“If you could erase all the mistakes of your past, you would also erase all of the wisdom of your present. Remember the lesson, not the disappointment.” ~ Unknown
On the way to Robinson Forest, we passed a turnoff to an old Breathitt County strip mine turned elk viewing site. (here: 37.433216, -83.180975) We made such good use of our day that we had just enough time to check it out before supper. This scrub desert is what passes for reclamation, and this is much more advanced than many I’ve seen. Coal companies are supposed to replant trees. They never do. They throw hydroseed – which is a bunch of junk seed for vegetation that isn’t native – and it either grows or it doesn’t. Apparently, there was an Eastern species of elk in Kentucky, but they were reportedly long gone by the early 1800s. In 1997, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife “translocated” over 1,500 Rocky Mountain elk in Eastern Kentucky. Estimates put today’s herd around 10,000. I suppose they had to do something with all the stripped land since they weren’t going to put it back the way they found it like they were supposed to. I’d be interested to know how to introduction of elk has affected other wildlife in Eastern Kentucky, particularly deer. There are quite a few wild horses on abandoned strip mines, too. In fact, a beautiful white horse ran through the work site of the housing development in Knott County as we pulled up. When I said something about it to the crew, they said it happens all the time. In any case, we didn’t see any elk, but as usual with the folks in this class, we had great conversations about all things Appalachia, which now includes elk and wild horses.
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