I believe a majority of Tennesseeans enjoy nature, for a whole host of reasons. Whether for hunting (animals or morels or wildflowers), fishing, hiking, cycling, photography, birding, off-road fun, camping, and many other pursuits, I have to believe that we share our appreciation of our mountains. For many, the natural landscapes may even be a good part of the reason for living or settling here.

     Many people have studied and appreciate our mountains for their bounty, their…

Interestingly, the link to the Senators' e-mail addresses in the TN LEAF Action Alert (from Mar 1) has been blocked as a "web forgery".  Hmmmm.  So, in case you're afraid to "ignore this warning", I'm sharing the list below. 

I'll beg. Please copy and paste it into your e-mail message to tell them how you feel about the Senate Committee's amendments on Feb. 29th that gutted the TN Scenic Vistas Protection Act (SB 577),…

Would you please take just a few moments to call Gov. Haslam, thanking him for supporting an end to mountaintop removal, and also urging him to help pass the Scenic Vistas Protection Act? (See urgent request below.) I've done it and it took less than 1.5 minutes. Please help.

Message received on Jan. 26th:

Dear Carol,  

Last week I told you about the Tennessee Scenic Vistas Protection Act, and now I am writing to ask you to take a very important action…

      This is a call to action. I received the following information in my e-mail yesterday, and received permission to re-post part of it here. We must show solidarity and a true sense of dedication and purpose in order to stop mountaintop removal mining (MTR) in TN. Therefore, I'm personally asking each of you to call Governor Haslam, and your TN legislators, as well, asking…

A paper copy providing contact information for our TN legislators was made available at the showing of The Last Mountain at the Bonnie Kate Theatre on Jan 2nd. I scanned my copy and am attaching the info for your use and ease in sharing.

If you haven't seen it yet, there's an article in the Elizabethton Star about Jennie Young's efforts to coordinate action to protect the Tennessee mountains we love. I completely agree that this is a moral issue and one which we cannot afford to surrender to the powerful (and moneyed) interests that influence our…