Tree Sitters Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Six Years Living Next To The Mountain Valley Pipeline

Coles and Theresa “Red” Terry have been fighting over the Mountain Valley Pipeline nearly since it was first proposed in 2014. The project connects natural gas terminals in Virginia and West Virginia with a 303-mile pipeline that stretches across some of Appalachia’s most rugged terrain. Almost immediately after construction began, protestors tried to block it by setting up and living in platforms in trees along the route.

This story originally aired in the March 24, 2024 episode of Inside Appalachia.

Coles and Theresa “Red” Terry have been fighting over the Mountain Valley Pipeline nearly since it was first proposed in 2014.

The project connects natural gas terminals in Virginia and West Virginia with a 303-mile pipeline that stretches across some of Appalachia’s most rugged terrain. Almost immediately after construction began, protesters tried to block it by setting up and living in platforms in trees along the route.

Theresa Terry, better known as “Red,” was one of those tree sitters, and she stood out. She was in her 60s — and she wasn’t just an activist. She was tree-sitting on her own land. Back in 2018, Inside Appalachia Host Mason Adams interviewed her from on the ground, outside a police barrier that had been set up to prevent her from receiving supplies from her supporters.

Red Terry looks down from her tree sit against the Mountain Valley Pipeline in 2018.

*Photo Credit: Mason Adams/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Not long after the interview, Red was forced out of the trees by a judge who threatened her with a $1,000 per day fine. But Red and her husband Coles have continued to fight the pipeline in court.

Since Congress approved a law that included a provision to force completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, they’ve been seeing construction crews again. Adams wanted to learn more about what’s happened in the six years since Red came down from her tree sit. So he ventured out to Bent Mountain, Virginia, to talk to Red and Coles on their family land.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length.

Adams: How long have y’all lived on this land here in Roanoke County? Did you grow up here?

Coles: I didn’t grow up up here. I grew up in town. My dad, he was an insurance agent. He had his own business. I grew up in Roanoke, but this property’s been in my family for, you know, several generations. We’ve lived up here since we got married. We were married in the front yard, and pretty much came back from our honeymoon into this house.

Red and Cole Terry embrace after she came down from more than a month in her tree sit in 2018.

*Photo Credit: Mason Adams/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Adams: So I remember the kind of pipeline being announced. When did y’all learn that the Mountain Valley Pipeline was supposed to come through this property?

Coles: March 28, 2015. We got a letter from the county telling us that our property was one of their proposed routes. Two-hundred and two landowners were served at one time, because it was just quicker and easier to take us all to court. I think we got one offer from them. It was a ridiculously low offer. [We] just said no, and the next thing I know, I’m being sued for eminent domain. There was no negotiating, there was no coming by and talking, “Hey, this is what we can do,” sitting down and talking to you about anything. It’s just, “Hey, no, we’re taking it. This National Gas Act allows us to do that. It put it in the national interest.” Unfortunately, the national interest doesn’t include also protecting people’s personal property, the water or people’s well-beings. It’s just, “It’s in the natural interest to get this pipeline in the ground and pumping gas.

Adams: That was 2018. Here we are now in 2024. I drove in and there are still visible pipeline crews.

Coles: Oh yeah. Everywhere.

Adams: What’s it like to live next to that for six years? How do you come to terms with that?

Coles: For a while, you still had the hopes that, because they were still working on getting all their permits and we were still commenting, and we were still meeting with people in these organizations who were supposedly there to prevent anything going wrong, [they’d] step up and say, “Hey!” But they just kept getting, “Well, this, this looks good to us. This looks fine. There’s nothing to see here. Go ahead. You can do what you need to do.” It just gets more and more disheartening every day. We’re still fighting. They’re still ongoing. We’re taking pictures. We’re trying to show where the sediment’s coming in, and, they’re basically not even getting a slap on the wrist anymore.

I don’t even want to be outside. I don’t want to hear them. Just the fact that I know they’re there is hard enough on me. It’s tough sometimes. Right now, I can hear them when I go outside. I can’t see them because they have finished burying the pipe behind my house for the most part. They still have to test it and then restore it and everything. But that could still take years.

Red Terry crosses a creek near her home just after coming down from a tree sit in 2018.

