Mountainz in the Hood
ŠiStockphoto.com/Thinkstock
READ MORE ABOUT:
While on a flight to Portland, Oregon last year, I looked out the window and my jaw dropped at the sight of Mount Hood. Moments like that make it easy to love mountains but—except for climbers and greedy coal executives—mountains often go underappreciated.
Reality Check: Mountaintop Removal
WATCH VIDEO: 100 Places to Remember Before They Disappear
Born in the glorious violence of two tectonic plates pressing against each other until the land lifts and folds over itself, mountains link the sky to the ocean floor (see #5 below) and have fired human (and animal?) imaginations since, well...forever.
Another Kind of Mountain:
5 Ways to Value a Mountain
1. Blown Up (in search of profits)
"Mountaintop removal involves clear cutting native hardwood forests, using dynamite to blast away as much as 600 feet of mountaintop, and then dumping the waste into nearby valleys, often burying streams. While the environmental devastation caused by this practice is obvious, families and communities near these mining sites are forced to contend with continual blasting from mining operations that can take place up to 300 feet from their homes and operate 24 hours a day. Families and communities near mining sites may also suffer from airborne dust and debris, contamination of their drinking water supplies, and flooding from broken slurry impoundments such as the Buffalo Creek disaster which left more than 100 dead and thousands homeless."
2. Climbable
3. Thirst-Quenching
Did you know that half of the world's population depends on mountain water?
|
| Thinkstock |
4. Diverse
In just the Colorado Rockies alone, you'll find:
- Quail
- Turkey
- Coyote
- Deer
- Moose
- Deer
- Mountain Lion
- Black Bear
- Badger
- Squirrel
- Bison
- Rattlesnake
- Geese
- Eagle
- Elk
- Wolf
5. With Geological Awe
Thin Air Linkage
Planet Earth Episode: Mountains
7 Reasons Why No One Should Ever Get Coal in Their Stocking
