To Save the Land and People - by Chad Montrie (Paperback)

About the Book

To Save the Land and People: A History of Opposition to Surface Coal Mining in Appalachia

Book Synopsis

Surface coal mining has had a dramatic impact on the Appalachian economy and ecology since World War II, exacerbating the region's chronic unemployment and destroying much of its natural environment. Here, Chad Montrie examines the twentieth-century movement to outlaw surface mining in Appalachia, tracing popular opposition to the industry from its inception through the growth of a militant movement that engaged in acts of civil disobedience and industrial sabotage. Both comprehensive and comparative, To Save the Land and People chronicles the story of surface mining opposition in the whole region, from Pennsylvania to Alabama.

Though many accounts of environmental activism focus on middle-class suburbanites and emphasize national events, the campaign to abolish strip mining was primarily a movement of farmers and working people, originating at the local and state levels. Its history underscores the significant role of common people and grassroots efforts in the American environmental movement. This book also contributes to a long-running debate about American values by revealing how veneration for small, private properties has shaped the political consciousness of strip mining opponents.

Review Quotes

"A valuable contribution to the history of the region . . . raises interesting questions about what happened, about the role of the local, state, and national environmental groups, and about the effects of class differences among membership in these groups."
-- "Journal of Appalachian Studies"

"An excellent and timely study of resistance, courage, and disappointment."
-- Ronald Eller, University of Kentucky

"Contains many worthwhile lessons for those who continue the ongoing struggle to halt the utter destruction of this fragile and beautiful region through unsustainable resource extraction practices."
-- Albert J. Fritsch, director of Appalachia--Science in the Public Interest

"Montrie offers a look at real grassroots environmental activism by real people, showing a long-neglected dimension of American environmentalism."
-- Hal Rothman, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

"With uncommon eloquence, Chad Montrie tells the important and moving story of the efforts of the farmers and working people of Appalachia to put a halt to the strip mining that was despoiling their land and their livelihoods."
-- Frances Fox Piven, City University of New York

An excellent and timely study of resistance, courage, and disappointment. (Ronald Eller, University of Kentucky)

Contains many worthwhile lessons for those who continue the ongoing struggle to halt the utter destruction of this fragile and beautiful region through unsustainable resource extraction practices. (Albert J. Fritsch, director of Appalachia--Science in the Public Interest)

Montrie offers a look at real grassroots environmental activism by real people, showing a long-neglected dimension of American environmentalism. (Hal Rothman, University of Nevada, Las Vegas)

With uncommon eloquence, Chad Montrie tells the important and moving story of the efforts of the farmers and working people of Appalachia to put a halt to the strip mining that was despoiling their land and their livelihoods. (Frances Fox Piven, City University of New York )

"Chad Montrie offers a look at real grassroots environmental activism by real people, showing a long-neglected dimension of American environmentalism.... A moving story."