To put a positive spin on the saying about a “road to hell,” however, I believe we need a “road through hell” here. Because hell does not have to be the endpoint—it is not too late for us to sit back, reflect, take stock of everything, and be proactive toward longer term systemic change—even if it feels like the house is burning down around you. 

This year, 2025 marks the return of Brood XIV, one of the largest and most wide-reaching emergences of 17-year periodical cicadas in the U.S. Read more to learn about how your forest land could be affected.

LiKEN Program Updates, Spring 2025 At LiKEN, our work is rooted in relationships to place, to people, and to the knowledge that connects...

By Itzel Flores Castillo Wang, LiKEN Disaster Resilience Program Assistant “We all bury our dead together, we all raise our children...

Frontline Flood Relief in Leslie County by Matthew Sparks Middle fork of the Kentucky River in front of Leslie County High School (Photo credit: Matthew Sparks) Your second catastrophic flood hits differently. Especially when it literally hits your hometown. I consider most of southeastern Kentucky my home—like many deeply rooted families here, I’m connected by blood or marriage or the Appalachian experience to most of the surrounding counties. This kinship compelled me to ac

LiKENeer Brandon Jent’s Poetry and Appalachian Resilience Brandon Jent shares his work at the Hindman Settlement School's Appalachian...

By Matthew Sparks What in the heck is a Farm Number? And more importantly, why should someone get one? A Farm Number is a unique numeric identifier that can be registered to your parcel of land by the Farm Service Agency (FSA), a subdivision of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). Farm Numbers are often compared to a Social Security Number for land. Most folks obtain farm numbers for the immediate benefit of getting tax exemptions, however having a Farm Number is a requir

A privatized market for property tax debt threatens to exacerbate land ownership inequality.

Climate Resilience Program Fall 2024 Update The Climate Resilience  program has experienced a year of dynamic growth and impactful...

Water Collaboratory Program Fall 2024 Update The Water Collaboratory  program has been hard at work this year, driving community...