Help Save a Mountain in Wise County: Call on Gov. Kaine

From the great folks at "Wise Energy for Virginia."

Your friends in Southwest Virginia need your help! Will you take a few minutes to call Governor Kaine and urge him to use his executive authority to STOP the mountaintop removal strip mining that would destroy Ison Rock Ridge in Wise County, Va? Click here to learn more and CALL NOW!

Ison Rock Ridge extends from Black Mountain on the Virginia/ Kentucky border and runs southeast toward the Town of Appalachia. A&G Coal Corp. wants to destroy 1,200+ acres of this mountain that borders several communities and hundreds of homes, putting lives at risk and impairing ecosystems for generations to come. Despite federal action intended to block this proposed mine, we have reason to believe that state agencies still intend to allow Ison Rock Ridge to be destroyed, with only minor changes to the permit. Please take a look at this youtube video and then call Governor Kaine.


With the deadline looming, we need your help to call on Governor Kaine to be a real leader! Call the Governor today and urge him to allow community voices to be heard and to STOP the mine.

Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards (a founding member of Wise Energy for Virginia) and its allies are working hard on this two-year old struggle to protect Ison Rock Ridge from total destruction. Ison Rock is the last ridge on Black Mountain in Virginia that hasn't been totally decimated by mountaintop removal strip mining--and for good reason. Along its flanks lie several communities, home to hundreds of people. Because of this, and the cumulative impact of other strip mines in the area, the EPA took action earlier this year by directing the US Army Corps of Engineers to suspend the federal permit required to create valley fills.

This action attracted national media attention, but was not enough to save this mountain. The mining company now wants to go forward with a revised mining plan, and that application is currently pending before the state agency.

Please, call Governor Kaine today and urge him to take action to protect our friends in Wise County!

Many thanks,

Kathy Selvage

Vice President of the Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards a member of Wise Energy for Virginia