*Photo Credit: Mason Adams/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Adams: Red, you showed me your photo roll, and a lot of photos with the sedimentation and the slime. I remember you scrolled down a good way, and I was overwhelmed in a way, because you had other photos of family and things like that. But so much of your photo roll was just documenting this damage. Like every day when you drive out, you’re just surrounded by it. And you’re dealing with a bureaucracy that seems unresponsive. So I’m wondering, what keeps you going? What gives you hope? What helps you get up and keep fighting this battle day after day, after day?

Coles: For me? I guess it’s the hope that maybe somebody somewhere will will say, “Yeah, we need to stop this or slow this down.” A lot of it, too, is tried to stop it from happening to somebody else. They’re now proposing another pipeline that’s going to be just as big as this one and just as bad as this one. I admire President Biden for halting any new LNG [liquefied natural gas] buildout. We’re already one of the biggest exporters of LNG in the world. The UK and European nations are trying to get away from LNG, and so the market for that is going to collapse. But we’re going to force the country to build more infrastructure to support it. We don’t know where it’s even gonna go.

Red: From day one, it has been nothing but lies. When your daughter — who is just as mean and ornery and, in my eyes, perfect — looks at you and says, “I won’t be alive in two years,” because this bomb’s gonna go off. And we are in the blast zone. I’m 600 yards from that bomb. Everybody up here on this mountain right now, including myself, have pipes floating in water. That one out there floated in over four feet of water for a month. They came in and took two pumps to pump it dry, heat it up, welded it, threw it in there and covered it with mud. You’re not supposed to cover it with mud. But hey, okay, they’re in a hurry. They don’t have to really do anything that they’re supposed to do.

What gets me up in the morning? I don’t want to get up in the morning. I don’t want to do anything. I have so much **** to do, and I’m paralyzed.

Adams: So now MVP is telling investors and the press that they expect to be completed this spring. What do you all foresee in the future? What do you expect will happen?

Coles: Do I think they’ll be done by the end of March? I see pictures of pipe still above ground. I don’t know how long it’s going to take them to bore under [Interstate] 81. I know there’s some really hard rock there. I know that they might have finished one of the bores at my sister’s, but it took them a lot longer than they thought it was going to. They’re still blasting over there.

So, either they’ve given up boring or they’re just digging through, I’m not sure. I find it hard to believe this pipeline will be in service by the end of the first quarter of this year. “In-service” means a lot of different things to me. Even if the whole pipe’s in the ground, it still has to be tested. The right-of-way has to be restored. FERC [Federal Energy Regulatory Commission] still has to approve it. I was told that it could take ‘til 2026 or 2027 to get everything restored.

Adams: That thing you said about Minor [their daughter] saying she doesn’t expect to be alive in three years?

Coles: Yes. Because she thinks once they start putting gas in this thing, it’s going to rupture and explode.

Red: This is one of the steepest, unbelievable, someone sitting in an office drawing a line. And I understand what they did because they have tried to go to the largest landowners so that they don’t have that many fights, so they don’t have that much opposition.

Coles and Theresa “Red” Terry at their home in Bent Mountain, Virginia.

*Photo Credit: Mason Adams/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Adams: When I was a cub reporter at the Roanoke Times and somebody gets shot and killed, you’d have to go to talk to their family — like that level of grief. That’s what this feels like.

Red: When Coles and I got married, and when we moved up here, this wall was falling in. This was screens that had been ripped and torn. These boards under here were this wide and they were spaced to have plenty of room between them. And my dearest husband hooked a come-along to a tree out here and pulled the house back out, put in the drop ceiling, put in the staircase here, put in the windows. We laid some floor, put some carpet down, opened the door. And every morning, every ******* morning. I would get up — my kids got me blinds to close for the MVP, I’ve never had blinds up — but every morning I would go out here and look, and just stand there and look, and think to myself, “I must be the luckiest person alive to have this view.”

Now, every time I look, I see the flags. I see the damage. I see the destruction. And I mean, my view, my hike through there, my apple orchard on the top where I went mushroom hunting, and all the critters in the world up here went up to that top orchard. Because the trees were so big. I had one up there that just produced so much. And all of that is now part of their LOD. And it just … it’s heartbreaking. It’s heartbreaking what they’ve done. I mean, I still love this mountain, but it’s heartbreaking what they’ve done to so many parts that were so beautiful. And then the other day, when my son was here, and I stopped at the mailboxes, and I parked on our road, our driveway, and I walked over to the mailboxes and all the MVP guys were leaving. So I “waved” to ‘em. And one guy went by me in a big blue truck, and he slammed on his brakes.

