To Elk or not to Elk...

...that is the question.
The past couple of weeks/months have been long ones. The temps, the snow, the lack of sun, the arm ( I know I haven’t address that element but perhaps sometime in the near future.) So when the opportunity came for a short mental health get-a-way I took advantage of the situation. Called my BFF, managed to get reservations and headed to Jenny Wiley State Park for a night and for an early morning elk sighting tour.
After we made the reservations I found out that the tour was on land that had been the victim of mountain top removal. I became aware of a knot in my stomach. I do not remember reading that the tour was on land that was still an active surface mine and was not aware of that fact until the presentation began at 5:30 m. Saturday morning. The knot in my stomach was growing larger. Surface mine, mountain top removal, strip mining (I was told that is a dirty word and not used anymore.)…..the knot began to grow even more.
There were about 28 people on the tour, three vans, three employees of the park system.
The good thing was the ground was frozen - so there was no mud to get stuck in. The bad thing was that the frozen ground was covered in spots with snow and ice.
Our van driver who fit the description of a ‘good old boy’ to the T – really nice guy, said he was just ‘Dukin’ ‘ it. (took only a second to get his reference to the Dukes of Hazard-after all that is the country we were in.)
Well, that wasn’t the extent of the good and bad of the morning trip. That was the easy part to handle.
The driver sang the praises of Mountain Top Removal every chance he got – the wonderful economic boost that it brought to the area touched all the people, the jobs it created, the cheap energy source, the great landscapes it created for things like recreational activities, golf courses, sports complexes, ATV trails, hmmm, elk viewing – sponsored by the state park system ( How can that be?). All kinds of stomach churning examples.
I hesitate to say too much here since I haven’t done a lot of homework on the subject but I know what I heard in the past. So I invite you to goggle Mountain Top Removal. Check out some of the videos. Listen to the people from the area and their opinion of MTR. The people who are not on the payroll of the mining companies. The people who love the mountains.
So the knot is the stomach is still festering, still growing. What have I contributed to?!
Sure it was great to see elk. But I think next time I’ll head over to western KY to the Land Between the Lakes area where there are no mountainsto be harmed. Or better yet out west somewhere where the mountains have not become victims of MTR!
Or maybe just stay home!
BTW this very weekend a group of concerned citizens of KY occupied the office of the governor to protest Mountain Top Removal.
Read more at…
http://www.kftc.org/our-work/canary-project/campaigns/mtr/MTR-generalinfo