On this episode of The Legislature Today, News Director Eric Douglas talks with Jim Brown, the executive director of the West Virginia School Board Association. The group represents the school boards in all 55 counties in West Virginia. They discuss pending legislation that will affect school systems and students.
On this episode of The Legislature Today, News Director Eric Douglas talks with Jim Brown, the executive director of the West Virginia School Board Association. The group represents the school boards in all 55 counties in West Virginia. They discuss pending legislation that will affect school systems and students.
Gov. Patrick Morrisey held a ceremonial bill signing event today where he signed Senate Bill 456, which defines “men” and “women.” Briana Heaney has that story.
The House of Delegates passed a bill pertaining to the appointment of mental hygiene commissioners, and the placement of residents in institutions due to mental health concerns. Jack Walker has the details.
The Senate Natural Resources Committee approved a bill Wednesday that would charge a $100 fee every time a protected bird, including bald eagles, is killed by wind turbines. A fiscal note attached to the bill said it would raise about $300,000 a year from the 376 wind turbines in the state. Senate Bill 21 now goes to the Senate Finance Committee.
And state and federal orders to repeal diversity, equity and inclusion programs have spurred organizational changes at Marshall University. As Randy Yohe reports, these changes are being met with mixed reviews from students.
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The Legislature Today is West Virginia’s only television/radio simulcast devoted to covering the state’s 60-day regular legislative session.
Watch or listen to new episodes Monday through Friday at 6 p.m. on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.
Senate Bill 21 would allow the Division of Natural Resources to collect $100 each time a wind turbine kills a protected bird, including bald eagles.
The West Virginia Senate Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday approved a fee for wind turbines every time they kill a protected bird.
Senate Bill 21 would allow the Division of Natural Resources to collect $100 each time a wind turbine kills a protected bird, including bald eagles.
According to a fiscal note, 6.86 birds and 1.2 bats are killed by a single turbine in a given year. There are 376 wind turbines in the state.
Other protected species include ravens, hawks, owls, woodcocks and golden eagles.
Quintana Hayden, senior director of wildlife and federal lands for the American Clean Power Association, spoke in opposition to the bill.
“The bald eagle population has been booming, as you’re probably aware, while we’ve continued to build out wind energy in the country,” she said.
Hayden told the committee that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service already manages the wildlife impacts of wind projects. The DNR estimates the bill would raise $300,000 a year in revenue.
This week, Affrilachian poet Frank X. Walker has a new collection of poetry that looks at Black life in Kentucky before, during, and after the Civil War.
We also check in with the people affected by flooding in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee.
A new collection of essays and poems remembers the 2022 flood in Eastern Kentucky witnessed by writers trapped at the Appalachian Writers Workshop.
And bird watching only sounds relaxing. Sometimes, it can get a little wild.
In This Episode
Frank X. Walker Explores The Civil War
Witnessing The Historic Flooding Of East Kentucky
The Historic Flooding in Western North Carolina and Tennessee
Endangered Birds of Appalachia
Frank X. Walker Explores The Civil War
Poet Frank X. Walker returns with his latest collection “Load In Nine Times.”
Courtesy
Kentucky poet Frank X. Walker co-founded the Affrilachian Poets Collective to challenge the idea that Appalachian identity is defined by whiteness. He’s published several collections and now has a new book, “Load in Nine Times.” Mason Adams spoke with him.
The Historic Flooding In Western North Carolina And Tennessee
Flooding caused by Hurricane Helene has devastated communities across western North Carolina and east Tennessee. Courtesy Blue Ridge Public Radio
Hurricane Helene left many without water, power or cell service in western North Carolina and east Tennessee. We heard reports from Gerard Albert III at Blue Ridge Public Radio and Riley Thompson at WUOT about communities struggling and coming together in the aftermath of the flood.
Witnessing The Historic Flooding Of East Kentucky
“Troublesome Rising” features writers who witnessed the 2022 flooding in Eastern Kentucky first-hand.
Courtesy photo
Flooding is not uncommon in Appalachia. In 2022, parts of Eastern Kentucky were also ravaged. Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle, an author from the Qualla Boundary, the territory of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina was at the Appalachian Writer’s Workshop in Hindman, Kentucky, when it was struck by the thousand-year flood. Her writing is included in the new anthology, “Troublesome Rising,” which compiles poetry and stories from writers who witnessed the flood.
B-P-R and Grist climate reporter Katie Myers spoke with Clapsaddle about flooding in the mountains.
Endangered Birds of Appalachia
Photographer and author Matt Williams hopes people who love watching birds can be encouraged to take a more active role in conservation.
Courtesy photo
Nature photographer Matt Williams hopes a passion for bird watching might lead people to conservation. He’s published three books of photographing wildlife, including his latest — “Endangered and Disappearing Birds of Appalachia and the Southeast.” Producer Bill Lynch spoke with Williams about the book.
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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Amethyst Kiah, Larry Rader, Jeff Ellis, John Blissard, Sierra Ferrell and Blue Dot Sessions.
Bill Lynch is our producer. Zander Aloi is our associate producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. We had help this week from folkways editor Jennifer Goren. You can find us on Instagram @InAppalachia.
You can send us an email: InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.
On this West Virginia Morning, nature photographer and conservationist Matt Williams has a passion for birds. His latest book is “Endangered and Disappearing Birds of Appalachia and the Southeast.” Bill Lynch spoke with Williams about the book and helping the bird population.
On this West Virginia Morning, nature photographer and conservationist Matt Williams has a passion for birds. His latest book is “Endangered and Disappearing Birds of Appalachia and the Southeast.” Bill Lynch spoke with Williams about the book and helping the bird population.
Also in this episode, Mountain Stage hosted two shows at The Franklin Theatre in Franklin, Tennessee this week. Our song of the week comes from the performance of Judith Owen, a Welsh singer-songwriter and self-described “drama queen.”
