Roxy Todd, Author at West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Bald Eagles and Hawks Have Love Stories Too

This is a story about love, tragedy, and new beginnings.

Humans aren’t the only animals who have long term monogamous relationships. In Summers County, West Virginia, there’s a refuge and rehabilitation center for injured eagles, falcons, hawks, owls and songbirds. I visited the Three Rivers Avian Center (TRAC) this week. Surrounded by rehabilitating raptors, co-directors Ron and Wendy Perrone told me about a couple of “married” eagles who made the New River Gorge their home.

Refuge for Birds that Need Healing

Ron and Wendy Perrone have been directing the TRAC for 24 years, almost in long as the 28 years they’ve been married.

Gimli is an American Kestrel who is a permanent Educational Ambassador at the Three Rivers Avian Center. Photo courtesy of TRAC

Ron says humans aren’t the only ones who form powerful long-term bonds with their mates.

“We’ve heard of red tail hawks caring for a mate that’s been on the ground for years. Leading them to food and leading them to water and defending them. They’re amazing this way.”

Ron and Wendy Perrone work as a team, and together they’ve helped rescue nearly 4,000 birds.

But despite their hard work, and the efforts of the vets who donate their services, they still aren’t able to save every bird who comes to their center.

Last year a nine-year-old female bald eagle named Streaky was killed after she crashed into an Amtrak train.

Regis the bald eagle is a permanent educational ambassador at the Three Rivers Avian Center. He especially loves Wendy Perrone

Streaky’s mate Whitey was killed when he flew into the same train in 2013. For years, the pair had nested right along the road near TRAC. They raised about seven young eagles together. Many people, including Ron recalls what it was like to watch these wild eagles raising their young, year after year.

“They were very tender to each other. And very caring for each other. Lots of talking back and forth, back and forth. And it was just a joy to watch them.”

Robbie the Barred Owl is a permanent educational ambassador at the Three Rivers Avian Center

And like some human couples, this pair of eagles had a particular routine whenever they were adding to their nest.

“You know they would go breaking twigs and branches off trees when they were working on their nest. He would drag something in and he would fiddle with it and get it where he wanted, and she’s always would pick it up and move it. She was never satisfied with the way he arranged the furniture in the nest,” Ron said, laughing.

Wendy Perrone and Gimli, an American Kestrel who is a permanent educational ambassador at TRAC. Photo courtesy of TRAC

And unlike many smaller birds, male raptors and eagles even share some of the responsibility of raising the young. As a team, both parents play with their young and teach them to hunt.

“You know they can play with each other, they get up in the air. And when they get their young up there, and they have to teach them to catch stuff. One will have something in their mouth and they’ll throw it to the other one and see if the other one can catch it out of the air,” said Ron.

Nine-year-old female bald eagle named Streaky and her mate was a favorite for many people throughout Summers County. After being hit first by a train, then a truck, plus suffering from lead poisoning, she finally passed away in April, 2014. Photo courtesy of TRAC

That game almost sounds like Quidditch, doesn’t it?

Lead Poisoning Discovered in Streaky

Last year, after Streaky the bald eagle hit by the same train that killed her mate in 2013, she returned to their nest for nine days, trying to re-coop. But when she went out for food she ran straight into a truck. Wendy and Ron found Streaky and brought her to their refuge. They tested her for lead poisoning- which causes brain damage and disorientation in many birds of prey.

“She came in contaminated with lead, which we expected. You know, they come in because they’ve been hit by a car, right? Well you test them for lead and find out they’ve got a good load of it. Well it turns out they were flying drunk, basically,” Wendy recalled.

Lead poisoning- which very well could be the reason Streaky and Whitey both had their accidents- comes from eating fish and other meat that’s contaminated. But if Wendy and Ron can catch it in time, they usually have a lot of success cleaning it out of a raptor’s system.

They did get Streaky’s lead levels down, but her injuries were just too extensive, and she died at their refuge.

