H-L Op-ed: Mongiardo has wrong vision for Eastern Ky. mountains

Herald-Leader Op-ed

Mongiardo has wrong vision for Eastern Ky. mountains

By Rick Clewett

Al Fritsch, the founder of Appalachia Science in the Public Interest, published a book in 2003 titled Ecotourism in Appalachia: Marketing Our Mountains. In it, he and co-author Kristin Johannsen laid out alternate visions of the region some years hence.

One vision portrayed a region plagued by cheap, uninteresting and standardized development, unrestrained ATV use that tore up land and endangered people, and unrestrained mining that made the land ugly and ruined the streams.

In the positive vision, the book portrayed a region that was the beneficiary of small-scale, local economic development well-calculated to draw people to the region in a way that sustained the value and interest of the region while providing jobs for its inhabitants and enriching the minds and souls of all concerned.

Fritsch and Paul Gallimore published a sequel in 2007: Healing Appalachia: Sustainable Living through Appropriate Technology. The Cumberland Sierra Club wholeheartedly supports this vision of a unique and viable Eastern Kentucky.

Three of us Sierrans recently met with two members of Lt. Gov. Dan Mongiardo's staff to share our dream and our fears that irresponsible mining and ATV use will lead to a much less desirable future for Eastern Kentucky. We received a polite hearing, but little more.

Unfortunately, it is becoming clear that Mongiardo's dream is a system of ATV trails covering the state and that he is willing to use his political muscle to have his way. Herald-Leader reporter Andy Mead broke this story Aug. 21, and the paper said in its editorial the next day, "The public's interest is in enforcing the law to protect public and private property, not inviting more destruction..."