Coal river. Aerial shot of regional topography. Southern West Virginia.

These are aerials of some of the Coal River communities and sites of our field research, including the Left and Right hand Forks of Rock Creek (which Benny Campbell called "a pretty flat valley, for this country"), Drews Creek, Peachtree Creek, and Naoma. The highwall at the head of Peachtree and Drews Creek exemplifies what is known as "pre-law mining," that is, strip mining practiced before the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 required operators to restore mountains to their "approximate original contour." Note that the undisturbed area in this form of mining is above the mined area, whereas in mountaintop removal, the undisturbed ground is below the area to be replanted with non-native species (see study by Edmunds and Loucks).