Legislative Action

Jack Corn

The damaging effects of strip mining on the environment prompted the emergence of a number of environmental groups like Save Our Cumberland Mountains and the Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning in the early 1970s. Pressure from these groups motivated the Tennessee Legislature to attempt to tighten regulation of strip mining. In August of 1973, fourteen members of the Tennessee House of Representatives Committee on Conservation and Environment embarked on a tour of strip mines in the Harriman, TN area and Morgan County. Corn's photographs document highlights of the tour: moments of debate, reflection, and revelation.