New Beginnings

But Wendy says that a new pair have taken up house in Streaky and Whitey’s old nest, named Brooks and Sandy (named after the Summers County towns of Brooks and Sandstone)

“They’re hanging out there, they’re adding to the nest. There’s lots of mating going on, and lots of lovin back and forth. And so we have hopes for chicks in the nest this year,” Wendy reported.

In the New River Gorge, the bald eagle population is growing. This January, 56 bald eagles were counted here.

Three Rivers Avian Center (“TRAC”) is a private 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to wild bird conservation and to educating and involving people in ecosystem stewardship. Founded in 1990, TRAC’s 103 acre facility is located in the southern portion of the New River Gorge National River, between Sandstone and Hinton in Summers County, West Virginia. TRAC also has a number of educational programs across West Virginia. Click here to see their calendar of upcoming events. Telephone: (304) 466-4683.

Love Letters From Thomas, W.Va., Addressed: "Dear Fellow Human"

Valentine’s day isn’t a favorite holiday for all people- especially not people who aren’t in a romantic relationship. But what about a bundle of unexpected letters, written by strangers from a little town far away? Well a town in West Virginia is about to receive about 700 love letters. These letters express well wishes- even for those who claim to be left out of Valentine’s Day.

Last year, folks in Thomas, W.Va. hand-wrote hundreds of letters to send to another small town that was chosen, basically, at random. The idea was to remind people that someone out there, someone they’ve never even met, really, and genuinely cares.

Gail Snyder lives in Madrid, New Mexico. Last winter, she was one of the people who received one of these love letters. “It was this total surprise, and everyone had their own private experience of going to their mailbox and finding this mysterious thing in the mailbox. It was addressed to fellow human being,” Gail recalled.

The front of one of the cards. Courtesy of Carol Carpenter.

Back of a card. Courtesy of Carol Carpenter.

These whimsical letters were part of a community art project, organized by Art Spring. Audrey Stephenson is an AmeriCorps volunteer who helped organize the project. “Well I thought it was an amazing idea right off the bat. Just what a sweet thing to do,” she said.

Seth Pitt first had the idea. He’s an artist who co-owns and operates The White Room Art Gallery in Thomas.

“I used to write letters to strangers. And I thought it would even be a little more impactful if everyone was sitting around in a room together, all trying to send out good will to their fellow humans on this earth. I do think that a large part of this project, its goal is to not feel so isolated from one another,” said Seth.

"It gave us all hope I think. You know, hope that we aren't just these isolated communities struggling."-Gail Snyder, Madrid, NM.

People who live in the towns of Thomas and Madrid learned that they do share some similarities- they’re both former coal mining towns, which have had to find other ways to survive when the coal mines in their towns shut down.

One town in the desert and another in the Appalachian mountains, somehow connected by these little pages of art.

“It gave us all hope I think. You know, hope that we aren’t just these isolated communities struggling,” said Gail Snyder.

So last year, the residents in Madrid were inspired to start their own project, and they sent similar letters to a small town in Arizona. So far, Gail says, they haven’t heard back.

The back of the Christmas tree drawing. Courtesy of Jane Cassidy.

But some of the people in Madrid have actually formed pen-pal relationships with people in Thomas.

“One of the coolest stories was one of the kids around here she sent a little piece of her art. And it landed in the mailbox of an artist who lived out there. And the lady replied to her and kind of critiqued her art and told her what she liked about it. And that prompted the girl who lived here to send her another piece of art. And they’re still exchanging letters to this day,” said Seth.

The last few weeks, Seth, Audrey, and other folks in Thomas have begun another letter writing campaign- this time for residents of a small town in West Virginia. “I don’t know if I want to tell you the town because then they’ll all know that they’re coming. And we’d kind of like it to be a surprise,” said Seth.

So for now, we’ll leave it a mystery for you to ponder. But I will say this, all you cynics out there, watch out. Because a stranger could disarm all of your objections to Valentine’s Day with a singular, unexpected love letter, reminding you that someone out there, someone who doesn’t even know your name, sends their love.

