| FB-54257-09 | Research Programs: Fellowships for College Teachers and Independent Scholars | Kathryn Newfont | Commons Environmentalism: Forest History, Culture, and Politics in the Appalachian South | 8/1/2009 - 7/31/2010 | $50,400.00 | Kathryn | | Newfont | | | | Mars Hill College | Mars Hill | NC | 28754-9134 | USA | 2008 | U.S. History | Fellowships for College Teachers and Independent Scholars | Research Programs | 50400 | 0 | 50400 | 0 |
A book project, "Commons Environmentalism: Forest History, Culture, and Politics in the Appalachian South" will be completed during the fellowship year. The manuscript traces the history of forest use in the Appalachian South, the development of a regional forest-based culture informed by that history, and the mobilization of this culture through "commons environmentalism" in the post-WWII period. It examines a series of postwar battles fought over management of roughly 1 million acres of U.S. Forest Service land in western North Carolina--the Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests. The project argues that rural and working-class people in the southern mountains often proved hostile to wilderness environmentalism, but still mounted vigorous forest protection efforts based on their views of local woods as commons harvest grounds. The piece draws on and contributes to environmental, Appalachian, Southern, and women's history, and the history of environmentalism as a social movement. |