Now, you got a whole crew leaving, and he slammed on his brakes, and I’m standing at my mailbox waiting on them to pass. And he comes over and goes, “You don’t know me. You don’t know me. Don’t be shooting the finger at me.” And I looked at him. I said, “Are you a pipeliner?” He said, “Yes, I am.” I said, “Well, I don’t have to know you to know what you’re doing to my land, and yeah, I’d like you to go the **** home.” And he said, “I’m not going anywhere,” and he gets … he’s a little taller than I am. And he’s like, “If you don’t like it, why don’t you move?” And I’m like, “My husband’s family has been here for seven generations.” He goes, “I’ve been a pipeliner. We’ve got pipeliners for six generations.” But he gets up over me.

I said, “Bring in on, ***********. You don’t have anything that scares me. I’m old. I’m tired. And I used to be a redhead before you ************* showed up. So do your worst. I’m not afraid.” And the guy about 10 trucks back jumped out and came up and grabbed him. “Get in your truck and leave.” He goes, “I’m not finished.” He says, “Yes you are. Get in your truck and leave.” And I’ve never had such evil thoughts in my life. I have never wanted to hurt anyone. And things are changing. Things are changing. I would like to hurt somebody really bad.

——

After this interview, Inside Appalachia reached out to pipeline officials about the Terrys’ claims.

Pipeline spokeswoman Natalie Cox sent a statement:

“MVP project opponents continue to promote factual inaccuracies in support of their agenda, which includes a primary objective to stop MVP and other linear infrastructure. The MVP project has been subject to an unprecedented level of scrutiny, and the fact is the VADEQ, WVDEP, and other agencies continue to conduct daily project inspections, and the inspection process is working as designed. If and when any compliance issues are identified, Mountain Valley takes immediate responsibility to remediate the identified issue or concern. As has always been the case, completing construction and fully restoring the project’s right-of-way remains the best method of permanent environmental protection.

“Mountain Valley will continue to coordinate with all appropriate state and federal agencies, including FERC, USACE, VADEQ, VDCR, and WVDEP, to ensure the safe, responsible completion of the project, which includes building and operating the project in accordance with all applicable regulations, incorporating best management practices, and meeting or exceeding applicable industry standards for linear infrastructure.”

Construction continues on the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Company officials project it will be completed by June 2024.

Pipeline Protesters Blockade Path to Pipeline

Anti-Mountain Valley Pipeline activists erected an aerial blockade in the middle of an access road in the Jefferson National Forest in Giles County, Virginia.

A pole planted in the middle of an access road is halting any progress on construction of a seven-mile road leading to the path of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. An activist perched on top of the 50-foot log displays a banner that reads “The Fire is Catching, No Pipelines.”

Dozens of supporters also gathered.

Tree sitters remain as they have for a month now, camping in all weather in the tops of trees on the top of Peters Mountain to prevent felling of more trees along the route. Mountain Valley has only three more days to clear acreage before a federally mandated March 31 deadline to protect endangered species.

In a news release from the protesting group, the pipeline fighter said the hope is that this action might inspire others to take action to prevent construction of the pipeline.

EQT, the main company behind the roughly 300-mile, 42-inch high-pressure pipeline project, has not yet responded to a request for comment made earlier today.

The action also comes on the heels of Virginia environmental regulators approving erosion, sediment and storm water control plans for the natural gas pipeline, effectively meaning Mountain Valley can begin full-scale construction.

Last week in a court hearing, Monroe County Circuit Judge Robert Irons denied the request for a preliminary injunction.

UPDATE: Despite Hearing & Snow, Tree-Sitters Still Tree-Sitting

It was unexpected to have people sitting in trees in the first place, but several people have been camping in the treetops on Peters Mountain since February 26. It’s all in an effort to stop progress on construction of the 303-mile-long Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP).

The natural gas pipeline company sought a court injunction, and Monroe County Circuit Judge Robert Irons indicated he was inclined to rule in favor of MVP. The company only needed to file follow up documentation showing they did, in fact, have proper permissions to cut the trees in West Virginia.

But questions arose and the judge wanted to know exactly where the tree sitters were and exactly where MVP has permission to cut trees. He called the two sides back in court.

“We’re talking very small measurements, what it appears like to me,” Judge Irons said from the bench this week.