We’ll find out where Thomas sends their letters this year in a few weeks, when they receive their letters. interviews the recipients. If you want to try this in your town, Audrey Stephenson and the people in Thomas strongly recommend that you first contact your local postmaster for assistance. Mass mailings can be very complicated, especially those that are being sent to rural route box holders.

French Creek Freddie and Concord Charlie Both Predict an Early Spring

West Virginia’s groundhogs both predicted an early spring this year. At the West Virginia Wildlife Center Monday morning, the groundhog named French Creek Freddie did not see his shadow. At Concord University, Concord Charlie also did not see his shadow.
However, in Pennsylvania, Punxsutawney Phil did see his shadow and predicts six more weeks of winter.
Who is French Creek Freddie?

Back in 1978 the superintendent here, at what used to be called the French Creek Game Farm, was Bill Vanscoy. And he said a newspaper reporter called him the day before Groundhog Day, and asked him if they had a groundhog and if it had seen its shadow. Mr. Vanscoy told the reporter whatever was appropriate to the weather they were having. Then the reporter asked what the groundhog’s name was. Mr. Vanscoy said it was French Creek Freddie, and it just took off from there.

The Game Farm is now called the West Virginia Wildlife Center, where I met Kenny Hall. He’s been the handler for French Creek Freddie for over two decades. “I’ve been here for 24 years, and on February 2^nd we do it just to break up the long winter that it has been. And we see the chance for an early spring.”

Two years ago, Kenny also took on a new role as the official French Creek Mascot. That means that he’s the one who wears the copper toned groundhog costume. And of course he also wears a giant black top- hat. But for the real French Creek Freddie, Groundhog Day is, among other things, probably the most confusing day of the year.

“I know one year he was really lively and he took out and ran out over the pen. So we had to go get him and bring him to the camera (he was kind of camera shy). We’ve seen a lot of different activities. When you’re using a live animal, and it’s been woken up for that day, you could see just about anything.”

For Groundhog Day, the center gives out free hot chocolate and cookies to the crowd. Judy Channell also works at the West Virginia Wildlife Center, and she helps organize the public event.

“And the kids make posters, you know, ‘We Love Freddie’, and people are just showing Freddie a lot of love, so we want to provide them a good time and, you, know, let them know they came for a reason.”

What began in the 1970s as a sort of inside joke between the superintendent here and the media has turned into a major event for this small town.

The crowd at Groundhog Day 2014. Photo courtesy West Virginia Wildlife Center.

“Our attendance has gone up tremendously. Last year it was on a Sunday and we had an attendance of over 400 people. And people are really getting into it. They come wearing hats and they make posters and bring them, and they’re just really getting into French Creek Freddie. It’s really getting to be a popular event. We had some folks last year that traveled from Georgia. They had been to Punxatawney, to see Phil, and they were gonna work their way around the country to see the different groundhogs and last year was their turn to come and see French Creek Freddie,” said Judy Channel.

And it all leads me to ask this: Why do all these people travel here, in the dead of winter, to see a sleepy groundhog?

“I think it’s like Kenny said, you go through Christmas and Thanksgiving and all that, you know all that rush, and then it just kind of slows down and you’ve got two, two and a half months of winter weather to look forward to. And I think Groundhog day is just a good opportunity to get out regardless of what the weather is. And then it’s uplifting to know that if Freddie doesn’t see his shadow, we’ve got an early spring. … in six weeks you’re gonna see better weather. It’s something to look forward to,” said Judy.

And while the tradition of groundhog day might seem silly, there is a biological reason why the tradition exists- this is the natural time when groundhogs usually begin to wake from their hibernation.

“We have seen in the last week or so, a groundhog out in the wild. So these ones that we’ve got in the real consistent temperature right now, are probably still asleep. But in the next 2-3 days they’ll probably wake up,” said Kenny.

