Rising Appalachia hopes to turn coal mining land into community forest – Athens County Independent

Rising Appalachia hopes to turn coal mining land into community forest – Athens County Independent

Rising Appalachia in action. Photo provided by Weston Lombard. MILLFIELD, Ohio — Weston Lombard grew up with an expansive wilderness right out his back door in Dover Township. “We’d just go out the back door and follow the creek until we got tired, and we’d spend the whole day exploring,” Lombard said. That land was — and still is — owned by the Sugar Creek Coal Company. Now, Rising Appalachia, the Millfield-based forestry and education nonprofi…