WV Executive

The bumper stickers and signs are everywhere: “Stop Mountain Top Removal” or “I’m a Friend of Coal.” It sometimes seems battle over coal is a never-ending story. But can the friends of coal ever become friends with the environmentalists on this issue? Could these two battling sides ever come to an agreement that would leave them both satisfied? Kasey Russell is hoping to make this ideal a reality with her new business Russell Resource Solutions, in Charleston, West Virginia.

“Empathizing with both sides; I think that is the biggest challenge. The different ends of the spectrums dominate everything,” Russell says. “But there is a message of middle ground; there is a message of people coming together; there is a message of we can still mine coal responsibly and we can do something really great for the community at the same time.”

Russell’s newly found company tries to bring both sides of many environmental issues, including coal mining, together to find solutions. She believes that by bringing both sides to the table, West Virginia’s lands and natural resources can be developed responsibly and effective land use alternatives can be created.

Russell has already brought Joe Lovett, with the Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment and a harsh critic of coal, together with people from Arch Coal, Inc. Lovett is working with the coal company and the forestry committee to come up with a solution to one of coal mining’s problems.

In the Beginning

Russell’s passion for working with the environment began when she was hiking in the Oconee National Forest in her home state of Georgia. She saw a sign that said part of the forest was going to be clear cut and she decided to protest it.

“This one forester came up to me and said, ‘Honey why are you out here protesting, why are you against this?’ I said, ‘They are going to clear cut and destroy where I hike, and clear cuts are evil and awful and bad,’” Russell recalls.

“And he said, ‘Do you know what you’re talking about? Did you know that clear cuts can actually sometimes be good for certain species of trees and certain animals? You might want to check these things out before you start protesting next time.’ So I went to forestry school that next year.”

At the University of Georgia she earned a degree in forestry, but focused on national forest policy. After graduating she worked in Washington, DC, for environmental non-profit groups for a year, then went to work for the U.S. Forest Service for 10 years in Atlanta, Georgia and Morgantown, West Virginia.

Life of a Lobbyist

In Morgantown, Russell helped start the Mountain Valley Green Space Coalition and the Morgantown Urban Forest Council. She was first exposed to coal mining when she moved to Charleston in 1998 and became the executive director of the West Virginia Land and Mineral Owners Council (WVLMOC). In that position, much as she does in her own business, she took the middle road and lobbied for companies and activists to come together to make land better for both the owners and the community.

“I would walk in and there were the environmental lobbyists over there and over here the industry lobbyists and I would typically put my stuff down in the middle, because that’s where I want to be,” Russell says about lobbying at the capital. “Sometimes people say you can’t. You have to pick a side. And my belief is that I have taken a side.”

Russell’s work for the WVLMOC inspired her to start Russell Resource Solutions. “My passion has evolved. At first I was interested in forestry. But coming to West Virginia, I got much more interested in all natural resource extraction.”

Now she is hoping to help solve some tough environmental issues facing West Virginia. In Southern West Virginia, flooding caused $1.5 billion in damages from 2001 to 2004 and this is described as one of the worst natural disasters in the United States’ history. Many blame the worsening effects of flooding in these areas on logging and mining.

In the Southern part of the state, 95 percent of the flat land is below the flood plane. Russell is working to move the residents out of harm’s way. “While we’re extracting coal, to produce energy for the country, we can leave some of these areas to be developed for these people and get them out of the flood plain.”

An Environmentally Sound Future

Russell is hoping to get the coal companies and the land owners talking before the mining starts. This will develop the land after the mining is done and save everyone a lot of money, and would not be an extra expense for the coal companies because mitigation is required by law.

Russell says if there had been a plan in Mingo County for developing the land after the mining was complete, the land could have been prepared for the airport. This would have saved the state from hauling tons upon tons of dirt, which means it would have saved the state a significant amount of money.

“If there would have been someone there like me involved in those projects from the very beginning,” Russell says, “then the post mine land use could have been a complete project that would give something back to the community.”

And Russell is hoping through the creation of her company, she will be able to create change throughout West Virginia.

“I want to be one of those people who’s inspiring other people and who is really, seriously affecting change,” Russell says. “I want to see these projects that now are exceptions in the state; see them become the norm.”