Shenandoah Mountain is a 75-mile long mountain that forms the border of the famous Shenandoah Valley. 115,000 acres of roadless areas on the mountain are being nominated by environmental and recreational groups for a potential National Scenic Area.
The proposed Shenandoah Mountain National Scenic Area offers a network of 150 miles of hiking, equestrian, and mountain biking trails, including the Wild Oak National Recreational Trail and the Shenandoah Mountain Trail, which is part of the new Great Eastern Trail.
Friends of Shenandoah, the organization behind the proposal, hopes to halt road construction and windmill development within the proposed area. Currently, there’s no federal legislation proposed to create the national scenic area. friendsofshenandoah.org.
Sleep for Your Health
30% of Americans only get 6 hours of sleep or less each night, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People who get less than 7 hours of sleep a night are 3 times more likely to get sick.
Better than Peanut Butter and Jelly
You like sex. You need exercise. Why not combine the two? That’s the gist behind the latest exercise craze, sexercising, which combines your ordinary bedroom activities with cardio burning, muscle building workouts. A new instructional book, Combo-Cising: The Science of Toning the Body and Relationship (xlibris. com) details the “ins and outs” of a variety of exercises, and the instructional DVD Screw the Gym (screwthe-gym.com) gives you similar info in classic workout video style.
Slow and Steadily Disappearing
Virginia’s Wood Turtle is one of the top 10 endangered species in the country. According to the Endangered Species Coalition, the turtle’s required habitat of cool, clean water in densely wooded areas is disappearing at the hands of development, especially in the ever-sprawling areas of Northern Virginia.
American Veggies: Poor taste, Less filling
Our mass-produced, fertilized produce has less taste and fewer nutrients than it did two generations ago. According to a report by the Journal of Horticultural Science, current American produce has between five and 40 percent fewer minerals than what was found in the harvests of 50 years ago. Synthetic fertilizers create dry matter in fruits and vegetables, which dilutes the nutritional con-tent and results in bland taste.
$825 million
Estimated clean-up cost of the TVA coal slurry spill in Eastern Tennessee.
Interactive
Pavetheappalachiantrail.org: A non-profit hoping to pave the entire length of the A.T. and build solar-powered refreshment kiosks every three miles that serve standard pub fare. Plans for a Tray Mountain Skybar and a Stecoah Gap Bed and Breakfast are in the works. The best part? It’s just a hoax.
Quote of note
“Mountaintop removal coal mining is devouring vast acreages of irreplaceable hardwood forests, filling our sacred hollows, burying precious headwa-ter streams, and eliminating wildlife habitat. And, with its monstrous equip-ment and mechanization, it is also eliminating coal miners’ jobs.”
– Actress and native Kentuckian Ashley Judd, speaking to hundreds at an I Love Mountains rally in Frankfort in late February