Every now and then, though, French Creek Freddie’s biological clock is a little bit late.

Two of French Creek Freddie’s biggest fans. Photo courtesy of the West Virginia Wildlife Center.

“If he is asleep, we will just pick him up. And that’s only happened twice in the 22 years that I’ve been here. But he could be hibernating this year. Cause we haven’t seen him on his own yet,” Kenny said.

French Creek Freddie and Punxsutawney Phil don’t always agree. In 2014, French Creek Freddie called for an early spring. Punxsutawney said 6 more weeks of winter. Who was right? that’s still up for debate. In 2015, both the groundhogs made the same predictions as last year.

The West Virginia Wildlife Center is open Monday-Sunday. There is a $3 admission for adults and $1.50 for children. The West Virginia State Wildlife Center is located in Upshur County in north-central West Virginia, 12 miles south of Buckhannon on State Route 20. From the north take exit 99 off Interstate 79 and follow State Route 33 east approximately 12 miles to Buckhannon and turn south on State Route 20. Coming from the south, take exit 67 off Interstate 79 at Flatwoods and follow State Routes 19 and 4 north approximately 30 miles to Rock Cave and Route 20. Follow State Route 20 North for 2 miles to the center.

Who is Concord Charlie?

Another groundhog in West Virginia also saw his shadow- Concord Charlie of Concord University. Every Groundhog Day since 1978, Concord Charlie has been making prediction and insights on the duration of winter. The President of Concord University confers briefly with the groundhog and then relays the forecast to guests at an annual breakfast.

0202ConcordCharlieSPOT.mp3

The Concord Charlie tradition was originated in 1978 by the late Professor R.T. “Tom” Hill. As chairman of both the Geography department and the Appalachian Studies program at Concord, Hill started the Groundhog Day Breakfast as a means to celebrate a bit of Appalachian heritage and highlight the program.

But there’s a different Groundhog Watcher each year. The Grand Groundhog Watcher honor is bestowed on an individual who has positively impacted life and culture in West Virginia.

This year the prestigious position is held by the University’s Head Football Coach, Garrin Justice.

The Grand Groundhog Watcher usually gives a colorful speech at the breakfast.

Justice led the Mountain Lions through an unprecedented season in 2014 that included a conference championship, region championship and an appearance in the national semifinals.

Congress Considers Bill to Fast Track Gas Pipeline Projects, and it Could Affect West Virginians

On January 21, the US. House of Representatives passed House Resolution 161, known as the Natural Gas Pipeline Permitting Reform Act. The resolution directs the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to approve or deny pipeline projects within 12 months after receiving a complete application.

In West Virginia, there are at least two major pipeline projects in the pre-filing stage with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC. The Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Mountain Valley Pipeline will each go through environmental analysis and a public comment period before being approved or denied by the Federal Government. Tamara Young Allen, spokesperson with FERC, says this process normally takes 12-18 months.

Proposed route for the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which is a joint venture of EQT Midstream Partners, LP and NextEra US Gas Assets, LLC.

“The commission will look at all potential aspects of the environmental impact of a project, and that includes cultural resources, wetlands, endangered species, impacts on waterways, geology, agricultural land, etc,” Allen said.

The House of Representatives recently passed a resolution, which, if it became a law, would direct FERC to shorten the length of time it reviews all pipeline projects to one year. If FERC fails to review a given project within that time, the resolution states, the project should automatically be approved.

“We should not be allowing these permits to go for years before they are approved or denied,” said Representative David McKinley of W.Va., one of the co-sponsors of the Natural Gas Pipeline Permitting Reform Act. He also co-sponsored H.R. 351, known as the LNG Permitting Certainty and Transparency Act. H.R. 351 requires the Department of Energy to expedite its decisions regarding natural gas export facilities (within 30 days of receiving a completed environmental review).

