Hobet 21 Complex, Boone and Lincoln Counties, WV

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Feb 28, 2006 and June 4, 2006

Photos by Vivian Stockman

The Hobet 21 Complex is over 12,000 acres and growing. Below are photos from two different spots within the complex.

For permission to use photos (non-profit groups, school, students, low-income organization) or to purchase one-time photo-use rights (for-profit groups) contact vivian@ohvec.org. Original digital images may be available on request.

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: The coal’s gone from underneath Sugar Tree (off Mud River Road) and so is the mixed mesophytic forest. Spray on “hydroseed” (non-native grass seed …

: Close up of the rubble where once was rich topsoil that took centuries to form. Photo taken Feb. 26, 2006.

: Edge of the above “reclaimed” area. An un-mined strip in the middle, with a much older “reclamation” site behind. You can see some scrubby pines an…

: Foreground: Mixed mesophytic forest. Mid-ground: razed forest and understory, former trees not even harvested for timber. Background: Post-mining–…

: Foreground: Mixed mesophytic forest–not long for this world. Background: Post-mining–Approximate original contour (as if?) mountains, sans a few …

: Exact same remnant of a mountain as the first photo above, about four months later. Note the forested mountain in the background. Photo taken June…

: If there’s coal under it, coal companies want to blow its top off. Photo taken June 4, 2006.

: There are those invasive autumn olive shrubs (banned from sale in many states) on the “reclaimed” valley fill in the background. Bye-bye biodiversi…

: Freshly mined area, a little patch of forest not yet mountaintop-removal-mined and the autumn-olive “reclaimed” areas. Plant species before mountai…