Wally Smith, Author at 100 Days in Appalachia

Author: Wally Smith

A student group from rural Southwest Virginia takes part in an exercise on water quality at a local community’s drinking water reservoir. Photo: Provided

Commentary

The ‘Divisive’ School Lessons States Are Outlawing Have Been Improving Appalachian Education for Generations

by Wally Smith on March 15, 2022 Comments are Disabled

Fog obscures the Clinch River on a Saturday morning this past October, as a group of educators gathers at St. Paul, Virginia’s Matthews Park. Shortly after arriving, part of the group moves to the riverbank, discussing how to tackle pollution from illegal dumping into the waterway. Another huddles around an […]

Environment

Commentary: New Uses For Former Mine Lands Stop at Economic Potential, But Appalachian Species Are Thriving on Rehabilitated Sites

by Wally Smith on February 11, 2021 Comments are Disabled

“Hey! We’ve got something!” There’s excitement in the college student’s voice as they call me to an overturned log in the forest where we’re spending the afternoon. Instead of our usual menu of field trips to off-campus nature preserves and parks across southwest Virginia, COVID-19 has forced my Vertebrate Zoology […]

Commentary

The Hidden Costs of Appalachia’s Trail Economy

by Wally Smith on June 9, 2020 Comments are Disabled

Driving between Pocahontas and Boissevain in southwestern Virginia, it’s easy to miss the mouth of Haynes Branch tucked into the woods along State Route 644. Like much of central Appalachia, this landscape of hills and hollows west of the Bluestone River in Tazewell County owes its existence to water. There’s […]