Missing Mountains is a collection of essays against mountain top removal from thirty five of Kentucky’s most prominent authors. The writers were inspired to speak out after attending the April 2005 Kentucky Authors Mountain Top Removal Tour. KFTC arranged the tour to show the devestation that mountain top removal has wrought in Eastern Kentucky. The essays in the book manage to convey the scope of the issue. Not only does it cover the environmental devastation, but more importantly it covers the human cost. The sentiment of the book is conveyed by Silas House when he writes, “It is important to point out that this is not only a book about the loss of place, but also about the suffering of people…This is a collection of writing that remembers the children who do not have good water to bathe in, the people who travel unsafe roads or live beneath sites that have already sent boulders crashing through their homes.”
Many of the writers focused their essays on the stories they heard from several different residents living around mountain top removal sites. Lucy Flood told the story of Daymon Morgan. Mr. Morgan’s whose community had been devastated by the actions of the coal companies. Much of the land he grew up on had been destroyed and many precious plants were in danger of being destroyed.
Other writers used their essays to combat many of the myths that the coal companies put out about mountain top removal. Bill Caylor the President of the Kentucky Coal Assocation was the target for many of the writers. Mr. Caylor argues that the affects of mountain top removal have been greatly exaggerated and that much of the land is being improved by the coal companies. He argues that mountain removal is actually “sustainable development.” Caylor has declared, “In fifty years you’ll have use for this land. You can’t use steep hillsides.”
Stephen George disputes this, “Such a view typifies the bizaro, Alice in Wonderland through the looking glass logic that come into play in such discussions: asserting that Appalachian tourism cannot revolve around the natural beauty of a prehistoric mountain range, but that it will thrive around things like golf course on leveled plains, is the opposite of logic.” By destroying Eastern Kentucky’s environment the coal companies also destroy its natural beauty. This area could become a major tourist attraction and bring in much needed revenue, but this will not happen if mountain top removal is allowed to continue.
Missing Mountains contained a great deal of facts and figures about mountain top removal. KFTC included a report that they had previously issued titled “The Impact of Mountain Top Removal.” According to the report mountain top removal has led to lower employment, the destruction of lands and forest, and the pollution of large amounts of drinking water. Kentucky has lost over 30,000 jobs and has seen over 400 hundred streams buried. This has caused a lower quality of life for the residents of Eastern Kentucky. The report concludes with a very chilling note, “For the first time in history, we have the power to destroy our planet. And that is what we are doing.”
Mountain top removal has devastated Eastern Kentucky and the twenty five authors in Missing Mountains have managed to convey this. Their essay demonstrate the loss of jobs, culture, and beauty that has been wrought by the coal companies.
