kayford mountain

practically everyone remotely interested in mountain top removal (whether your for or against it) knows of a man by the name of Larry Gibson, for good reason.

mr. gibson has property on a mountain called kayford mountain, when i look at an aerial shot of west virginia, kayford mountain jumps out at me due to... well, its lack of existence? i dont want to tell all of Larry's story (im not sure thats possible), but ill attempt to introduce you to the basics, in case youre unfamiliar with him. (feel free to visit his site for more information.) larry inherited this land and can trace it (being in his family) back over 250 years. in the early 1900s, his grandfather signed over the "mineral rights" to this property, like many others in this area, for .01c an acre (its my understanding that they originally had over 1000 acres.) people did this, because they only knew of deep mining, and could respect the wealth this brought to their communities, they in no way saw this as a threat to the land they lived and played on.

over 20 years ago they began to surface mine on kayford mountain, taking over much of Larry's property. somehow, at some point, he managed to get 50 acres into a land trust, making it so that no one could purchase, sell, trade, etc.

originally, Larry looked up 400ft. to the peak of the mountain from his property, his property is now the highest point among multiple mountain top removal projects.

due to his courageous efforts, Larry receives more harassment and threats than i can fathom. but alas, he is the "keeper of the mountains", and a wonderful one at that.

upon walking out to the site, were greeted with a pile of rubble, including a large rock with a hole drilled in it, this hole is a remnant from the coal company drilling down, to fill with explosives (like those used in the Oklahoma City bombing), to blast away "overburden". in addition to a no trespassing sign.

we stepped up on the high wall, and looked down at what was going on. immediately in front of us were the alien grasses character of "reclamation". far off in the distance, a lovely mountain range. and in between, something id expect to see on the moon, with a group of heavy machinery.

i think i could have stayed, and just watched, shocked, in awe, all day. i wanted to know what was really running through these miners minds. deep down, the secrets they share with no one. i understand that this is about the only decent paying job in the entire state. i understand that they have families to feed. but surely, some of them think beyond that on occasion, but are just too scared to tell anyone. for those, my heart goes out.