Author Description

This is the true story of an outdoorsman living alone in Western North Carolina who teams up with his neighbors and environmental lawyers to save a treasured mountain peak from the mining company. One day the author got a call from a young woman, Ashley, and her Aunt Ollie. Ashley and Ollie said they had evidence that Clark Stone Company was violating the Mining Act of 1971 up on Belview Mountain, one of the most remote and wildest places in the eastern United States. They wanted Jay, a non-practicing attorney, to sue the company to put a stop to their mining operation. He jumped at the challenge. Upon meeting Ashley and Ollie, he knew he was embarking on a course that would change his life. Fourteen-year-old Ashley assured him she had accumulated a stack of evidence "as big as that mountain" detailing the mine owner's misdeeds. He quickly became convinced that this was a case he could win. He formed a plaintiff group and sued the state of North Carolina for violations of its own mining laws. He and Ashley's family were eventually joined by several national conservation groups seeking to save Belview Mountain and protect the Appalachian Trail in one of its most scenic and fragile stretches. This is an underdog David vs. Goliath story with lots of good guys you love, and bad guys you love to hate. Not only did the case against the Clark Stone Company set groundbreaking legal precedent, but also the good guys won a complete victory. How they did it is chronicled in this book.