Reintroducing Elk in Kentucky
When you think of Kentucky, do you think of one of the largest herds of elk in east of the Mississippi river?
In the late 90s, Kentucky began the largest elk restoration any state had. The dedicated area spans over forty million acres in 16 counties. For comparison, one million acres have been or are mountain top removal sites across Appalachia. Many of the elk restoration land are in restored mountain top removal sites.
A Low Bar
While coal companies are required to return the environment to “original mountain contour,” this often takes the form of replanting trees and letting grass grow freely rather than more active restoration, such as replanting native species of plants and returning topsoil.
The environment that this leaves behind may be far removed from the original one, a habitat that will never be replicated again, but that doesn’t make the grounds useless. In fact, the flat and open areas are an optimal habitat for elk. Coal companies were not directly funding the hugely successful efforts, although they did make contributions in the form of land turnovers for the projects after completing mining operations.
Reality Strikes
Elk populations dwindled in Kentucky as a result of habitat loss and hunting. By the 1900s, there were no elk left within any area contained in the state. However, with the help of other state agencies, 1,541 elk were released into Kentucky. Today, there are as many as 14,000 living within it. Elk hunting in Kentucky responsibly generates over 3.5 million dollars annually of tourism income for poverty stricken regions.
While restoration efforts were incredible, the both the elk and mountain top removal mining are a reminder that restoration will never fully return what once was.
The species that now reside in Kentucky, the Rocky Mountain Elk, are native to Western states. The Eastern Elk that originally roamed the land were hunted to extinction.
The Permanence of Environmental Destruction
Human activity has removed the mountains and the elk, never to make a return. Our destruction has more permanence than even these massive efforts can mend. While the industries are different now—the fur trade has now become energy corporations—both of their impacts remain.
Even with these elk roaming the land, the waters they live alongside carry the memory of the past. Toxic and carcinogenic heavy metals have leaked into the waters. It is, of course, not just the elk on the mountains drinking from this waste filled waters that are affected. Humans that are taking residence near mountain top removal sites are at two times the risk of cancer.
These side effects are not just at the surface level. They are not just something that changes the carpet of the land. It suffocates trees, yes, leading to a clear area even in places that are not being blown up. But it goes down to the bones of the mountains. The soil is poisoned with chemicals and soot. Nothing will regrow without being planted for many years.
Deception from Coal Corporations
Coal companies knew about these impacts early, despite efforts to persuade otherwise. They understood this new form of mining that fully removes the tops of mountains would change the lay of the land forever. Overburden was not carefully replaced. Overburden was often pushed into nearby valleys. The route that allowed the least financial resistance was executed.
You cannot see bones from the surface, so the knowledge of the impact deep in the mountains—and in the mountain people—came later. But it was understood by the 1970s, early in the emergence of mountain top removal mining. Coal companies made no attempt to inform miners of the dangers of working under them. In fact, investigations later uncovered that companies made an attempt to cover up evidence linking black lung and cancer to coal mining operations to evade paying benefits to sick miners.
If Appalachians Don’t Protect the Mountains, Who Will?
Our government and corporations continue to deny health concerns about data centers. The idea of exploiting land and people until there is nothing left, covering up truths, and moving on before reparations can be made permeate even stronger now.
Look forward to the reintroduction of elk and regrowing prairies but look closer at the different hoof prints and flat corpses of the mountains.
Sources
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1462901116301137
https://ket.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/elk-in-kentucky-video/kentucky-studies
https://seafwa.org/sites/default/files/journal-articles/MAEHR-350-363.pdf