How Scofflaw SHPOcrites Commit Fraud to Steal Your Mountain Heritage

by: One Citizen

Tue Jun 29, 2010 at 19:06:00 PM EDT

The evidence is irrefutable. The history of scofflaw coalocrats hellbent on robbing West Virginia of her heritage is long and sordid, as any serious student of WV history knows.

The leadership of both major political parties in West Virginia had long clung to the notion that organized labor, especially among miners, was a deadly conspiracy to be ignored publicly and suppressed privately. Legitimizing labor by acknowledging its importance along with heroes of the frontier or Civil War was a bitter pill for the established political community to swallow. source

Even as I write this, administrators in the West Virginia State Historic Preservation Office (sanctioned by Governor Manchin) struggle to hide how badly coal operators and their land company lawyers have screwed this state*.

On June 2, National Geographic called the Battle for Blair Mountain II an uphill struggle by preservationists against coal company forces. Nat Geo's author badly understated the situation by failing to mention how entrenched the coal operators' dark forces have infiltrated our bureaucracy, and how severely out-gunned our pro-labor preservationists are when squaring off against land company lawyers and coal-powered politicians.

Entering the fray on behalf of preserving our historic resource has been an informal coalition of concerned citizens, archaeologists, historians, labor leaders and environmental groups including the Sierra Club, Climate Ground Zero, Coal River Mountain Watch, OHVEC and Appalachian Voices.

Check out the BRAND SPANKIN' NEW evidence of scofflaw SHPOcrisy by double clicking the "There's More" link below...

*Exactly how badly have scofflaw coalocrats screwed West Virginia over the years?

The coal-dominated economy of West Virginia is a troubling example of the cruelty of coalocracy. Despite $118 million in coal-mining annual income, West Virginia has the nation's lowest median household income, worst educational services, worst social assistance, the highest population with disabilities, and  nearly a quarter of West Virginia children in poverty. A recent study by West Virginia University found that the “human cost of the Appalachian coal mining economy outweighs its economic benefits”

The coal industry generates a little more than $8 billion a year in economic benefits for the Appalachian region. But, they put the value of premature deaths attributable to the mining industry across the Appalachian coalfields at — by a most conservative estimate — $42 billion.

Those following the battle over the WV Department of Highways abandonment of right-of-way depicted in my earlier blow-by-blow entries (here,  here, and here) are likely already aware that WV SHPO Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith ignored the fact that dead people were among others proven to have fraudulently petitioned to take Blair Mountain off the list of National Register of Historic Places to be protected and preserved by federal law.

In his letter to Governor Manchin specifically addressing that fraud, Archeologist Dr. Harvard Ayers, stated,

When Mr. Reid-Smith was told by the Keeper that it was his responsibility to take Mr. Bailey's analysis into account, he refused. So he stuck with a list that had two dead people, two life estates, and one seller of her property as evidence that the battlefield should be removed from the National Register. The Keeper, based solely on Mr. Reid-Smith's research, delisted the battlefield on December 30th. (bold italics added for emphasis -oc)

To my knowledge, Manchin has never bothered to answer Dr. Ayers' letter. It is not insignificant that our Governor's WVU degree was for his scholarly study of "Information Management."  

Speaking of information, there has very recently been discovered new evidence that Manchin's SHPOcrites actually broke the law just to take Blair Mountain out.

During a WV Archives and History Commission Meeting back in Feb 22, 2008, attorney Blair Gardner represented the coal operators and their land company in opposition to the listing of Blair Mountain as a National Historic Preservation site. During his presentation before the Commission, he admitted outright that "at least one surface mining permit has been granted on an area within the nominated site."

What's surprising is that although attorney Gardner went on the public record right in front of Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith, and Susan Pierce, director of Historic Preservation, these SHPOcrites never once bothered to mention it during any of their communications to the WV Department of Highways regarding its proposed abandonment of right-of way procedures.

It's not like they weren't asked. In fact around on or about April 6, 2009, WV DoH rep Courtney Fint emailed her request directly to SHPO Deputy Commissioner Pierce to begin discussing how the abandonment of Blair Mountain Road might adversely affect the historic resources of the area. That email may be viewed at this link with the pertinent portion highlighted by yours, truly.

Anyone wondering why it is illegal for them to "overlook" Mr. Gardner's admission likely isn't familiar with applicable Federal laws and State regulations which actually control how our state SHPO is supposed to function. (for you legal eagles, they are 82 CSR 2 (aka "TITLE 82 LEGISLATIVE RULE DIVISION OF CULTURE AND HISTORY SERIES 2 STANDARDS AND PROCEDURES FOR ADMINISTERING STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION PROGRAMS", NHPA; Public Law 89-665; 16 U.S.C. 470 et seq. (a.k.a. "National Historic Preservation Act of 1966", not to mention WV State Code §29-1-8.

