Historic Climate Legislation Passed

By Perry Bryant       The US Senate has historically been the place where climate legislation has died: cap and trade legislation in 2009, the Kigali Agreement phasing out hydrofluorocarbons, etc. Not [...]

Thoughts from our president

August in the highlands has seemed a lot cooler with more rain than usual. The WVHC committees are hard at work on issues before them and I want to extend [...]

Fast Tracking the Mountain Valley Pipeline?

By John McFerrin             As part of the deal that resulted in the Inflation Reduction Act, Senator Manchin insisted that permitting of infrastructure projects be fast tracked.  The result was a side [...]

Extension of Time for Mountain Valley Pipeline Approved

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has granted an extension of time for the completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline to October 13, 2026.  The authorization to build the pipeline had [...]

The Pittsburgh Climbers calls out a final “Off Belay”

By Buff Rodman             The Pittsburgh Climbers, one of the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy's founding organizational members, has ended its long run.  The majority of its remaining members are well past retirement [...]

Energy:  An Enlightening Fall Review

Are you concerned about the energy crisis and climate change?  We are too.  As we move away from fossil fuels, like oil, coal and gas where will our power come from?  Nuclear? Hydrogen? [...]

Annual Membership Meeting!

Among the activities that will take place during the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy Fall Review are the Annual Membership Meeting and the quarterly Board meeting. The Annual Membership Meeting will [...]

Conserving Wildlife on Pipeline Infrastructure

By Jocelyn J. Phares, Environmental Resources Analyst West Virginia Division of Natural Resources The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (WVDNR) actively works to conserve wildlife habitat on oil and [...]

Coal Fields to Solar Fields: The Nature Conservancy to Present at Fall Review

By Susan Rosenblum Eriks Brolis, Director of Nature & Economy Programs for The Nature Conservancy (“TNC”), will present on TNC’s Solar on Mine Lands Initiative at the Highlands Conservancy Fall [...]

Corridor H for Dummies

By John McFerrin Corridor H has been around as a proposal since the Johnson (Lyndon, not Andrew) administration and as a controversy for almost that long. For what seems like forever, [...]

The Real Northern Route for Corridor H

By Hugh Rogers             In Tucker County, advance men for the Division of Highways (DOH) have been saying that a Northern Route for the Davis-Thomas section of Corridor H was never [...]

The cut

Whether the waters of prosperity have actually flowed down the rivers of concrete of the Appalachian Regional Highway System, as Senator Byrd predicted, is a complicated issue.  There will always be [...]

Dolly Sods Wilderness Stewards Update

By Dave Johnston During August the Dolly Sods Wilderness Stewards were all about seeking solitude (or lack thereof) and finding campsites, without staying in them. Let me explain. Solitude One [...]

Mushroom Meander: Another Successful Outing

By Cory Chase The Highlands of West Virginia hold many treasures. One the most diverse–and least understood–is the world of fungi. Modern research is revealing the intricacies and importance that [...]

Watoga Old-Growth Forest Exploration Outing

By Larry Thomas As Cory and I mentioned in the August Highlands Voice, the Conservancy has revived the outings, with three of the four planned outings completed and one remaining [...]

And So I Weed

By Jackie Burns It’s August.  In Canaan Valley that means it is time for pulling out Japanese stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum) so that it doesn’t become the problem here that it has [...]