Owen and her band called the “Gentlemen Callers” performed the cult classic song “I Put A Spell On You,” originally recorded in 1956 by “Screamin’ Jay” Hawkins.
West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.
Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University and Marshall University School of Journalism and Mass Communications.
Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Marshall Health.
West Virginia Morning is produced with help from Bill Lynch, Briana Heaney, Caelan Bailey, Chris Schulz, Curtis Tate, Emily Rice, Eric Douglas, Jack Walker, Liz McCormick, Maria Young and Randy Yohe.
Eric Douglas is our news director. Maria Young produced this episode. Teresa Wills is our host.
Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning
As the sun set Thursday, an estimated 218 million birds across the continental United States began a journey southward.
Many people are familiar with migration, a process by which birds and other animal species ward off the winter by traveling toward food and warmth. But fewer people know that many birds never reach their destination.
“We’ve lost a lot of birds in our lifetimes,” said Joelle Gehring, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who studies bird migration. Gehring visited her agency’s National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown for a talk on bird conservation Thursday evening.
In 2019, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology found that the U.S. and Canada bird population has declined by roughly 3 billion since 1970, a loss of about 30 percent. In large part, Gehring said, the culprit is human development.
Many bird species are drawn to light, which means bright urban areas can steer them off their migratory course. Plus, more homes and buildings built across the country bring more sites for deadly collisions — especially from windows and glass, which birds generally do not recognize as a barrier.
The upper level of this building at the National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown has window coverings that appear opaque from the outside but translucent from the inside.
Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Covering windows and glass
Gehring said a common misconception is that tall buildings with lots of glass, like skyscrapers, cause most bird crashes. In fact, Gehring said more than 99 percent of collisions occur at low-rise buildings, like the numerous residential structures in any given town or city.
“When I first started thinking about this issue, I thought, ‘This is a tall building issue, right? This is (about) the skyscrapers in New York City. This doesn’t really apply to me as a homeowner,’” she said. “But it does. It applies to all of us.”
For starters, Gehring said residents can partially cover windows around their home to make them safer for birds but still usable. This could mean hanging paracord curtains over window frames, which tells birds not to dart straight into them.
If paracord is not aesthetically to taste for some residents, Gehring said there are also stickers that can be applied to windows that appear opaque from the outside but translucent from the inside.
This lets people indoors see through them, and also tells birds a barrier lies ahead — not the garden they see in the window’s reflection.
Or, instead of covering a window entirely, residents can place small, opaque stickers on their windows on a two-inch grid pattern. These stickers tell birds to slow down because they might be unable to fit if they fly straight ahead.
Opaque stickers placed on a window in a two-inch grid pattern tell birds a barrier they might not fit through lies ahead.
Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
The training center uses short, low-intensity and downward-facing outdoor lighting fixtures to reduce light pollution.
Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
For some households, modifying window structures may not be necessary at all. Screens placed on the outside of windows already pose a visual barrier that prevents collision.
Regardless of each resident’s approach, Gehring said taking any step toward covering a window, so long as it is done from its outer side, can make a difference in protecting birds. “Treating that glass to reduce bird collisions is incredibly important,” she said.
Reducing light pollution
As for lighting, Gehring said using lower-intensity, yellow-toned bulbs is less disruptive to migration, and causes less light pollution overall. So is using lighting structures that point toward the ground, not into the sky.
Plus, Gehring said residents and communities can consider simply using outdoor lighting less often, which can reduce both energy costs and light pollution.
During Thursday’s event, Randy Robinson, an outreach coordinator who works at the training center in Shepherdstown, showed attendees how these techniques are being used at the local facility.
By the spring, staff at the National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown hope to treat all windows on site to ensure bird do not fly into them.
Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
A growing number of windows now bear stickers or other coverings, and knee-high lights line the center’s many pathways. These low-to-the-ground structures light areas of interest for people walking by without brightening the area too much.
“It’s solar lighting, but it’s aimed at the ground so we don’t have light escaping and causing light pollution,” he said.
Robinson said the training center is currently working to cover all windows across its buildings. The facility began first with its higher-risk areas, like its largest windows, but hopes to use bird-safe infrastructure across the campus to serve as an example to the local community.
“Hopefully by spring, all of these windows are going to be done over the entire surface,” he said. “You’ve got to have it covering everything.”
For more information on how to make buildings and lighting safer for migratory birds, visit the United States Fish and Wildlife Service website.
A total of 20,000 quail are set to be stocked in seven locations around the state through October with 12,000 already having been released since August.
The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources is beginning a program to restock quail in the state’s wild areas.
Stocking is the process of raising birds up to a certain age before releasing them into a designated habitat. A total of 20,000 quail are set to be stocked in seven locations around the state through October with 12,000 already having been released since August.
Those locations include:
Cross Creek Wildlife Management Area
Pleasant Creek Wildlife Management Area
Huttonsville State Farm Wildlife Management Area
Burnsville Lake Wildlife Management Area
Frozen Camp Wildlife Management Area
Laurel Lake Wildlife Management Area
Greenbrier State Forest
The program, called the “Governor’s Quail Stocking Initiative,” is of personal interest to Gov. Jim Justice, who is an avid fowl hunter. He said he hopes to see a regeneration of 10 to 30 percent in the state’s population. “It’s a cheap way of introducing quail back into West Virginia, and a very hopeful way of getting significant regeneration,” Justice said. “And then off we go.”
Quail used to be a common sight in West Virginia, but habitat loss starting 50 years ago saw a massive decrease in their numbers. A previous attempt was made to reintroduce quail to West Virginia in 2020, releasing wild birds from Texas at the Tomblin Wildlife Management Area in Logan County.
