History made: March on Blair Mountain is a hard-earned success

Last week, six hundred people set out from Marmet, WV for the March on Blair Mountain, a fifty-mile effort calling for an end to mountaintop removal, preservation of historic Blair Mountain, and good jobs for Appalachia. And last Saturday, after five days and fifty miles of marching, nearly two thousand marchers and supporters triumphantly ended the march with a rally at the foot of Blair Mountain, covered here with video by local station WOWK. 

By most measures, the march was a roaring success. The marchers toughed it out and stayed safe through hot weather, narrow, dangerous roadways, and some funny business at several of their planned camping areas. 

Jordan Freeman produced this video in which you can see the conditions during the final days of the march:

Final days of the March on Blair Mountain from jordan freeman on Vimeo.

And DC photographer Jay Mallin offers a 10 minute wrap up focusing on the historical value of the mountain, which Bobby Kennedy called "the Gettysburg of the union movement in our country" in his speech at the final rally: 

Saving Blair Mountain from Jay Mallin on Vimeo.

Not only regional and independent media but also several national and Beltway outlets covered the march, garnering much-needed nationwide attention for the struggle against mountaintop removal and for economic and social justice in Appalachia. 

• The Associated Press story on the march was picked up across the country. The Wall Street Journal covered the march, and an op-ed about the march from West Virginian Jon Gensler ran in the Christian Science Monitor.
• CNN's Soledad O'Brien attended the final rally and did reporting that will be included in a CNN special on the mountaintop removal debate to air in August. You can read her story on the march here, and you can also watch a preview of the hour-long special here.
• Bobby Kennedy, Jr. vigorously promoted the march on the Huffington Post and elsewhere.

In addition to those who sacrificed their time, their hearts, and their shoe leather marching in West Virginia, thousands walked alongside the marchers in spirit.  That includes all of us here at NRDC and every one of you who took action throughout the week. We'd like to say to all the march organizers and participants, and every person who followed along virtually: thank you, and congratulations on all your hard work, courage, and success.

After such an outstanding effort, the obvious question is, what next? What will be the political impact of this unprecendented, unified front of Appalachians and allies seeking change? Between the March on Blair Mountain, the success of the The Last Mountain film, and lawmakers' recent focus on mountaintop removal regulation, the public spotlight on this issue is growing brighter and hotter. What could that mean? I'll turn to this question in my next post.