McKinley said he supports these two resolutions because more infrastructure in the natural gas industry is needed to help bring more construction and manufacturing jobs to West Virginia, like the proposed cracker plant in Wood County. McKinley said natural gas and liquified natural gas (LNG) from West Virginia could eventually be transported to overseas markets.

“Oh my yes. We need to be exporting our natural gas, our LNG. If the Ukraine situation is an example, just one example… by virtue of not having to get exported gas from America, they had to rely on Russia,” said Rep. McKinley.

“It’s a very interconnected issue here, whether we want to continue to get natural gas. And secondly then a pipeline to get it to market. And one of the biggest markets is going to be exporting.”

But the prospect of exporting West Virginia’s natural gas concerns many West Virginian landowners, including Cookie Cole, whose family has been living in the area for five generations.

“The gas, it’s not going to benefit us whatsoever, and it will be running two billion cubic feet of gas a day through our county, and it’s headed to export terminals. Why should we destroy our county so somebody else could benefit from it?” said Cookie Cole.

Determining whether citizens would benefit from a pipeline project— and whether a pipeline would have significant, lasting impacts on their land– are some of the questions that the FERC explores during their extensive review process.

Jody Mohr, with the West Virginia Sierra Club, says that for the FERC review to work, the agency needs time to consider all the issues.

“The pipelines that we’re hearing so much about, we’ve never seen pipelines this large. The potential impact radius of a 42 inch pipeline explosion are just massive. The difficulty- should something go wrong, of getting to these areas! And again, protecting our wildlife and habitat.”

Mohr is describing the proposed 550 mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline, which could run through two National Forests in West Virginia.

Meanwhile, H.R. 161, the Natural Gas Pipeline Permitting Reform Act, and H.R. 351, LNG Permitting Certainty and Transparency Act, have both been approved by the House of Representatives in Washington DC. Whether or when these bills might be taken up by the Senate is unclear.

Click here to make a comment to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission about the Mountain Valley Pipeline [docket number PF15-3-000] or the Atlantic Coast Pipeline [docket number PF15-6-000]

Click here to make a comment to the U.S. Forest Service, which is considering whether to issue a special use permit to Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC, which would allow the company to conduct site survey and testing in a 17.1-mile segment of the Monongahela National Forest and 12.6 miles of the George Washington National Forest.

Haunting Banjo Tune Inspired by Coal Miner's Struggle

Songwriter Sam Gleaves was inspired by the story of Sam Williams, a former coal miner who was harassed at work for being gay.

Sam Gleaves is a musician who grew up playing old time mountain music in Southwestern Virginia. His songs have a high lonesome, old-time sound. Their roots are deep in Appalachia, and the stories they tell explore some bitter truths about how hard it can be to be different here. I met up with Gleaves at his home in Berea, KY to talk about one song in particular.

Sam Gleaves says he’s been drawn to music since he was kid in Rural Retreat, Virginia. He loved to listen to Bob Dylan and Stevie Nicks. “I was always interested in songs that told stories about real people and real emotion. So I was drawn to folk music.”

When he was 12, he got a guitar and started playing along with the radio, picking out the chords.“I’d been teaching myself to play the guitar for about a year or so, and my mom said ‘there’s a fella over there in Rural Retreat that teaches music lessons in his barber shop.’ So I went in his barber shop for the first time. There were two young men playing an old time dance tune. And I had never seen that, up close and personal in that way. Just to think it was just two guys it was really amazing to me.”

Sam Gleaves started taking lessons from that barber, an old time musician whose name was Jim Lloyd. Last spring Sam graduated from Berea college in Berea, KY, where he studied oral history and played in the college’s bluegrass band. Now, he’s turning his attention towards something other than traditional old time music. He’s producing an album of original songs called Aint We Brothers. The title song is based on the true story of a coal miner from West Virginia who was harassed and threatened at work after his co-workers discovered he was gay.

