirk Bowers of the Sierra Club, who initiated Hands Across the Appalachian Trail in 2016. Other speakers included Joyce Burton of Friends of Nelson; artist Amelia Williams, who presented her art exhibit “The Ties that Bind;” Bobby Whitescarver, a farmer and retired soil conservationist with USDA; Eric Curren, Staunton City Councilor; and State Senator Creigh Deeds. Sims gives a special shout-out to Piedmont Group Chair Donna Shaunesey for helping plan, promote, and take live video of the event.

Photo by Dave Parrish Photography

In Bluemont at Bears Den, attendees heard from Peter Weeks, President of the Friends of the Blue Ridge Mountains; Natalie Pien of 350 Loudoun; Jon Sokolow, Attorney, writer and activist; and Karen Campblin, Environmental and Climate Justice Chair of the Virginia State Conference of the NAACP. Hosts discussed the recent 100% renewable energy plan adopted by Arlington County, the sixth-most populous county in the state, and the intersection of environmental justice, social justice and the need to transition to clean energy.

"The Appalachian Trail is an iconic, priceless geographic and cultural landmark created for all people and future generations to enjoy and be inspired by,” said Billy Davies, below with fellow Sierra Club organizer Gabby Gillespie. “Now a few privileged for-profit companies, in an effort to make a quick buck, threaten to degrade this national treasure with unnecessary and dangerous fracked-gas pipelines that would destroy waterways, threaten the health and well-being of communities and endangered species, and greatly exacerbate the climate crisis by creating more greenhouse gas pollution.”

Photo courtesy of Virginia Sierra Club

“We need to protect the Appalachian Trail for both environmental and economic reasons,” said Sims. “Moving away from fossil fuels like fracked gas toward clean energy will help protect our environment and public health and bolster Virginia’s economy.” The travel industry is the fifth-largest private employer in the state, and domestic travelers in Virginia spent $71 million a day in 2018.

“Despite having permit after permit thrown out by agencies or courts, these polluters continue trying to seek shortcuts and government bailouts for projects that were doomed to fail from the start,” Davies added. “By joining hands today, we celebrate the Appalachian Trail and all it represents, as well as the work of dedicated community and environmental advocates to protect this land while ensuring that people don’t have to suffer for a company's profit."

Kirk Bowers, below, spoke at the Lyndhurst event.

Photo courtesy of Virginia Sierra Club

What follows is an excerpt from a speech Bowers gave at Humpback Rocks last month:

The Appalachian Trail has been intertwined with my family history for generations. I have a very deep relationship to the Appalachian Trail. I have hiked many sections of the AT and seen its wonders for myself. My ancestors owned a piece of land that the AT runs through, and my family’s history with the AT dates back to the War Between the States.

I was born in Carter County, Tennessee...It’s a very rural, mountainous county in northeast Tennessee. Roan Mountain, one of the mountains in the County, is over 6,200 feet in elevation. Note: John Muir visited Roan Mountain around 1900.

Near Hampton, Tennessee, there’s a place where the mountains form a giant bowl that was once a prehistoric lake. You have to drive up a very steep, windy and narrow road to get to the top of the mountain and then drive down a steep, windy road to reach Dennis Cove. That’s where the history begins.

Dennis Cove is an idyllic place in a secluded, remote mountain area. Laurel Creek, a gorgeous mountain stream, flows out of the cove into a magnificent gorge with numerous waterfalls. Dennis Cove Lower Falls is 50 feet high and 50 feet wide with a great swimming hole at the bottom. The AT runs right next to the Falls. Dennis Cove also adjoins the congressionally designated Pond Mountain Wilderness area.

During the 1880’s, Dennis Cove was settled as a logging camp. My great-grandparents acquired several hundred acres in the middle of Dennis Cove next to Laurel Creek. My grandmother was born in the big house they built next to the Creek, and my mother lived there during her early years. The land in Dennis Cove that the AT runs through was originally owned by my family. We are a part of the history of the AT and the AT is part of my family cultural heritage.

My family history is just one among thousands along the length of the trail from Maine to Georgia. Mainers have a very different culture relative to Western North Carolina mountain culture. The trail connects these diverse cultures and millions of people in the communities it passes through. One of the things all communities along the AT have in common is a deep appreciation for the natural beauty and majesty of the Trail.

The Appalachian Trail is sacred ground, and it requires our protection if it is to be preserved for future generations. The pipeline battle is a clash between nature and the fossil fuel industry; local culture being threatened by the corporate bottom line; nature versus corporate greed.

The Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast pipelines would violate and intrude on local family culture along the AT,” Bowers said, “and adding insult to injury, they would emit at least 95 million tons of greenhouse gases per year if built. The current GHG emissions in Virginia are 49 million tons per year. This is not acceptable. There is a great sense of urgency to stop the pipelines.

Find out more about the fight to protect the Appalachian Trail from the dangers posed by fracked-gas pipelines, and learn how you can get involved. 

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Coalition members who joined the Sierra Club in organizing and hosting Hands Across the Appalachian Trail events include P.O.W.H.R., Friends of Nelson, 350 Loudoun, Appalachian Voices, Food & Water Watch, Wild Virginia, Preserve Monroe, Save Monroe, Summers County Residents Against the Pipeline, Preserve Giles, Preserve Craig, Preserve Salem, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance, Friends of Buckingham, and more.