Contributed by Dan Siler of Robbinsville, NC

As I grew up here in NC, mining and hard rock jobs were a common part of my life. I was a part of 4 generations. First, I worked the jack legs underground, then I graduated to operating the air tracks above ground and learned to use powder.

Now, building a beautiful road for others to see Gods handiwork is one thing. But the absolute and total removal of a mountaintop is wrong. I don’t care whose standards you judge by. Coal will always play out. My Mom was born in Welch, West Va. and her whole family wound up moving as big coal played out. I have made many trips outta the hole just to watch the power go off. I helped load and seen the tops of mountaintop quarries be removed. And how long, how long before it all lands here in N.C.

I just hope there are those who will forgive me for destroying nature. I hope our creator does!

A poem submitted by Angelyn DeBord. She is an Appalachian-born and raised storyteller, actress, playwright and workshop leader from Gate City, VA. http://www.geocities.com/mtnstories/

I think of the children,
they’re young and they’re willing,
to lift up their wings and to fly.

But their way it is tangled,
don’t let them be mangled,
by the greed that we
pass down the line.

I lift mine eyes up now unto these hills
from whence always my help it has come.
I holler, “God help us,
Man’s greed it has scalped us,
for a strange definition of wealth.”

The mountains we love now,
God knows they’re our home now,
they’ve helped, they’ve held us for years.
But the land of our mother is now seeking cover
as the bulldozers strip off her crown.

What God has created,
Man’s greed’s laid asunder.
You can’t build a mountain back up.
But our children have voices,
let’s raise them to use them,
together we can save this land.

Yes, together we can save this land.

Say: together we can save this land.

Pray: together we can save this land.