I was born here just the same as you/ Another time, another day

I’m sure the good Lord took his time/ Making each of us just this way

I walked beside you step by step/ And it never crossed my mind

That I would grow up one of the different kind

“I wanted to write the song about what it means to be a man. LGBTQ folks in Appalachia have a particularly complex identity because because you have modern queer culture, which is very urban, and very young feeling. And then there’s what we think about Appalachian culture- having deep roots and being rural. But then you have people that belong to both of those identities. Like as a gay man who grew up in southwestern Virginia, I have to claim my whole self,” said Gleaves.

The coal miner who inspired his song recently sent Sam Gleaves an email, letting him know how much he enjoyed hearing the song. The coal miner, also named Sam, used to be known as Sam Hall. He married his partner Burley Williams in D.C. back in 2010, and recently took his husband’s name. Sam and Burley Williams live in a small town a few miles outside of Charleston W.Va.

Sam Williams is 32 years old, tall and muscular, with hands that are chiseled from the seven years they’ve spent cutting coal from these hills. But he’s not a coal miner anymore. He quit Massey energy in 2010 after working as a miner for seven years. I spent an evening at their home. At their kitchen table, I ate a nectarine while Burley Williams cooked burritos. Sam Williams talked about what happened when his coworkers found out he was gay.

“Not that I ever even told them that I was gay. They just watch, follow, see me come out of a bar, automatically stereotype me. I faced a lot of things in the mines. I’ve been told that they hope all faggots die. There’s a fine line between someone saying that they’re joking and somebody looking you in the eye and saying it and knowing that that’s what they meant. But when it’s your supervisors it’s a whole different ball game.”

Then I asked him about Sam Gleaves’ song. Williams said he thinks it’s a very powerful song, especially the verse that goes:

First things first I’m a Blue-collared man

With scars on my knuckles, dust on my hands

Probably wouldn’t have ever known

I’ve got a man waiting on me at home

“Yes, that relates to me so much because I know that Burley was waiting for me at home. He’d wait for me until I got in and then he’d have dinner waiting on me, even if I got in at 3:00 in the morning,” said Williams.

Burley and Sam Williams were married in D.C. in 2010. Last year when same sex marriage became legally recognized in West Virginia, Sam took his husband’s name.

He and Burley have lived together since 2009. The first years they were dating, Sam Williams was dealing with the worst of the harassment and threats from his co-workers. Burley says there were nights when he feared for Sam’s life.

“And they messed with his vehicle, like scratched ‘Quit Fag’,” says Burley Williams. Sam’s co-workers “took the wheel weights off his tires. It was nerve-wracking because when he didn’t come home, I had to go out drive to the mines and go search for him. I’m thinking someone’s shot him on the side of the road.”

Sam’s co-workers even came to their house late at night to bang on their door. To protect himself and Sam, Burley bought his very first gun. He also got a concealed weapon permit, in case they were ever confronted when they went out in public.

“You always know that there’s hate out there. There’s individually people that never will be accepting of gay individuals. So you do have to take precautions to protect yourself and your family and your loved ones,” said Burley Williams.

Sam Williams relaxing with his two dogs Bella and Lacy.

Sam Williams finally had had enough, and he quit his job in 2010. He sued his former employer, Massey Energy for sexual harassment.

He couldn’t sue for discrimination, because in West Virginia it’s legal to discriminate against people who are gay. State law prohibits discriminating against people on the basis of sex or race – but the law doesn’t include sexual orientation. The same is true of other states in Appalachia, like Kentucky and Virginia.

Andrew Schneider is the Executive Director of Fairness West Virginia, a gay rights advocacy group. The group is trying to pass a law that would make it illegal to discriminate against an employee based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

“It’s particularly, I think, risky now, that we have marriage equality, because you can get married on Sunday and fired on Monday. Marriage, in some ways, makes our relationships in the gay community more visible. You are more prone to having your picture of your loved one on your desk. You’re more likely to wear your wedding ring. You want to talk with your co-workers about what you did with your family over the weekend. We never expected we would get marriage before we got non-discrimination,” said Andrew Schneider.”

