EPA and Corps of Engineers Leave Waters Unprotected

By John McFerrin             The United States Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Army Corps of Engineers have narrowed the definition of the “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) under [...]

Thoughts from our president

Old man winter certainly has been kind to the highlands with milder weather and little snow to date. However, who can predict Old Man Winter’s plans for February and March? [...]

Finding Out What You Think

The Climate Change Committee for the Highlands Conservancy is developing a survey of our members on climate change. The purpose of the survey is to understand what members believe are [...]

WHERE’S WALDO?

Low Cost Environmental Summer Camp Invites New Campers, Counselors in June 2020 Last year, Appalachian Headwaters, a new nonprofit organization [*see accompanying side bar], created Camp Waldo, an environmentally focused [...]

Our Connection with Camp Waldo

By Cindy Rank A great number of mining and water related legal challenges pursued by WV Highlands Conservancy over the past 20-30 years have aimed at curtailing the pollution emanating [...]

Legislative Update (More or less)

With the West Virginia Legislature now in session there are several bills of interest.  A monthly publication such as The Highlands Voice is not the best source for news on such [...]

More Questions for Mine Testing Facility

By Ellie Bell The Highlands Voice, May 2019, mentioned that a branch of the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the National Institute of Occupational Safety (NIOSH), is exploring a plan [...]

Board Highlights

The West Virginia Highlands Conservancy met in Charleston, with some of the members from more mountainous parts of the state snowed in and unable to attend.  The Board did the usual [...]

Canaan Fir, 50 years later

By Dave Saville In 1970 a young Forestry Professor, Dr. Jim Brown, left WVU to take a job at Ohio State University. He was interested in Christmas Trees. His research [...]

The Atlantic Coast Pipeline: an update and what we are doing

The West Virginia Highlands Conservancy (WVHC) provided a grant in the summer of 2018 to support the work of the Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance (ABRA) and West Virginia Rivers Coalition (WVRC) [...]

The Forgotten Natural Resource

By Beth Little             The Monongahela National Forest has a natural resource that is ignored.  It is darkness – an absence of artificial light at night.  Around the planet there are fewer and [...]

Critical Habitat Established for Endangered Crayfish

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service has published a proposed rule to designate critical habitat for the Big Sandy crayfish (Cambarus callainus) and the Guyandotte River crayfish (Cambarus veteranus).   [...]

All Hail the Real Prognosticators

In most Februaries, The Highlands Voice takes note of Groundhog Day, honoring the putative prognosticator of spring.  According to an article in Scientific American, however, the cute little rodent is lousy at it.  It can predict [...]