The Oct. 10 edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education featured a color photo of Brian McCarthy, associate professor of environmental and plant biology, sitting on a large felled tulip poplar tree in Dysart Woods, a university-owned, 50-acre old-growth forest in Belmont County near the Ohio University-Eastern Campus. The forest is part of a 455-acre laboratory Ohio University has owned since 1966.

Brian McCarthy, shown here at Dysart Woods, was featured in The Chronicle of Higher Education. Photo: Jo McCulty

McCarthy, who uses the spot for forestry studies, is among those campaigning to prevent coal mining near the old-growth forest that was designated as a National Natural Landmark nearly 20 years ago. The accompanying story described the university’s involvement in the decades-old debate over mining in the area.

University officials are concerned that the proposed mining by Ohio Valley Coal Co., which owns the mineral rights to the seam of coal in the area, may affect the watershed that feeds the woods, which includes a stand of trees 400 to 500 years old.

In early October, the Ohio Division of Mines and Reclamation approved a permit to mine in an area just less than two miles from the woods’ boundaries. A decision on another permit, one that would include mining in an area just a few thou-sand feet from Dysart Woods, was expected in November.

University officials are gathering information for a petition for unsuitability, which would protect the woods from any future mining.

The Columbus Dispatch published an editorial on the controversy following several news stories on the woods. Athens media and The Associated Press also have covered the controversy.