The APPALACHIAN MOUNTAIN RANGE LANDS are among the oldest on earth extending in a 100 - 300 mile wide band from southeastern Canada through WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA into North Georgia. The Appalachian system is divided into a series of ranges, with the mountains averaging 3,000 feet. The highest is Mt. Mitchell in North Carolina at 6,684 feet which is the highest point in the United States east of the Mississippi River. The term Appalachian refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range. It broadly refers to the entire mountain range with its surrounding hills and plateau regions. However, the term is often used more exactly to refer to regions in the central and southern Appalachian Mountain lands, usually including areas in the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, and western North Carolina, as well as sometimes extending as far south as north Georgia and western South Carolina, as far north as Pennsylvania, and as far west as southern Ohio. The Appalachian Mountain system may be divided into three broad sections; the Northern, Central and Southern. The Northern extends from the Canadian provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador to the Hudson River. The Central runs from the Hudson River Valley to the Kanawha River running through Virgina and West Virginia. The Southern extends southward through western North Carolina to north Georgia. The Adirondack Mountains in New York are sometimes considered to be part of the Appalachian Mountain chain but actually are part of the southern portion of the Canadian Laurentian Mountains. In addition to the folded mountains, known as the ridge and valley province, the plateau areas to the north and west of the mountains are usually grouped with the Appalachians. They include the Catskill Mountains of southeastern New York, the Poconos in Pennsylvania, and the Allegheny Plateau of southwestern New York, western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio and northern West Virginia. This same plateau is known as the Cumberland Plateau in southern West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, western Virginia, eastern Tennessee, and north Alabama.

The plateau areas are popularly called "mountains", especially in eastern Kentucky and West Virginia, and while the ridges are not high, the terrain is very rugged. In Ohio and New York, some of the plateau has had glacial activity, which has rounded off the sharp ridges, and filled the valleys to some extent. The glaciated regions are usually referred to as hill country rather than mountains. The Appalachian region is generally considered the geographical dividing line between the east coast of the United States and the midwest. The Eastern Continental Divide follows the APPALACHIAN MOUNTAIN LANDS from Pennsylvania through western North Carolina to North Georgia. The Appalachian trail is a 2,200 mile hiking trail that runs all the way from Mt. Katahdin in Maine through the WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA MOUNTAIN LANDS to Springer Mountain in North Georgia passing through a large part of the Appalachian system. The International Appalachian Trail is an extension of this hiking trail into the Canadian portion of the Appalachian range.

The BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS, rising in southern Pennsylvania and known as South Mountain, attain elevations of about 2,000 feet. South Mountain achieves its highest point just below the Mason Dixon line in Maryland at Quirauk Mountain and then diminishes in height south to the Potomac River. In Virginia, the Blue Ridge Mountains again reach 2,000 feet and higher. Some of the highest peaks in the Virginia Blue Ridge north of the Roanoke River include, Stony Man, Hawksbill Mountain and Apple Orchard Mountain (4,225 feet). South of the Roanoke River, along the Blue Ridge, are Virginia's highest peaks including Whitetop Mountain (5,520 feet) and Mount Rogers (5,729 feet), the highest point in the state.

Chief summits in the southern section of the Blue Ridge Mountains are located along two main crests; the Western or Unaka front along the Tennessee-WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA border and the Eastern Front in North Carolina or one of several cross ridges between the two main crests. Major sub ranges of the Eastern Front include the Black Mountains, Great Craggy Mountains, and Great Balsam Mountains, and its chief summits include Grandfather Mountain (5,964 feet) near the Virginia-North Carolina border, Mount Mitchell (6,684 feet) in the Black Mountains, and Black Balsam Knob and Cold Mountain in the Great Balsams. The Western Blue Ridge Front is subdivided into the Unaka Range lands, the Bald Mountains, the Great Smoky Mountains, and the Unicoi Mountains, and its major peaks include Roan Mountain in the Unakas, Big Bald and Max Patch in the Bald Mountains, Clingmans Dome, Mount Le Conte and Mount Guyot in the Great Smokies, and Big Frog Mountain near the Tenessee-Georgia-Western North Carolina border. Prominent summits in the cross ridges include Waterrock Knob in the Plott Balsams. In Northern Georgia, several peaks exceed 4,000 feet including Brasstown Bald, the state's highest, at 4,784 feet and Rabun Bald.

