Blue Ridge 2020: An Owner's Manual

The mountain chain known as the Blue Ridge traces a 550-mile arc through Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Georgia. Along the way, it encompasses Shenandoah National Park, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Blue Ridge Parkway, seven national forests, numerous federal wilderness areas and state parks, and parts of the Appalachian Trail. It is the largest concentration of public lands east of the Mississippi and home to an astonishing diversity of plant and animal life. But as the most extensive natural area in the increasingly populous Southeast, the Blue Ridge ecosystem faces unique challenges in the next decades.

Drawing on scientific research in a variety of disciplines, journalist Steve Nash provides a clear and evenhanded introduction to some of the most hotly disputed environmental issues facing the Blue Ridge, including the invasion of exotic plants and insects, the explosive growth of suburban-style communities in natural areas, worsening air and water pollution, and the erratic management of national forests. Informative and highly readable, Blue Ridge 2020 takes a hard look at what is at risk in these mountains and what we—as the "owners" of the public lands—must do if we intend to preserve their future.

Aimed at the millions of Americans who treasure the public lands of the Blue Ridge mountains, this book presents a clear account of the environmental issues that threaten these natural areas and outlines the steps citizens must take to ensure their future.

Library Journal

Nash (journalism, Univ. of Richmond) provides a fascinating account of the economic and ecological forces shaping the Blue Ridge, a segment of the Appalachian Mountains running from Pennsylvania to Georgia. Much of the region is protected in national parks and other wilderness areas, but Nash demonstrates the pervasive negative influence of human activity on plants and animals even in remote areas. Acid rain, pollution, alien species and pests, suburban development, logging, and road building all stress the environment. Nash shows how changes in the forest, such as the loss of chestnut and hemlock trees, have ripple effects that threaten other species like the minuscule moss spider. Nash does have reason to hope, including efforts to find disease-resistant trees to reforest damaged areas, policy initiatives to control growth and pollution, and efforts by local citizens to fight industries that damage the environment. Highly recommended for libraries in the region and for larger environmental collections elsewhere.--Beth Clewis Crim, Prince William P.L., VA