A Land Imperiled: The Declining Health of the Southern Appalachian Bioregion

Cherokees called the magnificent mountain range in eastern Tennessee "land of the blue mist," which European settlers later changed to "Smoky Mountains." Today, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is one of Southern Appalachia’s leading tourist attractions. But that fabled blue mist isn’t so blue—or healthy—any longer. Particularly in the summer months, the "smoke" of the Smokies is a haze of sulfate particles and other pollutants released by coal-burning power plants, a mixture more li...