Stand Up That Mountain Author:Jay Erskine Leutze A True Story of the Dog Town Hillbillies Who Shut Down an Enormous Mine in North Carolina — One day Jay Leutze got a call from a young woman, Ashley, and her Aunt Ollie. Ashley and Ollie said they had evidence that Clark Stone Company was violating the Mining Act of 1971 up on Belview Mountain, one of the most remote and wildest places in the eas... more »tern United States. They wanted Jay, a non-practicing attorney, to sue the company to put a stop to their mining operation. He jumped at the challenge.
Upon meeting Ashley and Ollie, Leutze knew he was embarking on a course that would change his life. Fourteen-year-old Ashley assured him she had accumulated a stack of evidence “as big as that mountain,” detailing the mine owner’s misdeeds. Leutze quickly became convinced that this was a case he could win. He formed a plaintiff group and sued the state of North Carolina for violations of its own mining laws. He and Ashley’s family were eventually joined by several national conservation groups seeking to save Belview Mountain and protect the Appalachian Trail in one of its most scenic and fragile stretches. « less