And by the way, since Chapter 22, Article 3, Section 22(d)(2) of the Code of West Virginia also requires joint approval by the WV Department of Environmental Protection ("DEP") and the SHPO over the issuance of permits for surface mining operations which will adversely affect any publicly-owned park or place included in the National Register of Historic Sites or the National Register of Natural Landmarks, it is only reasonable to assume that any and all mining permit applications pertaining to Blair Mountain would naturally be on file with the SHPO's office. Yet a recent Freedom of Information Act Request by one of my sources revealed that deputy SHPO Pierce never even mentioned the likelihood that surface mining would destroy the historic resource to any of her full time staff of archeologists although the WV DOH had clearly requested Pierce's consultation regarding the adverse effect on the historic resource once the DOH abandons its right-of-way!

Below is the only work product of any SHPO request to ANYone to identify possible harm to Balir Mtn's historic resource:

If you want to read the corrected copy of the FOIA which required them to produce evidence revealing these scofflaw coalocrats for what they are, click on this link.

Turns out the date on that FOIA letter, June 15, 2010, "coincidentally" is exactly the same date deputy SHPO Pierce decided to consult with SHPO archaeologist Lammare. It is likely no coincidence whatsoever that Pierce neglected to tell Lamarre about any surface mine permits which she knew (or should have known)!

Since this dustup over the abandonment of Blair Mountain Road right-of-way, SHPOcrites have been lying to folks by telling them that since Blair is officially under consideration to be re-listed, it is protected just the same as if it were a National Historic Place. The reason that's a dirty lie is because Blair Mountain has coal under it. To be precise, the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) makes it entirely discretionary as to whether or not an eligible site will be protected as long as it has coal under it. (see SMCRA 38 CSR 2-3.17 parts a, b, c, and d).

So just how far are these SHPOcrites willing to bend the law? My FOIA source informed me that Ms. Pierce completely blew off the limitation for the time required for her to respond under laws governing his FOIA. The fact is that West Virginia Code §29B-1-3(4) allows only five (5) days to respond to a demand for FOIA request, yet Pierce actually chose not to respond to his FOIA at all. It wasn't until he produced a hand-written signed and dated receipt proving that her office had received his request that she sent her response! But then that's really not surprising, considering that her forced response to his FOIA essentially revealed that the SHPO violated its own mandate when choosing not to protect Blair's historic resource.

For example, Deputy SHPO Pierce's letter dated December 19, 2009 formally advised the WV DOH of her opinion that the abandonment of right-of-way would not adversely affect the historic resource. Her subsequent FOIA answer revealed that she did so without ever contacting any of her team of archeologists.

Pierce also never advised the WV DOH that at least one surface mine permit had been issued for Blair Mountain, or that due to existing SMCRA law, the coal under the historic resource actually places Blair in immediate danger if the right of way is abandoned!

In contrast, after she received the FOIA, and on the last day allotted for public comment by the WV DOH, Pierce was forced to begin to "lick her own calf".

Although her earlier letter advised that abandonment wouldn't harm the historic resource, instead of completely reversing her decision, she advised the WV DOH to do their own assessment, amazingly still never telling them of her direct knowledge that at least one surface mine permit had been issued. Or again neglecting to properly advise the WV DOH that SMCRA actually puts the historic resource at dire risk.

Deputy SHPO Pierce also failed to inform the WV DOH that at a WV Archives and History Commission Meeting which she attended on Oct. 2, 2009 in Chief Logan Lodge in Logan County, (the same county where Blair Mountain is located), that the Commission passed a resolution which officially acknowledges that the Blair Mountain site meets the requirements of the Secretary of the Interior to be considered a site significant in American history sufficient to be considered as a property on the National Register.

The official minutes to that meeting at this link reveals she was there, so there is no excuse for her not to know the importance of Blair Mountain's historic resource, at least enough to have checked with her own staff archaeologists  about the imminent destruction that abandonment would cause.

There can be no doubt that in West Virginia, our dark history of coalocracy has now surfaced as pure SHPOcrisy.

Coalocrats strive mightily to erase the proud history of Appalachians who stood up and stood together against state-sponsored corporate greed. They hope you won't notice as they strive to replace our proud history with legends of shiftless hillbillies fighting over a pig.  

Do your part and write to the Keeper of the National Registry. The Friends of Blair Mountain make it easy if you'll just click on this link.