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Fossett's plane wreckage found
The plane wreckage was located about 10,000 feet (3,200 meters) up the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the vicinity of Mammoth Lakes, California. The plane wreckage was located about 10,000 feet (3,200 meters) up the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the vicinity of Mammoth Lakes, Calif... more
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An End To Mountaintop Removal Mining?
Mountaintop removal could be ended by as early as next year, said a leader in an environmental group working to halt the destructive mining practices.
“Now there is an increasingly powerful and vocal national movement to stop mountaintop removal,” said Matt Wasson, an ecologist and director of programs for Appalachian Voices. “I’m saying we’re going to have it stopped by the end of next year … the end of 2009.”
“Mountaintop removal” is, to some, a controversial term. It refers to the blasting away of mountain ridges to get to the coal underneath, a process that evolved with technological advancements over the decades from traditional contour mining.
What makes this type of mining cost-effective is a valley-fill permit, which allows the overburden - dirt and rock removed to expose the coal - to be dumped into adjacent valleys.
The practice has been criticized as degrading to the environment and hazardous to nearby residents, who must endure the noise, dust and danger of blasting on the mountains above their homes, as well as flooding when stream courses are changed.
“Mountaintop removal mining is a national disgrace,” said Aaron Isherwood, staff attorney for the Sierra Club. “If the American people knew what was happening in Appalachia, I feel certain that they would demand an end to this practice.”
Coal producers argue that their industry is one of the nation’s most regulated - and as long as they follow regulations, they should be allowed to extract the fuel that fires half of the nation’s electricity generation.
Wasson pins his hopes on two distinct possibilities - a pending U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling on a West Virginia court case and the election of a new U.S. president who will take office in January.
Other activists agree that both have the potential to put a stop to the issuance of new permits for mountaintop removal mining.
“I think if we get a new president, It’ll be stopped, and I guess we’re going to get a new president by next year,” said Joe Lovett, director of the Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment.
Legal ramifications
With a long list of plaintiffs and defendants, the West Virginia lawsuit seeks to put a stop to valley-fill permits, which are issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Central to the issue is the question of whether the discard from mining should be considered waste under the 1977 Clean Water Act, which limits the release of pollutants into streams.
“I don’t know what will happen in the future,” Lovett said. “I can tell you we haven’t had any significant permits issued since March 2007 because the court found that the federal government was illegally issuing permits at that time.”
When a federal court in West Virginia issued an order rescinding permits in question, the permits were sent back to the Corps. The Corps of Engineers contested the ruling in the Richmond appellate court. The case also includes an issue related to sediment discharge.
Lovett said three different decisions on valley fills have been overturned by the 4th Circuit since 2000, “but we’re much more optimistic this time.”
He said if the appeals court upholds the decision, the federal government, which he said loosened its regulations during the current administration, would have to completely change its permitting processes.
“How can they approve the filling of hundreds and a couple thousand miles of mountain streams in this region and say that’s not significantly degrading the water?” Lovett said. “All I can say is the Corps hasn’t been doing its job up until now.”
He said in addition to the West Virginia case, which will also affect Virginia, legal action also is under way in Kentucky, and the proposed Ison Rock Ridge mining permit in Wise County, Va., is being watched closely as it moves through the regulatory process, as is the court ruling expected soon in a lawsuit over logging on the site.
**continues, please click link to read** Mountaintop removal could be ended by as early as next year, said a leader in an environmental group working to halt the destructive m... more -
K2 survivor taken to hospital
The last known survivor of the K2 avalanche has been moved from his base camp to hospital, officials report.
Italian Marco Confortola will be treated for severe frostbite in nearby Skardu. The last known survivor of the K2 avalanche has been moved from his base camp to hospital, officials report. ... more -
Nine feared dead in K2 avalanche
At least nine climbers are thought to have died on K2, the world's second highest mountain, after an avalanche. Expedition leaders said that the team, of mixed nationalities, had already reached the summit.
K2 has only been conquered by a few hundred people, and has a high mortality rate, with dozens having been killed while trying to climb it. At least nine climbers are thought to have died on K2, the world's second highest mountain, after an avalanche. Expedition leader... more -
Me an my Euro Summer
Read about the adventures of two Canadian girls backpacking around Europe
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Sea-to-Sky Discoveries
The drive to Whistler was slow going and nerve-racking due to construction on the Sea-to-Sky but the amazing ocean and mountain views more than made up for it. I must say were were lucky not have been caught up in the massive rock slide that has left thousands stranded. The drive to Whistler was slow going and nerve-racking due to construction on the Sea-to-Sky but the amazing ocean and mountain views ... more
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Building A Dream
A vietnam vet finds peace in his later years in the mountains of Virginia.