The Appalachian Mountain lands contain major deposits of anthracite of coal as well as bituminous coal. Anthracite coal is found in the coal region of northeastern Pennsylvania. The bituminous coal fields of western Pennsylvania, western Maryland, southeastern Ohio, eastern Kentucky, southwestern Virginia, and West Virginia, and West Virgina contain the sedimentary form of coal. The mountain top method of coal mining in which entire the mountain tops are removed from the land, is currently threatening vast areas and ecosystems of the Appalachian region. In 1860, commercial quantities of petroleum were discovered in the Appalachian Mountain land of western Pennsylvania and the modern United States petroleum industry was born. Recent discoveries of commercial natural gas deposits in the Marcellus Shale formation have once again focused attention on the Appalachian Basin. Several plateaus of the Appalachian Mountain land contain metallic mineral property such as iron and zinc.

The Appalachian plant life is diverse and varies with geology, latitude, elevation and moisture availability. The Appalachian Mountain land consists primarily of deciduous broad leaf trees and evergreen needle leaf conifers, but also contain the evergreen broad leaf American Holly, and the deciduous needle leaf conifer, the Tamarack, or Eastern Larch. The dominant northern and high elevation conifer is the Red Spruce, which grows from near sea level to above 4,000 feet in northern New England and southeastern Canada. It also grows southward along the Appalachian crest to the highest elevations of the southern Appalachian Mountains, as in western North Carolina and Tennessee. In the central Appalachians it us usually located above 3000 feet except for a few cold valley lands in which it reaches lower elevations. In the southern Appalachian Mountains it is found in higher elevations. Another species is the Black Spruce, which extends farthest north of any conifer in North America, is located in high elevations in the northern Appalachian Mountains, and in bogs as far south as Pennsylvania.

The APPALACHIAN MOUNTAIN LANDS are also home to two species of fir, the Balsam Fir, and the southern high elevation Fraser Fir which is located in the highest parts of the southern Appalachian Mountains. Balsam Firs are found from near sea level to the treeline in the northern Appalachian Mountains, but ranges only as far south as Virginia and West Virginia in the central Appalachians, where it is usually found above 3,900 feet except in cold valley lands. Balsam Firs do well in mountain land with soil properties of high pH levels. Eastern or Canada Hemlock is another important evergreen conifer that grows along the Appalachian Mountain chain from north to south, but is confined to lower elevations than the firs. It generally occupies richer and less acidic soils than the spruce and firs and is characteristic of deep, shaded and moist mountain valley land and coves. Less abundant, and restricted to the southern Appalachian Mountain land is the Carolina Hemlock. Several species of pines characteristic of the Appalachian Mountain land are Eastern White Pine, Virginia Pine, Pitch Pine, Table Mountain Pine, and Shortleaf Pine. All of these species except for White Pine tend to occupy land with sandy, rocky, poor soil properties which are acidic in pH. White Pine, a large species valued for its timber, tends to do best in rich, moist soil, either acidic or alkaline in character. Pitch Pine is also at home in acidic, boggy soil and Shortleaf Pine is generally found in warmer habitats and at lower elevations than the others. All the pines do best in open or lightly shaded habitats, although White Pine also thrives in shady coves, valley land, and on flood plains.

