TOP TEN 2009
SELC is using the power of the law to defend hundreds of imperiled areas, to ensure clean air and water, and to help chart a new energy future for our region. We have targeted ten special places that are facing immediate, potentially irreversible threats today. Ranging from the Southern Appalachians to the South Atlantic, this year’s Top Ten Most Endangered list illustrates the ecological, scenic, and cultural riches at stake—and the important actions needed in 2009 to protect our own environmental heritage and the legacy we will leave for future generations.
Top Ten Endangered Places 2009
We have targeted ten special places that are facing immediate, potentially irreversible threats today.
Weeks Bay, AL
As the Mobile Bay area grows, unchecked development threatens to degrade the health of this Outstanding Natural Resource Water. ©Ryan M. Moody
Georgia’s Salt Marshes
Georgia’s breathtaking coastal marshes have escaped large-scale development—until now. ©Craig Tanner
Globe Forest, NC
Communities are outraged by a logging plan that threatens scenic views, old growth trees, and a recreational hotspot. ©Jerry Greer
Pamlico River, NC
A phosphate mining company is proposing the single largest destruction of wetlands in North Carolina history. ©Heather Jacobs Deck
Great Pee Dee River, SC
A new coal-burning power plant would emit toxic mercury into this river and contribute to global warming. ©Beth Young
Johns Island, SC
Charleston sprawl could eat up this rural Lowcountry community if state officials decide to extend Interstate 526. ©Bill Lea
Cherokee National Forest, northeast TN
Cherished by Appalachian Trail hikers and trout fishermen, these ecologically important forests face a wave of logging proposals. ©Bill Lea
Clinch and Powell Rivers, VA
Mountaintop removal mining and a coal-burning power plant could degrade two of the world’s most biologically diverse rivers. ©Dwight Dyke
