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The Great Smoky Mountains. The Catskills. The Blue Ridge. The Black Mountains. These and more are all part of the spectacular, 1600-mile system of ridges and valleys running from Canada to Georgia known as the Appalachian Mountains. Where else can you find rugged mountains, wild rivers, remote lakes, endless woodlands, beautiful hardwood forests, dense spruce-fir boreal forests, mountain streams, waterfalls, and glacial cirques?

Appalachia is treasured not only for its natural beauty, but also for its forested watersheds and reservoirs that provide clean drinking water for millions and as one of our country's outstanding recreation destinations including the Adirondacks, the Long Trail, and more.

The forests and streams of Appalachia support one of the most diverse collections of plant and animal life in the world including moose, deer, bear, coyote, lynx, loon, trout, migratory songbirds, bobcat, beaver, otter, trout, and bald eagles.

Appalachia is also the site for some of Earthjustice's most important work today. Surface coal mining has already destroyed more than a 1000 miles of streams, and allowed massive devastation of Appalachian mountains and forests. Now, the Bush administration has finalized changes to the Clean Water Act that will permit waste to fill and further destroy the Appalachia's waterways.