The Appalachian Mountain forest lands have an abundance of large, beautiful hardwood trees. The most diverse and richest forests are the medium moisture types, which are largely confined to the rich, moist land of the southern and central Appalachians, particularly in the Cumberland and Allegheny Mountains, but also thrive in the southern Appalachian coves. Common species are White Basswood, Yellow Buckeye, Sugar Maple, American Beech, Tuliptree, White Ash, and Yellow Birch. Other common trees are Red Maple and Bitternut Hickories. Smaller trees and shrubs include Flowering Dogwood, Hophornbeam, Witch Hazel, and Spicebush. Thre are also hundreds of perennial and annual herbs, among them such herbal and medicinal plants as American Ginseng, Goldenseal, Bloodroot and Black Cohosh. These trees, shrubs and herbs are also more widely distributed in less rich forest land that generally occupies coves, stream valley land and flood plains throughout central and southern Appalachian Mountain land at low and intermediate elevations. In the northern Appalachians and at higher elevations of the central and southern Appalachians these diverse forests give way to less diverse "Northern Hardwoods" with canopies dominated only by American Beech, Sugar maple, American Basswood and Yellow Birch and with far fewer species of shrubs and herbs. Dryer and rockier land in uplands and ridges are occupied by Oak Chestnut type forests dominated by a variety of oaks and hickories. The oak forests of the southern and central APPALACHIAN MOUNTAIN LAND consists largely of Black, Northern Red, White, Chestnut and Scarlet Oaks and Hickories. The richest forest land, usually in coves and on gentle slopes, have dominantly White and Northern Red Oaks, while the driest sites are dominated by Chestnut Oak, or sometimes by Scarlet or Northern Red Oaks. In the Northern Appalachians, the oaks, except for White and Northern Red, drop out, while the latter extends farthest north. The oak forests generally lack the diverse small tree, shrub and herb layers of other forests. Shrubs include the evergreen Mountain Laurel, various species of blueberries, black huckleberry, a number of deciduous rhododendrons (azaleas), and smaller heaths such as Teaberry and Trailing Arbutus. The evergreen Great Rhododendron is characteristic of moist stream valley land. The prevailing acidic property of most oak forest soils stimulates their rapid growth.

Eastern deciduous forest lands are subject to a number of serious insect and disease outbreaks. Among the most conspicuous is that of the introduced Gypsy Moth, which infests primarily oaks, causing severe defoliation and tree mortality. Bit it also has the benefit of eliminating weak individuals, and thus improving the genetic stock, as well as creating rich habitat of a type through accumulation of dead wood. During the 19th and early 20th centuries the Appalachian Mountain Forests were subject to severe and destructive logging and land clearing, which resulted in the designation of the National Forests and Parks as well as many state protected areas. However, these and a variety of other destructive activities continue, albeit in diminished forms, and thus far only a few sound forest management practices have been implemented.

Animals that inhabit the Appalachian Mountain forest land include five species of tree squirrels. The most commonly seen is the low to moderate elevation Eastern Gray Squirrel. As familiar as squirrels are the eastern Cottontail rabbit and the White Tailed Deer. The Deer have greatly increased in abundance as a result of the virtual elimination of the Eastern Wolf and the North American Cougar. This has led to the overgrazing and browsing of many plants of the Appalachian Mountain forest lands as well as destruction of agricultural crops. Other deer include the Moose, found only in the north, and the Elk, which is making a gradual comeback through repopulating efforts in the southern and central Appalachian Mountain lands. Another species of great interest is the Beaver which is showing a great resurgence in numbers after near extinction for its pelt. This resurgence is bringing about a drastic alteration in habitat through the construction of dams and other structures throughout the mountains. Other common forest animals are the Black Bear, Striped Skunk, Raccoon, Woodchuck, Bobcat, Gray Fox and in recent years, the Coyote, another species favored by the advent of Europeans and the elimination of Eastern & Red Wolves. Birds of the forest include Wild Turkey, Ruffed Grouse, Mourning Dove, common Raven, Wood Duck, Great Horned Owl, Barred Owl, Screech Owl, Red Tailed Hawk, Red Shouldered Hawk, Northern Goshawk, as well as a great variety of songbirds. Appalachian Mountain streams are notable for their highly diverse freshwater fish life. Among the most abundant and diverse are those of the minnow family, while colorful darters are also abundant. A notable fish of the shaded, cool Appalachian Mountain forest streams is the Wild Brook or Speckled Trout, which is much sought after for its sporting qualities.

