鈥淢y students and I were very involved in the public awareness campaign about the Cow Knob Salamander,鈥� said photography professor , who chairs the Department of Visual and Communication Arts at EMU. 鈥淭his campaign was spearheaded by a constellation of dedicated conservation nonprofits and advocacy groups in the region.鈥�

Partners who worked most closely with Johnson鈥檚 classes included , , and the .

The salamander photos emerged from a class in conservation photography launched by Johnson several years ago. He sought to encourage students to 鈥渢hink about broader ecosystems, the environment, human culture and how they relate to the natural world, as well as about helping to protect nature.鈥�

Johnson’s own has also received attention. [To see more photos and learn more about Johnson, visit his .]

Proposed pipeline to cross wild regions

In the fall of 2014 and 2015, Johnson鈥檚 class took photos of the George Washington National Forest and nearby areas. The images were utilized to support a half-dozen citizens鈥� groups opposed to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a proposal backed by four large utility companies. In a new pipeline more than 500 miles long, the natural gas would traverse the George Washington National Forest and Monongahela National Forest, in addition to other public and private properties in mostly rural areas of Virginia and West Virginia.

鈥淭he proposed pipeline will cross the central Allegheny Highlands, the Blue Ridge Mountains, and the adjacent valleys. It will cut through 30 miles of national forest and cross numerous rivers, streams, and wetlands,鈥� says the of Dominion Pipeline Monitoring Coalition, for which senior Jonathan Bush did aerial photographic surveying. 鈥淭his area represents the heart of the remaining wild landscape in the eastern United States, and it is a major biodiversity refugium that can only increase in rarity and importance.鈥�

By the coalition鈥檚 description, 鈥渢he proposed pipeline will be 42 inches in diameter, requiring excavation of an 8- to 12-foot-deep trench and the bulldozing of a 125-foot-wide construction corridor straight up and down multiple steep-sided forested mountains.

鈥淚t will require construction of heavy-duty transport roads and staging areas for large earth-moving equipment and pipeline assembly. It will require blasting through bedrock, and excavation through streams and wetlands. It will require construction across unstable and hydrologically sensitive karst terrain.

鈥淧ipeline construction on this scale, across this type of steep, well-watered, forested mountain landscape, is unprecedented,鈥� concludes the coalition on its website.

Photographing wildlife and landscapes

Johnson and his students did not limit themselves to documenting the rare Cow Knob Salamanders, which live in the path of the proposed pipeline on and near Shenandoah Mountain. They also photographed pristine streams, verdant farmland, and breathtaking views that would be lost with pipeline construction and maintenance.

Their salamander photos, however, were the ones that seemed to have the most impact, given that they were published widely by the news media and on civic action websites across Virginia. The potential negative impact on these salamanders and the Cheat Mountain Salamanders, plus on West Virginia northern flying squirrels and ecosystem restoration areas, was cited in the Jan. 19 letter from U.S. Forest Service administrators to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC.

The commission is deliberating whether to approve proposals to construct several pipelines for moving Marcellus shale gas from western West Virginia to Virginia and the southeast. These pipelines would be the largest ever built in this region, and all routes proposed thus far would impinge on national forest land.

The Forest Service letter referred to natural resources of 鈥渋rreplaceable character鈥� on Shenandoah Mountain, Cheat Mountain and Back Allegheny Mountain that would need to be circumvented by any pipelines.

Students contributed to publicity efforts

鈥淚鈥檓 very proud of the student involvement in this work 鈥� surveying, hiking, mapmaking, land and aerial photographing, and writing,鈥� said Johnson. 鈥淚t鈥檚 impossible to know exactly how much the public campaign played in the final Forest Service decision, but I have to believe the amount of publicity surrounding this little amphibian helped provide political support for this move.鈥�

Lynn Cameron, vice president of the Virginia Wilderness Committee and past president of the Virginia Wilderness Committee, has been with the latter group since it began 10 years ago. Cameron calls the partnership between her group and Johnson鈥檚 class 鈥渕utually beneficial.鈥� Johnson serves with Cameron on the board of the Virginia Wilderness Committee.