At the center of the courtroom debate was a map, provided by MVP, showing the location of pipeline mile markers, the Appalachian National Scenic Trail and the tree sitters in Jefferson National Forest. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, known as FERC, has granted MVP permission to cut trees up to the pipeline’s mile marker 196.29.

But exactly where is mile marker 196.29?

Plaintiffs exhibit 13 was introduced into evidence to show the location of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, the Mountain Valley Pipeline Route, the bore hole and the location of the tree sitters in Jefferson National Forest. Judge Irons said, “The devil’s in the details. I have a map that it seemed pretty clear at first blush and then the more we listened to it there are rounding errors, there’s inconsistencies. As I sit here I really don’t know whether or not it’s right.”

Defense attorney William DePaulo went through the map item by item, defining points, adding numbers and to reveal that some points had been rounded. Then he pulled out a piece of paper in what he called a “6th grade” measuring tool to demonstrate items on the map were not located to scale during his cross examination of MVP expert witness, Marshall W. Robinson.

DePaulo, pressed the paper to the map, “Put the left corner at 196.35 and go up to 196.4 they are not the same distance are they,” he asked.

“No, they’re not,” responded Robinson.

Defense attorney William DePaulo cross examines expert witness Marshall Robinson about the surveyed map presented as evidence in the case.

DePaulo then turned to the judge, “And that’s 5/100ths of a mile. And we know that 196.35 and 196.4 is also 5/100ths of a mile. And it should be, if the map is to scale, it oughta be the same thing. But it clearly is not,” DePaulo concluded.

MVP’s lawyer R. Scott Long came back at the location question in the final questioning of his witness, Robinson.

“You’ve surveyed and testified and nothing’s been brought to your attention to date that would change your testimony that these folks in the trees are between 196.26 and 196.29 is that right?”

“That is correct,” Robinson replied.

“You can take all the rounding errors or not errors and just round everyone around, worst case – those folks are in that area, is that right?” Long recapped, noting there was no doubt that all maps showed the rocky cliffs were in MVP’s right of way to cut trees and the tree sitters were on the MVP side of the rocks.

Robinson, who had been at the site, the day before the hearing confirmed Long’s assessment. Later Long noted, “FERC rounds too.”

Some landowners along the route say they are not surprised by the map debate, saying they have questioned their own MVP maps. Judge Irons described himself as “flabbergasted.”

“The devil’s in the details,” he said. “I have a map that it seemed pretty clear at first blush and then the more we listened to it there are rounding errors, there’s inconsistencies. As I sit here I really don’t know whether or not it’s right.”

And further, the judge said, “I don’t know if there’s any compelling emergency about making this decision today.”

And with that, quite unexpectedly, Judge Irons denied the request for a preliminary injunction.

That’s problematic for Mountain Valley which is up against a March 31st deadline to fell trees in order to meet federal rules protecting endangered species. A long delay means they must wait until the next window for tree cutting. MVP received the “OK” from FERC in October and has three years to complete the pipeline under its certificate. The company’s goal is to have the 42-inch diameter natural gas pipeline operational before the end of the year.

But there are plenty trying to stop it.

Near the top of the ridge on Peters Mountain a tree sitters tent hovers above the recently cut right of way for the Mountain Valley Pipeline.

Tree Sitters Speak Out

The tree sitters are getting a welcome reception from some in Monroe County, where it was revealed in the condemnation hearings in U.S. District Court that nearly 50 percent of the county’s landowners had refused to sell MVP easements and were taken to court in eminent domain proceedings.

Locals have brought the tree sitters an assortment of food from Moon Pies & homemade brownies to home-cooked bacon and hard-boiled eggs. The sitters say they’ve also received hand-delivered thank you notes.

A young woman from the Appalachian region of Virginia interviewed from her tree top sit said the job was not easy, but that she does the sit because she saw it as a “spark.”

A female tree sitter, who was quoted in the story, comes out of her tent to make some adjustments to the apparatus in the wind and cold.

“Something that will catalyze the entire community that’s been working together to stop this project and other fossil fuel infrastructure projects within this region,” she said. “It’s up to us together.”

Tree sitters and their support team refuse to reveal their names. Another involved person who called himself D.

“Where I grew up in Mingo County, West Virginia,” D said, “you see the result of what happens when extraction industries leave. Where I grew up it looks like a ghost town. It looks like a bomb hit there. Coal companies and extraction industries in general just want to take and extract all the sort of value out of these places and just leave it. And when I see it happen to new places like Monroe County and places that haven’t seen these extractions in the same way it just breaks my heart. And I don’t want to see places like Monroe County look like where I grew up.”

