A Tennessee newspaper in a highly-visited tourism area has blasted two Logan County officials and Appalachian miners for a boycott over a Tennessee senator sponsoring a bill to stop mountaintop mining.

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander recently sponsored legislation that would ban coal companies from doing mountaintop removal mining.

The Mountain Press newspaper published in Sevierville and serving the Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg and Smoky Mountains areas, in an editorial in its July 23 edition, blasts Appalachian miners for boycotting any vacations planned for Tennessee.

The editorial is titled “A miner detail” and has a subhead that reads “Alexander shouldn’t let threat of boycott stop his push for ban on mountaintop mining”.

Here is the editorial in its entirety:

“Sevier County is a welcoming place. Any tourism community has to be. We want people coming here from all states, other countries, with or without children. We want them to stay as long as they can and enjoy our sites and attractions.

“There is a segment of society that apparently won’t be visiting us any time soon. Some Appalachian coal miners are refusing to vacation in Tennessee because of a stand taken by U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander on the issue of mountaintop removal.

“Alexander is sponsoring legislation that would bar coal companies from blasting away mountaintops to unearth coal and dumping dirt, rock and trees into the valleys beneath. There are many people who make their living doing such things, and because Alexander is sponsoring the bill, they feel the best way to retaliate is not visit his state and spend money.

“Alexander is sponsoring a bill that would affect a few hundred Tennessee jobs as well. That’s regrettable. But the reasons behind the proposed ban make sense.

“Mountaintop mining destroys the mountains, and the waste from that practice affects streams and forests below the top of the mountain. It’s bad for the environment in so many ways. Yes, mountaintop mining creates jobs, but if those jobs are causing such irreparable harm, then why should we continue the practice that causes the problems?

“Miners in Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia and Virginia are taking part in the protest, according to Roger Horton, director of Citizens for Coal, an advocacy group that organized the boycott. Horton said some 5,000 coal miners already have joined the boycott, which he hopes will spread to involve all of the nation’s 81,000 coal miners.

“‘He needs to mind his own business,’ Horton said of Alexander. ‘Why fool with us? We have good congressmen and senators here who know what’s best for West Virginia. We don’t need his interference.’

“What say you, Senator?

“‘Every year, millions of tourists come to Tennessee and spend millions of dollars to see our scenic mountaintops, not to see mountains whose tops have been blown off and dumped into streams,’ Alexander said. ‘I believe most Tennesseans agree that we should save our mountaintops.’

“In Logan County, W.Va., county administrator Rocky Adkins says he canceled a planned visit to Pigeon Forge this month. Adkins serves one of the nation’s largest coal-producing counties.

“We don’t want to lose anyone business, but neither do we want to perpetuate a bad practice. Miners work hard for a living, and the work is often dangerous. Alexander’s bill is not meant to punish them, but to protect the environment and stop an activity that damages streams and forests as well as views.

“If indeed miners boycott us and don’t come to see Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and the Smokies, that’s too bad. But neither Sen. Alexander nor our community can be held hostage by people who make a living doing something that is so harmful. Alexander should remain tough in the face of such a threat and continue to push the legislation.”

Adkins, who made the comments to The Associated Press for a July 17 story that ran nationally, was not available for comment this morning before deadline.

A spokesperson for The Logan County Commission said Adkins was away on vacation, but not in Tennessee.

The Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville areas are popular tourist destinations for many West Virginians, Adkins said in a recent phone interview with The Logan Banner. He said many of those West Virginians who like to spend their hard-earned dollars on vacation in east Tennessee are coal miners whose lives would be drastically affected if Alexander’s legislation is passed.

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The Mountain Press Web site can be viewed at http://mountainpress.southernheadlines.com