SURFACE MINING

Before and After

Coal is probably Kentucky's most important natural resource.

The energy it provides powers The Commonwealth.
Ben Chandler refuses to acknowledge coal's position as a signature industry for Kentucky,
omitting it completely from his column on Kentucky's Signature Industries.
He says that "we will have to rely on fossil fuels for years to come",
yet votes time and again to tax and regulate the industry out of existence.

As goes coal, so goes Kentucky's economy...it powers virtually everything we do!

The black and white photos were taken in 1979 on a mine site at Colmar, Kentucky.
Back then it was called "strip mining"; today "mountaintop removal".
Enjoy the pictures...This is part of your Kentucky heritage!!!

Active	Reclaimed
That's me on the hood of our blue Chevy truck, the first new vehicle we ever owned! The truck is sitting in the bucket of the dragline...sort of like a giant backhoe used to dig away the dirt from on top of the coal.	This is almost exactly the same spot 30 years later. Looks a little different, doesn't it! Lots of cattle graze, and wild turkey and elk have moved in. Lovely useable land.
Again, the bucket of the dragline.	Another view of the same area as it looks now.
The track made by the dragline as it moved along.	Grazing cattle weren't bothered by mining activity below them!
You can see a little of the boom which operates the bucket.	This area has been contour mined. The aqua area has been re-seeded. Active mining is going on above and to the right.
Looking up the boom of the dragline.	New lakes in mined areas provide fishing and water for wildlife.
Another look up the boom.	GASP!!! People are having fun up there...even bringing their kids! ATV heaven!!!! In fact, the Commonwealth of Kentucky is promoting adventure vacations, providing maps of trails that run through reclaimed mines.

A great way to support Kentucky is to put a "Friends of Coal" license plate on your cars.
Across the bottom of the plate is the phrase "Coal Keeps the Lights On!"

These license plates are starting to appear all over the place! Over 38,000 have been sold.
It's great to see! Keep it up!!!!