Echoes of Appalachia

The Trump administration is pushing hard to open up national forests to more logging, and Appalachia’s mountains are squarely in the crosshairs. They claim it’s about jobs and fire prevention, but anyone who knows these woods understands the real cost. These forests aren’t just a resource to be exploited—they’re the backbone of the region, holding together the land, the water, and the way of life for countless communities. If we don’t start speaking up now, we’ll wake up one day to mountains stripped bare, with nothing left but erosion, polluted streams, and broken promises. All of the dark areas on the map below is where they will start logging.

For centuries, these mountains have given us clean water, wild game, and quiet places where the rush of the modern world fades away. The trees here aren’t like the fast-growing pines of industrial tree farms—they’re hardwoods that have stood for generations, their roots gripping the steep slopes, keeping the earth from sliding into the valleys below. But when the bulldozers and chainsaws move in, that fragile balance is shattered. We’ve seen it happen before—after heavy rains, mudslides tear through hollows, burying roads and choking creeks with silt. Wells go bad, fishing spots disappear, and the wildlife that people depend on scatters or starves.

It’s not just the land that suffers. Appalachia’s culture is tied to these woods. Hunters track deer through the same ridges their grandfathers did. Families gather ramps and mushrooms in the same shady coves where they’ve always grown. Tourists come from all over to hike trails under the thick canopy of oaks and maples, spending money in local diners, gas stations, and gear shops. What happens when those trees are gone? When the hillsides are nothing but stumps and mud? A handful of logging jobs might last a few years, but once the timber’s hauled off, what’s left for the next generation?

The worst part is, we’ve been here before. Coal companies told us mining would bring prosperity, then left behind poisoned water and flattened mountains. Timber companies promised sustainable cutting, then took the biggest trees and moved on. Now the government wants us to believe this time will be different—but we know better. If we don’t push back, if we don’t demand real protections for these forests, we’re just handing over our home to be picked apart by whoever offers the highest bid.

It’s time to stop letting outsiders decide the fate of these mountains. We need to stand up—at town meetings, in letters to Congress, in protests if that’s what it takes—and make it clear that Appalachia’s forests aren’t for sale. These woods have sheltered us for generations. Now it’s our turn to shelter them.

-Tim Carmichael