#ThisIsAppalachia: Recovery

THIS IS APPALACHIA: RecoveryWe started this series with Resilience. The storms and floods this past summer once again challenged good folks who care about the valleys and hills of Central Appalachia. Not all of our storms are weather-related, however. Human activity like mining produced different kinds of storms damaging these mountains. Rehabilitation of the land and the people will take many forms.Recovery of the People and the LandRecovery involves attention to the conditions of the land,  water,  air and the individuals and groups of people living in the region.Renewal:  1) Resuming an activity or state after an interruption.2) Replacing or repair of something that is worn out, run-down, or broken.Recovery: Return to a normal state of health, mind, or strength. Action of process of regaining possession or control of something stolen or lost.   Here  we  visit  a few examples of the roads being traveled to recovery in Appalachia.A Culture of Recovery:The Hindman Center, KentuckyPart of the work of the Hindman Center is its Culture of Recovery. “We have a long road ahead of us.”“We will be a place for artisans to create once again.”The Appalachian Artisan Center in Hindman was hit hard by flooding on June 28, 2022 as can be seen on their website: Appalachian Artisan Center“Addressing the rise of  substance abuse disorders, the “Culture of Recovery” (COR) Project at the Appalachian Artisan Center partners with the residential Hickory Hill Recovery Center and the Knott County Drug Court to forge a path forward for those in recovery through creativity, supplementing existing treatments with opportunities for skill building in the arts.”Attention to Diversity in Nature Important for RecoveryCamp Appalachian Renewal, Lovely, Kentucky, sits on a 7,000-acre reclaimed surface coal mine site and offers a diversity of ground conditions. Over half of the site consists of land in need of forest stand improvement or restoration. This work includes the removal of suppressed trees, elimination of invasive species, and reduction of understory vegetation. The remaining acres have been significantly disturbed by surface mining and reclamation. Restoration work in these areas varies, but can include elimination of invasive species, establishment of native grasses and groundcovers, and reforestation.Reclaiming Appalachia Coalition: Rethinking Actions for Change/Engaging the people who depend upon the landEach project of the Reclaiming Appalachia Coalition is a partnership with local stakeholders and community members. They help conceptualize and bring to life ideas that represent a microcosm of the larger coal-to-sustainable economy transformation taking place across the region. For decades, many mine land reclamation and reuse projects were simply stopgap plans to nullify the dangers of abandoned mine lands (AML)  features and erect cookie cutter commercial and industrial buildings deprived of any long-term, deliberate end use. These former AMLs may be reclaimed, but many are still abandoned— they were developed with little or no input or collaboration from the community, guiding principles, nor purposeful design. In contrast.The Reclaiming Appalachia Coalition  consists of non-profit organizations in three states—Appalachian Voices in Virginia, Coalfield Development Corporation of West Virginia, and Rural Action in Ohio.Their 70 page rephttps://coalfield-development.org/ort entitled Restoration and Renewal: The New Appalachian Economy, the Reclaiming Appalachia Coalition describes its work and visions for restoring the land:”…Innovative Mine Reclamation replaces the stale strategies of the past with site-specific, community-minded, and sustainable approaches for vibrant end uses that will yield economic and environmental benefits for years to come. This new mode of mine land reclamation and reuse adheres to a progressive set of best practices that meet criteria established by the Reclaiming Appalachia Coalition. Our projects follow the principles of Innovative Mine Reclamation:

• Go above and beyond the legal reclamation requirements for AML features and bond forfeiture properties to create sites that are primed for sustainable development, native ecosystem restoration, or both.
• Make projects appropriate to the specific place they are occurring.
• Be inclusive of multiple community stakeholders, especially in addition to traditional decision makers, in project development.
• Promote environmental sustainability, and do not cause additional harm.
• Make projects financially viable beyond the initial grant period.
• Introduce new, viable concepts to the Appalachian coalfields that could be successfully replicated on similar sites throughout the region.

Recovery through the lens of original peoples of this landWater and Cherokee Healing, Lisa J. Lefler “For the mountains of Southern Appalachia, water is the essence of life for all that live there. A temperate rain forest, this region relies  on vast systems of branches, creeks, streams, and rivers that channel mountain valleys and hollows. …”“However, only in the last two or three decades have inhabitants of this region, both Cherokee and nonnative, become increasingly concerned about the availability of water. They are concerned about water quantity and quality and the properties culturally and historically associated with it and that water be accessible to them for both the mundane and sacred activities in which it has heretofore been used.”“We relied upon the water for a familiarity of place and a reassurance that our lush, green mountains would always be here.  The Cherokee, the longest continuous inhabitants of this region, explain that their emergence into this world came from a place called Kituwah, which rests along the Tuckasegee River. It is considered the Mothertown and is a place of tradition and ceremony.”  (From essay “Water and Cherokee History”  by Lisa J. Lefler, in Recovery, Renewal, Reclaiming: Anthropological Research toward Healing, Edited by Lindsey King)Find Joy and Hope in Recovery and ChangeMany reports about recovery point to the importance of engagement of people affected by solutions. One of the most resilient community-based organizations in our region is Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment (formerly known as Save Our Cumberland Mountains). SOCM is celebrating its 50th anniversary year in 2022 and is now a statewide organization.

In a statement to SOCM members on that anniversary entitled Hope in Hard Times, Executive Director Austin Sauerbrei shares some lessons from SOCM’s history and how it looks forward to the future. “These are hard times. Preventable crisis upon crisis have hit our nation, our state, and our hometowns. For too many, the impact is immediate and devastating. The compounded rage, grief, and urgency so many folks are feeling is real, deep, and righteous. With each new crisis comes a deeply felt need to respond, to react, to take action, to do something.”

This pull to ‘do something’ is a good and hopeful thing. AND, experience tells me that this constant urge to act can often leave us feeling fragmented, with wheels spinning, in a constant state of emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion, wondering whether our actions are actually accomplishing anything.… there are no shortcuts. The stakes these days are urgent and big in scope but also require us to set a sustainable pace for long-haul community-building and action in our own backyards. We have to talk with our neighbors, build power beyond our existing circles, struggle together, and do our best to help each other find joy, rest, and hope.While SOCM has (and will continue to) adapted and changed over time, our foundation continues to lie in the long-haul work of building democratically run, locally rooted, multi-racial groups in Tennessee that are active and engaged beyond an election cycle or a single issue. There is so much hope to be found here.Gratitude & Solidarity,Austin Sauerbrei”   

Contact Walter Davis, walter@appalachiancommunityfund.org, if you have a positive story about  people, places, and things in Central Appalachia.