“Business, industry and government, in my opinion, all have an obligation to clean our air.”
Our Guest Column department began in the May/June 2001 issue and now, a bit more than 20 years later, is being retired in favor of a new Q&A format beginning with the next issue. In commemoration, we present perspectives from the first few years of those columns (in the first years called “My Mountains, My Hopes”). Our thanks to all who graced our pages with their thoughts over the years.
“My wish for the mountains is that they will be like they were when I was growing up in the 1920s and ‘30s. One out of every four trees was a chestnut. Here’s hoping the forest scientists will develop a blight-resistant chestnut.” “I’d choose the return of rail passenger service and the Civilian Conservation Corps.” “This is a sales pitch, but please don’t send money. I just want you to think back over your walks and drives through the Blue Ridge . . . and make a gift of these favorite spots to some young friend, a child or a grandchild. We own these places. Our parents and grandparents and our government decided to protect them.” —Steve Nash, author of “Virginia Climate Fever: How Global Warming Will Transform Our Cities, Shorelines, and Forests,” January/February, 2002“The fire towers of yesteryear housed sentinels who watched over these mountains. My hope is that we will be as vigilant, that we will be the sentinels who now watch over the marvelous area, to sound the alarm and spring into action. It is our turn.” —Charles Maynard, Founding Executive Director of Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, March/April, 2002“As the longest day of the year comes to a close, and I drive away from Mt. Mitchell, past strip malls, new bulldozed land for summer homes and unsightly clear cuts, I offer a silent thank you to those early conservationists. My hope is that we will heed their wisdom, that we will not squander our environmental future for the immediate sound of a ringing cash register.” —Timothy Silver, author of “Mt. Mitchell and the Black Mountains: An Environmental History of the Highest Peaks in Eastern America,” September/October, 2003“The forests are the hearts of our lives in the Blue Ridge. Forests stabilize our mountains and our economies. The quality of life in the region depends heavily on healthy, natural forests.” —Christian Wulf, Coordinator of Virginia Forest Watch, November/December, 2004“I pass this along as a warning. If you throw away your cultural identity, if you refuse to pass along traditions, songs and stories to the next generation, those treasures may be lost forever.” —Sharyn McCrumb, award-winning author of the “Ballad” series and other novels, March/April, 2005
Remote Area Medical, with roots in the Southern Appalachians, has provided free health care since 1985 to over 1 million people through mobile pop-up clinics across the nation. “Free Is In Our DNA.”
The award-winning songwriter, entertainer, global philanthropist and creator of Imagination Library is also celebrating the 40th anniversary of her theme park Dollywood.
Mayor since 2021, Kelly led Chattanooga in becoming North America’s first National Park City in 2025 and a global destination. He calls his hometown “a city inside a park.”
She leads Virginia State Parks, the first state in the nation to open a system of parks. “From the mountains to the piedmont, you can get just about anything you want in Virginia.”
This granddaughter of Museum of Appalachia founder John Rice Irwin now leads the 54-year-old East Tennessee museum, keeping the stories alive and showing visitors how people of Southern Appalachia lived in the 1800s.
Knoxville’s urban forester since 2012 promotes the benefits of trees while growing the region’s tree canopy. He was educated at Purdue and, with his wife, Beth, is the father of two young daughters.