鈥淏eing able to show the beauty and biodiversity of the area, along with its water and recreational resources, through the images provided by EMU鈥檚 students really helps our efforts,鈥� she says.

The George Washington-Jefferson National Forest receives more than 2 million visits annually, most often for hiking, fishing and picnicking, by Forest Service estimates. Access to this forest is as close as 10 miles (20 minutes by car) west of EMU鈥檚 campus.

All nine students in the fall 2014 Conservation Photography took class field trips that involved photographing landscapes and biodiversity along the proposed pipeline route: Jonathan Bush, Malika Davis, Londen Wheeler, Emma King, Ryan Keiner, Chris Lehman, Meghan Good, Amber Davis and Jonathan Drescher-Lehman. These students also divided into three small groups, two of which worked specifically on the pipeline (their images can be seen here: ).

Cameron recalls that Wheeler was the first to see and photograph the Cow Knob Salamander. Then Bush, Davis and King returned to the area and found some of these salamanders on their own. 鈥淚 was with them and remember being amazed that they could actually find rare salamanders on a field trip in mid-October, which is at the end of their active season,鈥� said Cameron. 鈥淣ormally, these salamanders can be found on warm, damp nights. The students found them at mid-day during a dry spell. It was just unbelievable.鈥�

Collectively, the students emerged with some remarkable images which have been used in by and the , among others.

In the fall 2015 Conservation Photo class, four students focused on the pipeline project, but their photos centered on farmland and private property: Curtis Handy, Rachel Schrock, Azariah Cox, and Macson McGuigan. McGuigan also worked on a with his GIS class to make maps related to threatened species in the pipeline route area.

This summer, for the second year in a row, EMU鈥檚 vegetable gardeners are growing beans, tomatoes, peppers, squash, potatoes, onions, lettuce, herbs, peas, spinach, grapes, and more for a group of 15 committed purchasers in a system called 鈥渃ommunity-supported agriculture,鈥� or CSA.

Each CSA shareholder invests $100 at the beginning of the summer, plus $100 in July (or the equivalent in labor), to receive 1/15^th of the freshly harvested food each week over the summer. Three of the 2013 shareholders are returnees from last year; the others responded to an EMU-wide email sent by two university professors, and , inviting people to buy the remaining shares. All were snapped up within 24 hours.

鈥淲e started talking about having a CSA in the fall of 2011,鈥� says Taylor Weidman, one of the original visionaries for the program. 鈥淲e wanted to keep it small, though, so we could test it out and not be overwhelmed.鈥�

EMU has supported the initiative by allowing four summertime employees of the university鈥檚 physical plant 鈥� recent graduates Weidman and Aly Zimmerman and rising juniors Jeni Heishman and Chris Lehman 鈥� to spend part of their workdays on the gardens.

鈥淥wning a share means there will be a basket of food waiting for you every Friday evening in conjunction with a simple, informal meal for anyone interested,鈥� said the email inviting shareholders in early April.

, EMU grounds supervisor, says that from the get-go the CSA has been led by students, emerging from their , with the support of faculty and staff. 鈥淲ithout the leadership of students like Louise Babikow and Taylor Weidman, the CSA wouldn鈥檛 be able to exist,鈥� he says.

In its inaugural summer of 2012, only six shares were offered. This summer, that number has more than doubled to 15. 鈥淲e might expand [next summer] to 20-25 shares,鈥� says Weidman, 鈥渂ut we don鈥檛 really have the resources to go beyond that.鈥�

Office manager 鈥�08 is one of the shareholders: 鈥淚 love that I can see where everything is grown when I walk around campus, and that it’s a walk or bike ride away from my house.鈥� On one recent Friday, Hostetler received asparagus, arugula, chard, herbs, kale, lettuce and spinach. She looks forward to receiving tomatoes, beans, peppers, peas, onions, squash, garlic, potatoes, cabbage and beets in coming weeks.

In their email announcing the 2013 CSA, the Sustainable Initiative students explained that their vision goes far beyond growing vegetables. They view community-rooted food production and consumption as a means 鈥渢o connect together to build a community dedicated to doing justice聽with how we grow and eat.鈥