The Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards (SAMS) is a local community group in Appalachia, VA dedicated to stopping the destruction caused by surface coal mining. I work with SAMS, a group of local activists who are outraged by the devastating effects of surface coal mining in the coalfields of Southwest Virginia. Surface coal mining, also known as strip mining, often takes the form of "mountaintop removal" which is exactly what it sounds like.