A “coal family” is a term I use to describe more than our source of income. Like many industries, there is a whole community and culture surrounding coal. In fact, given the remote regions where mines are often located, I would argue that coal industries create a unique and particularly strong culture. This has been true in Appalachia for over 100 years. The remote and ornery hollars are still the stuff of legend: liquor stills, bluegrass, and square dances still exist throughout the Blue Ridge and Smokies. One year an employee gave my father a gallon of moonshine for Christmas; another year it was a home-grown honey baked ham.

Coal is as riddled through this living tradition as the seams in the hills. The region is rich in the history and dirges surrounding the mines. The winding county roads that lead into the mines are lined with the physical community: the brick homes of skilled labor, double-wide trailers, and a few burnt down shacks. They live on a narrow strip of land between mountain sides and muddied creeks, or perhaps “in town”, the next valley over. Until recently these were forgotten, unpaved roads. No longer: civilization has encroached.

Walmart and McDonalds have arrived with a fresh four-lane road that leads to I-75. The new business promised a new way of life, namely the life that the rest of the world was supposedly living while miners labored underground. But the new jobs pay less than the mine work, and civilization added demons to the community instead of exorcising them. Ten years ago the burnt-out shacks along the road were over-achieving liquor stills. Now they’re meth labs. The world betrayed their trust upon arrival. Is it any wonder then that these mountain towns are hot spots for drug abuse and snake handling? How would you react if you were trapped between the steady stone of the mines and unsafe waters of the outside world? Who would you trust?

I asked my father about employment in the mines. Could a high-school drop out rise through the ranks to skilled labor? “Sure,” he replied, “We’d start a kid out driving trucks. If he could be trusted we’d move him up to operating machinery or something. Problem is now days, I can’t get any good kids on staff. Eighty percent fail the drug test.”

Coal is a complicated issue, and not all of it is environmental. We must always remember that the environment and society move hand-in-hand. If we want to reduce the role of coal in this country, we need to offer these mountain communities a viable alternative. A huge 4-wheeler park recently opened near the mines. The remote wilderness has attracted outdoor enthusiasts from across the east coast. The unspoiled forest with its wild turkey, deer, bear, and elk have already raked in over a million dollars for the local community. Alternatives exist, and if the people can see the path clearly, they will leave their narrow road to forge a new one - but only on their own terms.