And for DePaulo, that was the message from the treetops.

“The impact of those people being up in the trees in the middle of winter storms cause people to think, ‘Why on earth are those kids up there?’ And the answer is very compelling. The answer is it makes people think about why are we undertaking this project at all,” DePaulo said.

The female tree sitter says she’s been seeing strong support.

“We have a really strong support network and community and it makes me feel safer and loved when I am up here. It’s really nice to have visitors,” she said.

Though, that visitor part might be getting harder.

The Forest Service brought their own surveyor to the site two days after the hearing, so they, too, will have measurements on the exact location of the tree sitters. It’s unclear whether or not people will be prohibited from supporting the tree sitters by bringing in food and water and taking out refuse.

National Forest Service staff also posted revised closure orders on some trees next to the Appalachian Trail describing the areas prohibited from entry and the Forest Service revised closure order. At the scene, NFS officials ok’d my presence on the rocky cliff above the tree sitters, but not further down the slope, under the actual tree sit.

National Forest Service spokesperson Jessica Rubado wrote in an email that the “Forest Service law enforcement is conducting frequent wellness checks to monitor the safety of the protesters.”

All requests for comment to MVP contractors or Equitable Gas (EQT) staff working on behalf of MVP were directed to EQT spokesperson Natalie Cox, who declined to comment for this story.

What’s next: Tree sitters say they are staying in the trees, albeit covered with snow at the moment. And, it’s expected that the judge will announce a date for a full hearing which could be as late as this summer.

Nancy Andrews is a Pittsburgh based journalist and 2018 Alicia Patterson Foundation Fellow studying natural gas pipelines in Appalachia. Follow her on Twitter @NancyAndrews or @NancyAndrews on Instagram.

'Somebody's Up There Sittin' in a Tree' – A Look at the Ongoing Pipeline Protest on Peters Mountain

Since late February, a small group of people have been quietly perched in two trees atop Peters Mountain in Monroe County. They are so remote, few have seen or heard directly from the protesters, but still there’s plenty of people noticing.

It’s not known exactly who or how many people are in the trees, protesting a planned pipeline in the area. Two trees have wooden platforms suspended by ropes and covered in plastic. They creak in the wind. Five-gallon plastic buckets and some bottles dangle on the sides. Signs, made from sheets hanging down like sails from the tree limbs, state “Water is our Future,” “Stop MVP,” and “Fight back against frack pipelines.”

A notice from the Mountain Valley Pipeline is taped to the trunk of one tree. It claims the right to cut trees and build a pipeline and notifies the sitters that court papers have been filed. Two people are named on the notice, along with John Does 1-5. An injunction against the protesters is expected once Mountain Valley Pipeline files some additional documents with the court. Judge Robert Irons ordered another hearing on Tuesday, March 20.

The tree sitters with their treetop perch are nearly level with the ridge top. They sit near the site where boring will be used to cross underneath the Appalachian National Scenic Trail. A notice from Mountain Valley Pipeline is taped to the tree trunk.

Only a lone attorney, William DePaulo, showed up in Monroe County Court earlier this week for the first hearing related to their cause. DePaulo said it’s a First Amendment issue.

“The tree is simply the megaphone,” he said.

Mountain Valley’s 42-inch-diameter natural gas pipeline was approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in October. The route starts in northern West Virginia and travels 303 miles to connect with the Transcontinental Pipeline in Virginia.

FERC has issued what’s known as a “tolling order” that allows for pipeline construction to continue even though there are multiple lawsuits and appeals questioning the legality, construction practices and purpose of the project.

Meanwhile, in Monroe County trees are being cut creating 125-foot wide path up Peters Mountain stopping just short of the tree-sitters.

The tree-sitters declined to be interviewed for this story. For now there is snow on the ground. And the protesters have recently posted videos on the Appalachians Against Pipelines Facebook.

Monroe County Sheriff Ken Hedrick said earlier this week that how they’ll enforce moving them is “kinda up in the air.” According the Hedrick his office will not be taking the lead since the tree-sitters are on federal property.

“It’s damn cold up there. I don’t envy them,” he added, “but I do envy them being that close to the Appalachian Trail.”

National Forest Service Project Manager Jessica Rubado said in an email that the agency doesn’t comment on ongoing investigations, using that language to describe the MVP project protest.

