Mountain Heroes: Jane Branham
My name is Jane.
My heart belongs to Virginia’s mountain folk.
They deserve better than mountaintop removal.
“When I hear personal stories of people and their suffering, that’s what really keeps me going. My heart is with all of these communities.”
– Jane Branham
Jane Branham: My Mountain Story
Jane Branham is vice president of Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards (SAMS), a citizen group in southwest Virginia that is working to protect communities from coal pollution and end mountaintop removal mining. Born and raised in the mountains of Wise County, Virginia, Jane left home at an early age to change the world. Later, she realized if she was going to change the world, she needed to start at home.
This is Jane's story:
My name is Jane Branham. I guess you could say I grew up “poor” by most people’s idea of it. My father was a coal miner, and when he was working we were doing OK, but work was always up in the air. We were happy and never considered ourselves poor. We lived a simple life, and it was a good life.
Even then, though, there was coal pollution around us. But there was no strip mining in our area, so the level of pollution was nothing like it is today. When I turned 18, all I could think about was getting out into the world and seeing what was going on, so I had barely turned 19 when I ended up moving away.
I returned to southwest Virginia in the early ’80s and for the first time witnessed the destruction of the new face of coal mining. I drove over what we call Fox Gap. It used to be a beautiful valley in the mountains, and when I saw it, my heart stopped. As far as my eye could see the beautiful mountains and forests I remembered had been turned into a useless moonscape, void of life. I saw mountaintop removal for the first time, and I could not believe what they had been doing while I’d been gone. That first sight of it has haunted me ever since.
I got married, went to school, and became a registered nurse. Knowing I wanted to do something about mountaintop removal mining, I found my way to the Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards, a group that was focusing on coal issues and the effects of mountaintop removal mining on the people of southwest Virginia, and seeking ways to rebuild our communities.
In addition to working to end mountaintop removal, we’ve focused much of our work on improving the air quality in these coal camp communities where the heaviest extraction is occurring. You see, it used to be that railroads carried coal; the communities were cleaner then. But with the demise of the unions in the late ’70s, the railroads closed up and the place died. That’s when non-union coal companies came in and started strip mining because it was cheaper, and the public roads became coal haul roads. Today, you can’t even hear yourself think, it’s just coal truck after coal truck.
The first thing we did was begin to monitor the air in the community of Roda. There is a public record of our findings. It showed three times the EPA’s accepted level of air pollutants. When you drive into that community, it looks like a war zone. There is just a black cloud hanging over it, and the grass and weeds on the sides of the road are black. People are just choking on dust. The trucks are just non-stop all day long and all night long, spewing dust. Upon getting our air monitoring results, we began to engage the Air Pollution Control Board of Virginia.
Wise County’s mortality rates are 25 percent higher than the rest of the state, according to Virginia’s health authorities. And throughout the coalfields, cancer rates and birth defect rates are much higher as well. In response, SAMS started doing our own health surveys. The results have shown us how sick the people are who live closest to mountaintop removal sites. It’s been an eye-opener.
About 90 percent of the people living in these communities feel their health problems are related to the strip mining and hauling of coal. They don’t like it at all. But many of the people in these coal communities are elderly, and many are just struggling to get by, raising their children, grandchildren, and dealing with their own problems. Their health problems alone are overwhelming, and their access to health care and medical facilities is terrible. I’ve never seen worse.
Many have relatives, friends, and neighbors who work in the mines and who are worried for their jobs. I don’t ever blame the miners. They’re trying to put food on their family’s table. I truly believe that if they had a choice between blowing up the mountains where they live and finding a job with comparable pay that doesn’t destroy the community they live in, they would take that job. But right now, too many people here don’t have that choice. Our political leaders, who are funded by coal industry money, have kept it this way by allowing the coal industry to run roughshod over these communities and keep other business interests out. It's time to change that. We need to demand that our politicans work for us and for our well-being, not for a single industry.
When I see politicians lying to communities, and looking after interests that are lining their pockets, it infuriates me – enough to keep me going. When I hear personal stories of people and their suffering, that’s what really keeps me going. My heart is with all of these communities.
There is rising awareness among the youth that coal is no answer for our future, and that we have to move on. I’m not saying that we can get rid of coal entirely tomorrow, but we need to start thinking about sustainable energy, and stop this insane subsidizing of the fossil fuel industry. My hope is that we start rebuilding our community to what it used to be before coal ever invaded our lives.
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Jonathan Gensler
A former officer for the United States Army and Iraq War veteran, he is working on transforming the energy profile of the one of the largest energy consumers in the world, the Department of Defense.
"We can make a similar choice today, if we want: We can say 'Yes' to growing our economy beyond reliance on deadly fossil fuels, which will inevitably run out, and embrace a profitable future with a balance of renewable energy and enhanced efficiency, supporting healthy communities for generations to come."
