Larry Gibson in his cabin on Kayford Mountain, WV, January, 2006.

Larry Gibson on Kayford Mountain, January, 2007

Larry Gibson's Kayford Mountain, in W.Va., is seen in 2005, 2006, 2007 (from top to bottom) where mountaintop removal coal mining surrounding his property has progressively removed 7,538 acres of the surrounding mountains and has 187,000 acres permitted for coal extraction.

The notched mountain top in the background of all three photographs serves as a reference point.

Gibson, now 61, stands at the edge of his property on the mountain his great-grandparents exchanged in a marriage dowry.

Massey Energy's giant mountain top removal site has been active since 1986, surrounding Gibson, making his property the highest point in the valley where his home-place used to sit 300 feet below the Appalachian peaks.

Gibson's land, which he refused to sell to Massey Energy, has become a "little green island" amidst 187,000 acres of land that is active or slated for mountaintop removal mining surrounding it.

Gibson has struggled twenty-two years in his work to save his Kayford Mountain, the home to his family for 230 years, before there ever was a coal mine there.

Gibson says that his great-grandparents long ago signed away most of the mineral rights without knowing it or as it was known in the day, for "one dollar in hand for considerations." 

Gibson has traveled the nation telling people about the destruction of mountain top removal coal mining and the need for renewable energy.

Larry Gibson on Kayford Mountain, May 25, 2005.

Larry Gibson, Dog and a blast on Kayford Mountain, May 27, 2006.