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Mount Shasta glaciers growing, despite warming
MOUNT SHASTA, Calif. - Global warming is shrinking glaciers all over the world, but the seven tongues of ice creeping down Mount Shasta's flanks are a rare exception: They are the only long-established glaciers in the lower 48 states that are growing.
Reaching more than 14,000 feet above sea level, Mount Shasta is one of the state's tallest peaks, dominating the landscape of high plains and conifer forests in far Northern California. Nearby Indian tribes referred to its glaciers as the footsteps made by the creator when he descended to Earth. Hikers flock to Shasta every summer to scale them.
With glaciers retreating in the Sierra Nevada, the Rocky Mountains and elsewhere in the Cascades, those on Mount Shasta — a volcanic peak at the southern end of the Cascade range — are actually benefiting from changing weather patterns over the Pacific Ocean. MOUNT SHASTA, Calif. - Global warming is shrinking glaciers all over the world, but the seven tongues of ice creeping down Mount Shast... more -
Bush set to convert forests to houses
The Bush administration is preparing to ease the way for the nation's largest private landowner to convert hundreds of thousands of acres of mountain forestland to residential subdivisions.
The deal was struck behind closed doors between Mark E. Rey, the former timber lobbyist who oversees the U.S. Forest Service, and Plum Creek Timber Co., a former logging company turned real estate investment trust that is building homes. Plum Creek owns more than 8 million acres nationwide, including 1.2 million acres in the mountains of western Montana, where local officials were stunned and outraged at the deal.
"We have 40 years of Forest Service history that has been reversed in the last three months," said Pat O'Herren, an official in Missoula County, which is threatening to sue the Forest Service for forgoing environmental assessments and other procedures that would have given the public a voice in the matter. The Bush administration is preparing to ease the way for the nation's largest private landowner to convert hundreds of thousands ... more -
Plants Climbing Mountains Due to Climate Change
From the report: Scientists have found evidence that plants have been slowly moving into higher elevations to stay within ideal temperature zones.
Each year this "escalator effect" is pushing plants upward by about ten feet (three meters). From the report: Scientists have found evidence that plants have been slowly moving into higher elevations to stay within ideal temper... more -
The Ski Patrol Life
Cameron Millard, a patroller for the Copper Mountain Ski Patrol, shows us that the job is a mix of passion and duty on and off the slopes. Cameron Millard, a patroller for the Copper Mountain Ski Patrol, shows us that the job is a mix of passion and duty on and off the slo... more
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Man sacrifices self for wife, friend
"A hiker who lost his life on Mount Rainier lay down in the snow and used his body's warmth to protect his wife and a friend from the 70-mph winds of a freak June blizzard, national park officials said ..." "A hiker who lost his life on Mount Rainier lay down in the snow and used his body's warmth to protect his wife and a friend... more
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Mesmorising lenticular clouds
Lens-shaped clouds that form at high altitudes. A simply stunning collection of lenticular clouds.
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Sawtooth mountains
Alice Lake in the Sawtooth mountains of Idaho
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Looking around Edinburgh Scotland
Filming Edinburgh from the hostel to the street to the cathedral to the mountains
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Landslide
"Is the mountain moving down, or are we moving up?" Creepy! Why didn't they run, I would have ran.
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Hiatus 'Nobody' dir. Paul Stevenson - visual-hybrid
Hiatus 'Nobody', directed and edited by
Paul Stevenson - visual-hybrid
Music video for Hiatus 'Nobody EP' title track.
EP available now via iTunes.
myspace.com/luckythunder
luckythunder.com/music.htm
visual-hybrid.co.uk Hiatus 'Nobody', directed and edited by Paul Stevenson - visual-hybrid ... more -
Hiatus 'Nobody' dir. Paul Stevenson - visual-hybrid
Hiatus 'Nobody', directed and edited by
Paul Stevenson - visual-hybrid
Music video for Hiatus 'Nobody EP' title track.
EP available now via iTunes.
myspace.com/luckythunder
luckythunder.com/music.htm
visual-hybrid.co.uk Hiatus 'Nobody', directed and edited by Paul Stevenson - visual-hybrid ... more -
Beautiful Sitka Alaska
Visit Beautiful Sitka Alaska, one of the worlds most unique travel destinations.
For more information visit: sitkapodshow.blogspot.com Visit Beautiful Sitka Alaska, one of the worlds most unique travel destinations. ... more -
FELICE PEDRONI A MAN AND HIS DREAM FROM ITALY TO ALASKA
From a little town in Italy to Alaska .
The Felice Pedrony 's story , that discovered gold in Yukon river and founded the city of Fairbanks. From a little town in Italy to Alaska . ... more
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Mountains