Even without that legal protection, Sam Williams was able to get a settlement from his former employer. In 2011, Massey Energy was bought out by Alpha Natural Resources, and the new owners agreed to settle Sam’s case out of court. Alpha declined to comment on the case, but they did send an email saying the company “is committed to a workplace that is free of discrimination and where all employees, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation, are treated fairly and with respect.”

Still, Sam Williams says he doesn’t think it would be safe to go back to mining. Now he works as a manager at a Dollar General.

“I do miss running good coal. I miss being top dogs on the coal crew- before everything started getting more violent. If there was a perfect world out there I’d love to be a coal miner again. But it’ll never happen again…more than likely. But it was fun.”

But it wasn’t fun once he had to look over his shoulder all the time, worried that somebody he worked with would follow through on their threats to kill him.

Even years later, Sam Williams still seems hurt that the people he thought were his close friends turned against him. In the song about him, the coal miner has a conversation with his co-workers. In the song, the miner tells them he’s still the true West Virginian he always was. That doesn’t change just because he’s gay.

To tell you the truth, I don’t want to fight

I just want to say one thing outright to you:

Ain’t we flesh and blood too?

And ain’t we brothers too?

Sam Gleaves is currently recording his debut album Aint We Brothers in Nashville, TN. The album is being produced by Cathy Fink and will be released this May.

Our story on Sam Gleaves and Sam Williams was reported by Roxy Todd, in collaboration with a new podcast WVPB is working on called Us & Them. Us & Them explores how Americans are divided along cultural fault lines. Listen for new episodes this spring.

West Virginia Board of Education Hears Debate on Science Standards for Teaching Climate Change

The West Virginia Board of Education rescinded a proposal on Wednesday on teaching requirements for education science standards on climate change.

Over a hundred people flooded the board room at the state capitol, many of them because of a controversial addition to the science curriculum for k-12 grade students.

Recognizing their concerns, the board voted to place the proposal back on a 30-day public comment period.

The vote came at the suggestion of Clayton Burch, the Department of Education’s chief academic officer. “It’s important to get it right.”

Next Generation is West Virginia’s version of Common Core.

About 7 people spoke against the motion to withdraw the policy. Two were staff of CFACT, a D.C. based nonprofit that promotes the theory that global warming is caused by natural cycles in the earth’s atmosphere.

“Let me categorically state up front, there is absolutely no scientific consensus on the issue of climate change,” said Craig Rucker, who lives in Virginia, and makes over $100,000 working to generate more public debate about Climate Change.

Rucker has also been mentoring a Marshall University student, Caitlyn Grimes, a Political Science major, who told the board they are wrong to continue to teach climate change as dogma.

Humans are causing climate change, according to the Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change.

Here in West Virginia, however, not everyone is convinced. But not all West Virginians are climate deniers. Jim Sconyers lives in Preston County and is a retired math and science teacher. He’s also President of the West Virginia Sierra Club and says climate change is a reality.

“As a teacher, I would have been furious to espouse falsehoods and propaganda from the fossil fuel industry’s well-oiled misinformation campaign as science. I am really sorry to see that this episode has made West Virginia a national and international laughing stock,” Sconyers said.

A dozen environmentalists like Sconyers spoke against the new science standards that would encourage students to debate whether or not climate change is a reality. The changes to the standards were made last fall, at the request of state school board member Wade Linger. He had said he didn’t believe human-influenced climate change is a “foregone conclusion.”

“I simply asked that people take a look at the wording of the proposed standards and ask themselves, ‘Does that really restrict students from being taught all of the theories about global warming. And it restricts nothing,” said Linger.

Although the board voted to withdraw the policy with Linger’s changes, the way climate change is taught in public schools in West Virginia could continue to be a debate. Beginning next week, the public will have 30 days to comment on the latest version of the state’s scientific standards, for a policy that will go into effect July 2016. For more information about making a comment, visit the state’s website.