“Forest Service law enforcement is conducting frequent wellness checks to monitor the safety of the protesters,” she added.

The Forest Service has issued a closure order prohibiting access to certain forest roads and areas, specifically prohibiting anyone from coming within 200 feet of the center of the pipeline route. Fines could reach $10,000 and include jail time.

When asked about the quiet protest, pipeline spokesperson Natalie Cox of EQT Corporation – the main company behind the pipeline – said, “MVP remains on track for its targeted in-service date of late 2018.”

Community Reactions

Peters Mountain is tall — more than 4,000 feet at its highest. The Appalachian National Scenic Trail runs along its ridge, that also separates Virginia from West Virginia. It’s a four-hour hike to the top and maybe longer in the winter.

So it’s not that easy to get noticed sitting in a tree up there. But word of the pipeline protesters had made it to the valleys below. During lunch at the the Greenville Senior Center retired farmer Otis Pence said he had heard about them.

“Somebody’s up there sittin’ in a tree. I’m glad it’s them instead of me,” he said with a laugh.

“I read about them yesterday,” said home health care worker Petrie Brown, who was sitting across the room. “They’re doing this to delay the cutting of the trees for the pipeline,” Brown says. “They’ll do anything they can to slow it down and hopefully stop it. But that may not happen. We’d love to have it slowed down, forever.”

Brown sat eating mashed potatoes and meatloaf with community member Judy Vanek, who echoed her sentiment.

“I have heard about them, yes,” Vanek said. “I can picture in my mind, people sitting in trees with signs, something about protecting trees and the water and our land.”

“They’re very brave,” she added. “And I hope they keep at it. I hope they accomplish something.”

Farmer Maury Johnson made the trek up the mountain. He noticed some activity, but it was a press release and Facebook that confirmed his findings. Johnson knows Peters Mountain well.

“They’re some very dedicated and extremely well-fit people to do what they’re doing. It’s steep. It’s not just high. It’s just extremely steep,” he said.

Down in the valley, Cole and Ivan Reece, two brothers ages 12 and 9, have noticed some lights in the trees at night. Cole can point out the spot that he sees from his backyard.

The tree sitters are at the top of the Peters Mountain, near the ridge of the first “hump” to the left.

“I usually see about two or three lights,” Cole explained. “Sometimes they’re brighter or dimmer.”

Sitting on Peters Mountain about 20 to 30 feet up in the trees, the tree-sitters are about eye level with the Appalachian Trail which is just a few hundred feet away.

Everyone described the mountain as cold and windy.

“I wouldn’t be sleepin’ up there in that little shack where there are like 45-mile-an-hour winds,” said the youngest of the two brothers, Ivan.

Pence, from the senior center, described himself as neutral, saying that the pipeline has got to go somewhere.

“If we need it, we need it,” he said. “And if we don’t need it, we don’t need it, and I don’t know whether we do or whether we don’t.”

“I can understand why [the tree sitters are] there. I can understand them. If I was completely against something like that I would go up and sit with them. Well not now, can’t get up the tree,” he laughed. “I hope they got something up there to keep them halfway warm. That mountain howls up there. You can hear the wind just roarin’ up there on top that mountain. They have to be dedicated to sit there.”

With the recent snow and storm, farmer Johnson was worried. “I was praying that everybody would stay safe out there because you are literally risking your lives to be on Peters Mountain.”

“I can relate to them,” Pence said. “Of course, I’m sure they got somebody taken them food. But if they were up there, and didn’t want to come down, I would take them food.”

Pence who describes himself as living “spittin’ distance” from the pipeline route, looks at this way:

“There’s a gang of people through here are against the pipeline and admire what [tree sitters] do.”

He said he admits he admires the sitters too.

“Probably those tree sitters don’t even own property that it’s a comin’ across. They’re here because they’re against that kind of environmental thing. It’s a big environmental thing that’s going through here. It’s not going to help me any, but it might help somebody else to get a little, heat, might. But it’s an awful big pipeline.”

According to the latest data (2016) from Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration there is only 528 feet of natural gas pipeline 42-inches in diameter or larger in the state of West Virginia. Mountain Valley, Atlantic Coast and Rover pipelines have all been approved for construction at that size.

Nancy Andrews is a Pittsburgh-based journalist and 2018 Alicia Patterson Foundation fellow studying natural gas pipelines in Appalachia. Follow her on Twitter @NancyAndrews or @NancyAndrews on Instagram.