For a century, the Appalachian Mountains were a barrier to the westward expansion of the British colonies (or depending how you looked at it), a major protection to the Native American tribes living to the west of the mountains). The continuity of the mountain system, the bewildering complexity of its many ridges, the tortuous landscape of its transverse passes, a heavy forest, and dense undergrowth all combined to keep the settlers on the seaward sloping plateaus and coastal plains. Only by way of the Hudson and Mohawk Valleys, and around the southern part of the system were there easy land routes to the interior of the country, and these were closed by hostile Native American tribes such as the Iroquois, Creek, and CHEROKEE INDIANS, among others. Expansion was also blocked by alliances the British Empire had formed with Native American Indian tribes, the proximity of the Spanish colonies in the south and French activity throughout the interior. In eastern Pennsylvania the Great Appalachian Valley land or Great Valley was accessible by a wide gateway between the end of South Mountain and the Highlands, and here between the Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers settled many Germans and Moravians, whose descendants even now retain the peculiar moniker "Pennsylvania Dutch". These late arrivals to the New World were forced to the frontier to find cheap land. With their followers of both German and Scottish- Irish origin, they worked their way southward and soon occupied all of the Shenandoah Valley lands, relinquished by the Iroquois, and the upper reaches of the Great Valley tributaries of the Tennessee River, relinquished by the Cherokee Indians. By 1775, the obstacle to westward expansion had been thus reduced by half, outposts of the English colonists had penetrated the Allegheny and Cumberland plateaus, threatening the French dominance in the region, and war became inevitable. In the struggle against the French to determine the control of the Ohio Valley lands, the unsuspected strength of the colonists was evident, and the successful conclusion of the French and Indian War extended England's territory to the Mississippi. The geographic isolation caused by the Appalachian Mountain lands had been a prime reason for their success. The confinement of the colonies between an ocean and a mountain wall led to the concentrated settlement of the coastal border of the continent which led to a community of purpose, a political and commercial solidarity, which would not otherwise have developed. As early as 1700 it was possible to ride from Portland, Maine to southern Virginia sleeping each night at a sizeable village. In contrast to this significant industrial occupation, the French territory was held by a small and very scattered population. Bearing the brunt of this contest, the colonies were getting prepared for the subsequent struggle with the England. Unsupported by shipping, the American armies fought toward the sea with the mountains at their back protecting them against British and their native allies. The few settlements beyond the Great Valley land were freed for self defense because of their geographic location..

Before the French and Indian War, the Appalachian Mountain lands lay on an uncertain boundary between Englands colonies along the Atlantic and French areas centered in the Mississippi basin. After the French and Indian War, the Proclamation of 1763 restricted settlement for Great Britain's thirteen original colonies in North America to east of the summit line of the mountains (except in the northern regions where the Great Lakes formed the boundary). Although the line was adjusted several times to take frontier settlements into account and was impossible to enforce as law, it was strongly resented by back country settlers throughout the Appalachian Mountain lands. The Proclamation line can be seen as one of the grievances which led to the American Revolutionary War. Many frontier settlers believed that the defeat of the French opened the land west of the mountains to English settlement, only to find settlement barred by the British King's proclamation. The back country settlers who fought in the Illinois campaign of George Rogers Clark were motivated to secure their settlement of Kentucky. The newly formed United States first phase of westward expansion in the late 18th and early 19th century consisted of the migration of European descended settlers westward across the Appalachian Mountain lands into the Ohio Valley through the Cumberland Gap and other mountain passes. The Erie Canal, finished in 1825, formed the first route through the APPALACHIAN MOUNTAIN LANDS that was capable of large amounts of commerce.