Cara Ellen Modisett

Twenty years ago, this magazine published its first issue. Comparing the Blue Ridge Country of July/August 1988 to the Blue Ridge Country of July/August 2008, I find myself wishing I could time travel back two decades – if only to hear Bill Monroe play at a bluegrass festival in Dahlonega, or talk with Hugh Morton about his photographs.

Some things have changed, some have not. Mr. Monroe and Mr. Morton are no longer with us in physical form, but the region and the world remain permanently changed by their lives. What they created – the high lonesome sound of bluegrass, the protection of endangered species and landscapes – remains.

BRC ’88 celebrated mountain crafts and homemade pound cake, old Route 11, the Appalachian Trail and childhood fishing trips. It included content on how technology was aiding environmental research, and one story on a man named Luke Staengl. At the time, he ran a company that practiced green energy consumption and sustainability – years before America’s mainstream finally woke up to the need for conserving, reusing and recycling.
Twenty years later, we revisit some of those early pioneers. The photography of Hugh Morton graces this cover, as it did our first one. Our editor-in-chief, Kurt Rheinheimer, revisits Luke Staengl himself and discovers he is still involved in “saving the planet.”

Twenty years later, sustainability, green living and responsible travel have come to the forefront of the region’s biggest concerns. The question has not gone away: How do we preserve the uniqueness of the Blue Ridge without loving it to death?

This issue offers some answers to that question. “The Future of Appalachia” profiles 14 organizations and individuals working for change in the areas of research, education, activism and preservation. “Mending Fences” looks at how Blue Ridge Parkway staff and volunteers have found a way to maintain the historical integrity of the parkway’s 469 miles, finding a solution to the disappearance of the last of the chestnut wood. This issue’s Inns and Getaways department offers eco-friendly lodging options. “A Garden in the City” features Ann and Paul Saville, who took an 1895 storefront in downtown Charleston, W.Va. and transformed it into a bookshop, apartment and rooftop garden – an outstanding example of sustainability and adaptive reuse.

As we mark 20 years, we also recognize the people behind the magazine. Some of the same names in our 1988 pub box are also in our 2008 pub box, including: Publisher Richard Wells, whose vision prompted the publishing of Blue Ridge Country; founding Editor Kurt Rheinheimer, who contributed 10 pages of great hikes to this issue, written in a voice like no other; Contributing Editor Su Clauson-Wicker, at that time the not-yet-married Su Clauson; photographer and writer Paul Calhoun, who continues to bring us beautiful images, including our deer cover back in May/June 2007. And the writer who for so many readers is the heart and soul of this magazine, Elizabeth Hunter, who writes her regular columns “From the Farm” and “The Mountain Garden,” as well as inspiring and passionate features.

The list of contributing writers and photographers is much longer in 2008, reflective of the still-growing community of contributors we are blessed to work with. The other community we are grateful for is that of our readers – those who have stayed with us since the beginning, and those who discover us issue by issue. We look forward to the next 20 years with you all.


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