North Carolina Mountains

Some of Earth’s most ancient mountains call North Carolina home. 480 million years ago the Appalachian Mountain Range was formed. Our state’s own section of these mountains, the Blue Ridge, was formed over one billion years ago. The south and central Appalachian Mountains make up one of the most biodiverse regions in North America, and consequently, one of the most at risk to the dangers of climate change and environmental racism. Pipeline construction, deforestation, and wildfires are a few of the distinct factors that are contributing to the changing landscape and climate of Western North Carolina.

In 2014, the Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC (MVP) proposed the construction of a $3.7 billion fracked gas pipeline. The Mountain Valley Pipeline would stretch over 300 miles from West Virginia, down through Virginia, and one (now cancelled) section into North Carolina. The construction of such a pipeline involves clear cutting vast swaths of protected, public, and private land, threatens farmlands, compromises streams and drinking water sources, endangering the health and safety of nearby residents, plants, and animals. This pipeline and others threaten investments in renewable and clean energy, turning back several decades of conservation work in the region. The MVP would not only destroy everything in its path, but would also intercept sections of the Appalachian Trail, cut across Jefferson National Forest, and leave a 50 foot wide gash of permanently cleared land along its entirety. 74% of the pipeline is being constructed on high landslide risk terrain leaving the potential for a break and leak of natural gas highly probable.

Appalachia is a historically low income, impoverished, resource-scarce region. Lands that the proposed pipeline would cross have been owned by families for generations; lands that the residents of the area not only rely on for food, water, and housing, but also as a source of income. Although the MVP has faced major criticism from both the public and the courts, its construction continues. In an effort to circumvent approval for one large construction permit, MVP and its constituents are seeking individual permits to continue the construction. These individual permits allow them to break laws that put water, endangered plant and animal lives, as well as human lives at major risk. MVP is estimated to be completed and in service by the end of 2021. A quick visit to the MVP website is all one needs to see to know that the value of life and the safety of the environment are not priorities to Mountain Valley. Their “Safety” page does not mention once how they plan to help protect the environment or what precautions they are taking to ensure the safety of communities around the pipeline, but there is a section on how to protect the pipeline. The MVP is not for the people and it is not for the Earth. Mountain Valley’s fracked gas pipeline is only interested in increasing the wealth of billionaires and corporations.

Fortunately, a large percentage of WNC is protected (for now), but land protection only goes so far. Through processes of eminent domain (1) and forced removal, it is easy for companies and government agencies to remove people, individuals, and entire communities from their land, even if it is owned by the resident(s). North Carolina’s history of land grabs is long and complex. Perhaps no one understands this power struggle more than the Cherokee, whose ancestors were forcefully removed from their own land during the 18th century in an effort by the US and NC governments to acquire more land, as well as explore the prospect of gold that was reported to be found in the area. The Cherokee population did not get their own land back until the 1870’s, when the Qualla Boundary was established by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) through a land trust from the US Government. After the forced removal via the Trail of Tears, the EBCI had to purchase their land back from the government--land that had been theirs before it was stolen by the government. Qualla Boundary is not a reservation, but is an independent territory that the EBCI have autonomy over. While this autonomy seems like a solution for governance, it means nothing in the face of imminent climate change. Forced displacement of the Cherokee, and so many other Indigenous people over centuries of colonization, land acquisition, and prospects of gold, is again evidence of the ‘profit over people’ model that is all too familiar in our corrupt and Capitalist country - a country that is not even ours.

One thing that should be seen as an essential tool in the combatting of climate change is to honor and put into practice centuries old Indigenous knowledge, and adopt their respect for all people and all land. Through Indigenous practices such as controlled burning and re-establishing our connection to the environment, we can better understand the impacts of the climate crisis on our world and make a difference in the regeneration of the incredibly diverse natural world, not only of North Carolina, but globally as a whole. It is equally important to respect these ancient practices that have been grossly appropriated over hundreds of years and to seek out and pay Indigenous folks for their knowledge in being a good steward of the Earth. We know that Indigenous people in North Carolina farmed, hunted, and harvested in sustainable ways for thousands of years. These forms of knowledge and other Indigenous practices not only have been erased from Indigenous histories through colonization, some have also been erased entirely.

(1) The right of a government or its agent to expropriate private property for public use, with payment of compensation, Oxford English Dictionary

Climate/Cataclysm Mike Marks

Mike Marks’ work focuses on how we perceive the landscape as material. This series, Climate/Cataclysm, is an ode to his birthplace of West Virginia and the history and results of its land-use, as well as an imagining of a toxic apocalypse through ecological disasters.  Mike has been using collage for its resemblance to habitat fragmentation, particularly from the backgrounds and negative spaces in comic books. These peripheral images serve as source material for interpreting the reshaping of nature.

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North Carolina Introduction // Coastal Plains // Piedmont // Mountains

Current Trajectory // Equitable Futures // Exquisite Corpse // Postcards