Residents of Appalachia try to give new life to old mines using a beloved chestnut tree

http://www.pri.org/stories/2014-06-21/residents-appalachia-try-give-new-life-old-mines-using-beloved-chestnut-tree
Residents of Appalachia try to give new life to old mines using a beloved chestnut tree
Writer Adam Wernick
Producer Jonna McKone
June 21, 2014

Thick stands of tall chestnut trees, sometimes called the “Redwoods of the East,” once made up nearly a quarter of the forests in the Eastern US...

...Dave Fisher says the coal companies wanted to reclaim the land as quickly and cheaply as possible. “They just wanted the dirt to stay in place for five years so they could say ‘we've done our part, there’s a hillside back and it’s yours.’"

Fisher also says these restoration efforts didn’t make use of native plants and failed to understand historical land uses and the culture of rural residents.

“When you look at a place that is undisturbed in this area,” Fisher says, “the plethora of wildlife and the different nut trees and the different essential plants that we have here — at one time people made their living from collecting ginseng, and yellow root and bloodroot. And none of that is ever put back on the mined land. Very seldom is any of the hardwood put back.”... MORE