Dirt Is Chris's Religion
Going “Back to the Land” in the 1970’s led Chris to 112 acres of degraded yet enchanting Appalachian forest.  Naturally, she focuses her research, writing, hiking, and tree hugging on old growth, biodiversity, sustainable forestry, wildlife (especially cougars) and what it means to be an Appalachian Mountain woman. But nowadays, going “Back to the Land” has taken on a deeper, more personal meaning, and she finds herself contemplating dirt in a new way.

Sunshine Is Her Politics
Chris's passive-aggressive solar photovoltaic house powers her desperate attempts to find anything funny in the earth’s dire situation. We can no longer see even the tip of the iceberg of our environmental crisis, because the iceberg has melted.

Two of Chris's columns won first and second prize in the 2015 Virginia Outdoor Writers' Association Excellence in Craft contest.

First Place:
"Parasitic pipelines worm way through Earth"

Second Place:
"Citizen voices protected George Washington National Forest"