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Dustin White
Dustin works to educate the public, elected officials, and members of Congress on the devastation mountaintop removal mining.
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Ken Hechler
In his early years in Congress, Rep. Hechler became an outspoken opponent of strip mining — and drafted the nation’s first law setting up safety measures for coal miners.
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James Tawney
The son of a coal miner, James grew up on a small farm on Daupinspeck Mountain, in the scenic Gauley River canyon. Now, this area famous for its whitewater rapids is being trashed by mountaintop removal.
"To me, nothing is worth the loss of our mountains and streams. Without drinkable water, there is no life."
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Donetta Blankenship
Donetta and her family's only source of water was contaminated with toxic chemicals. Hospitalized twice for liver problems due to the poisonous water, Donetta's resolve to stand up against mountaintop removal has only strengthened.
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Teri Blanton
Teri has been fighting mountaintop removal mining and toxic pollution in her home state of Kentucky for 20 years. Along with thousands of her Kentucky comrades, Teri is at the forefront of the movement for healthy communities in America.
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Mickey McCoy
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Jane Branham
Jane is vice president of the Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards, a citizen group in southwest Virginia that is working to protect communities from coal pollution and end mountaintop removal mining.
"My hope is that we start rebuilding our community to what it used to be before coal ever invaded our lives."
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Cindy Rank
Cindy is the humble backbone of decades of efforts to hold accountable the agencies whose responsibilities are to strictly enforce federal and state mining laws.
"I do believe that even what appear to be small victories make a difference, slow the tide of destruction, and are worth whatever improved mining practices that occur as a result. People in Appalachia are still suffering greatly, but were it not for those small victories many more communities would already be gone."
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Allen Johnson
With his strong faith and his generous heart, Allen reaches out to Christians and their congregations to educate and motivate them on injustices of mountaintop removal mining.
"These areas where they are extracting all this coal are the poorest in the country. It’s take, take, take, and not give back...Answering this call involves rebuilding central Appalachia, with a sustainable, clean, vibrant economy; a renewal of our culture of hospitality and neighborliness."
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Karen Woodrum
Karen is proud of her work as an underground miner and wants to make her message clear: she is not against coal; she is against mountaintop removal coal mining.
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Sid Moye
Sid never considered himself an environmentalist—just a regular mountain man who loves his family, loves his garden, and loves life in the mountains. But that all changed when he went to fulfill his lifelong dream of a retiring to fish in nearby mountain streams.
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John Slattery
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Wendell Berry
The author of more than 40 books of poetry, fiction, and essays, Wendell Berry is the recipient of numerous awards and honors. He has dedicated much of his energy and time to the cause of saving mountains and waters.
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Lisa Henderson
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Junior Walk
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Julian Martin
In 1999, Julian walked across the state of West Virginia with another Mountain Hero, Larry Gibson, in protest of mountaintop removal mining. He hasn’t stop marching since.
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Debbie Jarrell
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Bo Webb
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"After mountaintop removal is over we will work to build sustainable economies within our communities. For now, we must focus on this fight, because we are fighting for our survival. We and the mountains are connected; one and the same. As they are being destroyed, so are we."
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Amber Whittington
Amber's younger brother is only five years old, and he will spend his entire childhood growing up next to a mountaintop removal mining site. For his sake, she's pledged to work to end mountaintop removal mining.
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Terry Tempest
Highly celebrated and decorated literary icon Terry Tempest Williams stands firmly against mountaintop removal mining. Williams' writings and books have earned her critical acclaim, and now she is using her vaunted name to try to stop this devastating mining practice and protect families across Appalachia. Join her.
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Jerry Cope
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Daryl Hannah
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Alex Honnold
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My Morning Jacket
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Mari-Lynn
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Joan Mulhern
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Maria Gunnoe
Maria's life has been threatened numerous times for her criticism of the coal industry, and she’s been assaulted and harassed, but she has refused to be silenced.
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Edward Norton
An actor and filmmaker, Edward Norton is standing with all Mountain Heroes in opposition to mountaintop removal mining.
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Larry Gibson
Considered the father of the movement to stop mountaintop removal mining, he travels the country in his signature fluorescent shirts educating the public on through his Keeper of the Mountains Foundation.
"We didn’t know what it was, or if it was legal to blow up a mountain. I mean, who does that? I just didn’t believe it, I couldn’t fathom it. But I was hearing it, and I was seeing it in the distance, and then finally I could throw a rock and hit it."
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Chuck Nelson
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Alexandra Cousteau
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Leilani Munter
A biology graduate who became a race car driver and environmental activist, Leilani is now directing her attention to the mining practice that is devastating Appalachia. She stands with all Mountain Heroes in opposition to mountaintop removal mining.
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Woody Harrelson
Woody Harrelson is an award-winning actor and longtime environmental activist, and a steadfast ally in the movement to stop mountaintop removal mining.
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Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
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