Mountaintop removal, much like fracking, has become a controversial topic among environmentalists and one that will be discussed at an
upcoming presentation.
Monday, Keeper of the Mountains Foundation and the United Campus Ministry will come together to hold Feed the Peaceful at UCM followed by a presentation, Keepers of the Mountains: Communities, Activism and Mountaintop in Room 319 at Alden Library.
The events will feature two spokespeople from the foundation — Donna Branham and Debbie Graff — who will talk about the effects of mountaintop removal, coal extraction practices and efforts to protect communities, culture and the environment in Appalachia.
“I hope people get good information about the injustice of the mountaintop removal problem, and that people can walk away with a better understanding of what this damage can do and how they can help prevent it,” Branham said.
Created to educate and inspire people to work for healthier and more sustainable mountain communities, as well as to end mountaintop removal, the Keeper of the Mountains Foundation is a West Virginia-based organization that strives to teach people to move past an extraction-based economy and implement an economy that values land, people and mountain heritage.
“I think people will gain a better understanding of the pretty devastating effects of mountaintop removal practices and our connection to what the effects are in the community,” said Melissa Wales, the executive director of UCM.
Wales initially contacted the Keeper of the Mountains Foundation to have them discuss their cause.
Graff, who is also a 1989 Ohio University alumna, said she hopes that by speaking to Athens, she’ll help inform people of the problems caused by mountaintop removal.
“I hope that people get a better understanding of what is happening,” Graff said. “I didn’t know anything — anything — about mountaintop removal until I got involved and heard from people like Donna, who have been personally affected by the devastation of mountaintop removal.”
Following their presentation in Athens, Branham and Graff will continue speaking for the foundation on Tuesday in Marietta.
“I hope that people will get fired up, and I hope that they can see what they can do to help and reach out to those who need it,” Graff said. “I also look forward to going back to Athens and seeing what’s changed around there.”
wa054010@ohiou.edu
