Appalachian Voices
“To bring people together to protect the land, air, and water of Central and Southern Appalachia.”
The origin
How they started
Appalachian Voices grew in 1997 out of a scrappy Boone, North Carolina newspaper called The Appalachian Voice and has spent decades fighting mountaintop-removal coal mining across central and southern Appalachia. It documents the industry’s toll on the region’s ridges and headwater streams and pushes for coal ash cleanup and a shift to renewable energy. Today it runs offices across five states, with locations in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.
Every year they sign one sentence and file it with the federal government: “APPALACHIAN VOICES BRINGS PEOPLE TOGETHER TO PROTECT THE LAND, AIR, AND WATER OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN APPALACHIA AND ADVANCE A JUST TRANSITION TO A GENERATIVE AND EQUITABLE CLEAN ENERGY ECONOMY.”
Where the money went, FY2024
The work, and what it cost
Reading every lease sale
$3.4MADDRESS COAL’S IMPACTS AND ACCELERATE A JUST TRANSITION TO HEALTHY, PROSPEROUS COMMUNITIESADDRESSED THE ONGOING AND LEGACY IMPACTS OF THE EXTRACTION AND USE OF COAL FOR ELECTRICITY GENERATION THAT ARE PASSED ON TO THE PU...
Including $552,847 granted onward, most of it $128,813 to Martin County Health Department.
Read it as they filed it
ADDRESS COAL'S IMPACTS AND ACCELERATE A JUST TRANSITION TO HEALTHY, PROSPEROUS COMMUNITIESADDRESSED THE ONGOING AND LEGACY IMPACTS OF THE EXTRACTION AND USE OF COAL FOR ELECTRICITY GENERATION THAT ARE PASSED ON TO THE PUBLIC IN THE FORM OF AIR AND WATER POLLUTION, HABITAT DESTRUCTION AND INCREASED HEALTH COSTS, AND WORKED IN BROAD PARTNERSHIPS TO ADVANCE ECONOMIC INITIATIVES IN THE AREAS MOST IMPACTED BY COAL TO PROMOTE MORE RESILIENT AND SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIES THAT BUILD UPON AND HONOR THE REGION'S NATURAL AND CULTURAL ASSETS.
IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2024, signed under penalty of perjury.
Reading every lease sale
$2.4MPREVENT NEW INVESTMENTS IN FOSSIL FUELS AND ACCELERATE THE TRANSITION TO CLEAN ENERGYOPPOSED MAJOR NEW INVESTMENTS IN FOSSIL FUEL INFRASTRUCTURE INCLUDING GAS PIPELINES AND FOSSIL FUEL POWER PLANTS THAT WOULD LOCK US INT...
Read it as they filed it
PREVENT NEW INVESTMENTS IN FOSSIL FUELS AND ACCELERATE THE TRANSITION TO CLEAN ENERGYOPPOSED MAJOR NEW INVESTMENTS IN FOSSIL FUEL INFRASTRUCTURE INCLUDING GAS PIPELINES AND FOSSIL FUEL POWER PLANTS THAT WOULD LOCK US INTO DECADES OF CONTINUED FOSSIL FUEL USE, AND PROMOTED POLICIES AND STRENGTHENED EFFORTS TO HASTEN A TRANSITION TO CLEAN ENERGY SOURCES AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY THAT SUPPORT RATHER THAN IMPERIL THE NATURAL AND CULTURAL HERITAGE OF THE REGION.
IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2024, signed under penalty of perjury.
Build Awareness Of Regional Issues
$155KCONTINUED TO PRODUCE THE APPALACHIAN VOICE NEWSPAPER, TO BUILD AWARENESS OF ENVIRONMENTAL THREATS AND OPPORTUNITIES TO TRANSITION TO SUSTAINABLE ENERGY AND ECONOMIC ALTERNATIVES.
Read it as they filed it
BUILD AWARENESS OF REGIONAL ISSUES:CONTINUED TO PRODUCE THE APPALACHIAN VOICE NEWSPAPER, TO BUILD AWARENESS OF ENVIRONMENTAL THREATS AND OPPORTUNITIES TO TRANSITION TO SUSTAINABLE ENERGY AND ECONOMIC ALTERNATIVES.
IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2024, signed under penalty of perjury.
Follow the dollar
81 cents of every dollar goes to the work
That ratio is a good sign, not a scorecard. Plenty of great groups run leaner and lumpier. What matters is the extremes, and Appalachian Voices is nowhere near one.
$5,954,253 programs, $853,195 management, $501,701 fundraising. Form 990, FY2024.
The people
Who does the work
Honesty note: leadership comes from each year’s federal filing, so it can run a year behind. Orgs that claim their page can update it same-day. Work at AV? Claim this page.
Those 75 volunteers are people who decided this ground was theirs to defend. If AV is fighting for your place too, the matchmaker will find your way in.
Make it 76The record
The court record
14 years of filings
Total revenue by fiscal year, as filed. Point at the line for any year.
| Year | Revenue |
|---|---|
| 2011 | $1,572,793 |
| 2012 | $1,300,054 |
| 2013 | $1,436,656 |
| 2014 | $2,059,936 |
| 2015 | $2,540,982 |
| 2016 | $2,267,840 |
| 2017 | $2,342,450 |
| 2018 | $2,551,243 |
| 2019 | $2,673,690 |
| 2020 | $2,862,373 |
| 2021 | $3,834,032 |
| 2022 | $5,027,693 |
| 2023 | $6,420,546 |
| 2024 | $6,757,001 |
From $1.6M in 2011 to $6.8M in FY24, with no missed filing in 14 years. The 2024 peak of $6.8M reads like one-time gifts, so trust the line, not the peak.
Fights alongside Sierra Club (2 shared cases), Southern Environmental Law Center (1 shared case) and The Wilderness Society (1 shared case). Same case, same side, on the federal docket.
The record
On the Hill
Appalachian Voices files its own federal lobbying reports: 15 filings from 2023 to 2026, naming 91 bills. The filings, at the Senate.
Most filed on agriculture, bankruptcy and budget/appropriations.
Across the 5 states where they work, the congressional delegations average 30 of 100 on public lands. See the full scorecard
Ways in
How to help
81 cents of your dollar goes straight to the work above.
Give on their site ↗Show upVolunteer with themFind their volunteer door on their own site.
Find it on their site ↗SpeakComment and callOpen comment windows and call scripts for fights like these, ready to send.
Public Lands Action NetworkFollowWatch the mapEvery threatened place in the country, tracked, with who stands for each.
Threatened Lands MapStand with Appalachian Voices
29 years on the ground, 75 volunteers, 2 live lawsuits, 81 cents of every dollar on the line. That is who is holding it. There is room for one more.