We've been 4 wheeling for several years now. When we first began we stayed in the mountains. Every free moment we had was spent on that 4 wheeler. It was amazing to me that we could get on one of these old roads which had been cut through the mountains by mining companies, logging companies and gas companies and view the mountains much like our ancestors had before modernization.
My husband and I were out 4 wheeling recently and visited a strip mining reclamation site. The top of the mountain has been removed along with the coal seams. The job is finished and the site has been reclaimed. I have never seen a more beautiful site in Logan, Mingo or Wyoming Counties. Even tho, Mother Nature has been disturbed, everything is so "neat" looking. I have no idea what kind of problems the communities below this site experienced while the strip mining project was in progress. I am only sharing my pictures with you.
The Hatfield-McCoy Trail
The Hatfield-McCoy Trail, which is still in the developmental stage, will modernize some of these old roads into 4 wheeler trails in several southwestern West Virginia counties... Logan, Mingo, Wyoming, Cabell, Lincoln, McDowell, Wayne and some counties in Kentucky and Virginia.
The Hatfield McCoy trail system - your Government dollars at work!
West Virginia Trail Study Completed
Mountaintop Removal
Strip mining is the process of removing the tops of mountains to get down to the seams of coal..Mountaintop Removal. The link to the following article "Tearing Down the Mountains"shows pics of an active strip mining scene with pictures of some of the hazards this process causes.
Tearing Down the Mountains..USA TODAY..lots of photos of a strip mining project in action.
