Students planted blight-resistant American chestnuts on surface mines above 3,500 feet on Black Mountain on Arbor Day. The tree planting is part of the settlement that ended surface mining above 3,500 feet on Black Mountain. Part of that settlement included rights for highpointers to visit the summit. The article also noted that BP is considering building a wind farm on ridges of the mountain. The article notes
deeper soils left behind by mining are actually better for growing trees than some of the thin natural soils – and many environmentalists critical of mining would be hard-pressed to tell 30 years from now that the site had been mined.
