FRANKFORT, Ky. - Old surface mine sites in Appalachia could translate to new jobs for Kentuckians who served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Nathan Hall, reforestation coordinator for Green Forests Work, says his group has been working on a shovel-ready project to use veterans to help reforest areas of former mine operations.

"We could be putting a lot of people back to work, not only restoring the environment of the area where they're from, but also helping to create sort of a base for future economic development."

Hall says that when surface mining is completed in an area, the ground is bulldozed, compacted and then planted with seed and fertilizer. Grass can grow there, but trees can't.

"Nor can they outcompete the vegetation that's there, and your native hardwood trees, your oaks, your hickories, black cherry, things like that, they really just can't even get a foothold to survive in those kind of conditions."

Hall adds that, not unlike the new trees they're planting on some of these lands, the jobs for vets concept is still taking root.

"We're just now starting, as an organization, to figure out how do we actually turn this from just a good idea for the environment into a really viable option for the economic future of the region."

A bipartisan bill working its way through Congress may help it all happen. It would provide a billion dollars to help put many of the nation's 720,000 unemployed veterans to work.

The coal industry itself has been helping to develop large-scale projects where native trees are grown in areas largely stripped down to bedrock by surface mining.



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Since its inception, Earth Day has been an occasion to advocate for a cleaner planet - but in 2022, climate change is bringing a higher level of concern over changes to the global environment.

Communities in Arizona and across the country were out in force on April 23, calling for new investments in clean energy, green jobs and environmental justice.

Environmental Defense Fund grassroots campaign coordinator Emma Benninghoff said they hope to transform the energy from Earth Day rallies into a year-round campaign for climate action.

"I think we are in this race to limit the dangerous impacts of climate change," said Benninghoff. "Having hundreds of volunteers and activists out during Earth Week was an opportunity to really show the broad support for climate action."

Benninghoff said while the U.S. House has passed a $550 billion plan to invest in clean energy and transportation, more work is needed to get the measure approved in the Senate.

She said thousands of people joined in Earth Day activities in rallies across the country, including events in Arizona.

"In Phoenix," said Benninghoff, "we heard from elected officials, tribal leaders, community leaders, City Council members during the rally. There were over 400 people estimated in attendance at the Arizona State Capitol."

Benninghoff said Earth Day events in Phoenix and other cities featured elected officials, community leaders, students and social-justice activists speaking on the importance of climate advocacy.

"It's really important for our nation and our world to address this crisis," said Benninghoff. "I'm hearing a lot in the field that folks understand how urgent this issue is and of the impact of this crisis."

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New Mexico will be one of the first states to receive help from the Rural Partners Network, a new government initiative aiming to reset the way Washington, D.C., works with rural communities.

Billions of federal dollars are available to help rural communities repair and build infrastructure such as roads and bridges, clean drinking-water systems, hospitals and schools.

Xochitl Torres Small, Under Secretary for Rural Development for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), said field staff will provide direct assistance to help locals troubleshoot the grant application process.

"It helps connect communities to resources based on that communities' specific needs," Torres Small explained. "To ensure rural communities can access the full array of federal opportunities and resources."

The USDA field staff plans to hire locals who know the region, and assign staff in Washington to represent each region. In addition to New Mexico and its tribal nations, Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky and Mississippi are included in the pilot program.

Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture, said in offering the assistance, they have identified communities that have dealt with decades of persistent poverty.

"People, when they think of poverty in this country, I think they immediately think of inner-city poverty," Vilsack pointed out. "But the reality is that there's probably deeper and more persistent poverty in rural areas."

Vilsack said he wants to change what he calls America's "extraction economy," and instead develop a "circular economy," in which wealth is created and stays in rural areas.

"If you think about what we've done in rural America, we basically take things from the land or out of the land or below the land, and we transport them to some other place where value and opportunity is added," Vilsack observed.

The new initiative is a successor to the StrikeForce for Rural Growth and Opportunity program launched by the Obama administration and also led by Vilsack.

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Our original version incorrectly stated the hellbender is endangered federally. It is "endangered" or listed as a "species of special concern" in multiple states. The Ozark Hellbender, a subspecies, is listed as federally endangered. The story has been corrected to reflect this.

Protecting North Carolina's rivers and streams is good for residents, wildlife and even salamanders.

Recent work along Hog Lot Creek and Bates Branch repaired damage and increased habitat for the hellbender, North America's largest salamander species. The project was made possible by Resource Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to restoring streams, rivers and wetlands.

Alan Walker, project manager for the Resource Institute, said the team had a specific goal in mind.

"It's a hellbender initiative," Walker explained. "What we've tried to do is, in addition to the natural channel design and working to stabilize the banks and restore the natural channel through this reach, was to put in some specific habitat structures for the hellbenders."

The project team restored 3,000 feet of severely eroded stream areas, including the addition of large, flat rocks -- elevated from the bottom -- to create a big enough cavity for hellbenders to find protection, lay eggs and make a home. Resource Institute is working to identify additional sites for restoration for the species, which is "endangered" or listed as a "species of special concern" in multiple states.

Morgan Harris, private lands biologist in the Conservation Management Institute at Virginia Tech, pointed out although the project is designed to make a home for a struggling species, the general principle is repairing damage caused by humans.

"The main thing that a lot of these projects do is reduce sedimentation going into the creek, when stream banks are eroding," Harris emphasized. "And the most important thing to make sure that erosion stays under control is to make sure that we keep trees and shrubs intact on the creek banks."

Harris added North Carolina is home to one of the best populations remaining of hellbenders, which can grow to as long as two and a half feet in length.



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