USA - Strip Mining - Battle Over Blair Mountain

A young boy watches environmental activists, historians, and a few local West Virginia residents march through Boone and Logan counties in Southern West Virginia to protest mountain top removal and the plans to strip mine for coal Blair Mountain, a nationally recognized historical site. In 1921 union coal miners were stopped by the National Guard at Blair Mountain and a four day armed battle resulted, in which over one million rounds were fired. In 2011, the marchers retraced the 50 mile walk of the 1921 miners, although due to their environmental agenda, they did not have much local or union support. Although West Virginia imports billions of dollars of coal and still remains one of the poorest states in America, the local economy revolves around the few jobs left in the strip mining industry. | Location: Clothier, WVA, USA. (Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)