As anyone who has visited the aging and neglected cemeteries can attest, they are in desperate need of protection and repair. The problems facing cemeteries are varied - landowners, mining operations, gas pipelines, road construction, outright neglect, and vandalism. A small number of landowners try to deny access to cemeteries on their land and often remove the stone markers, doze over the cemeteries to get rid of them, let their livestock run on the cemeteries, or build on the cemeteries. Strip mining has been very destructive and in many cases cemeteries have been covered or dozed over the sides of mountains. Gas pipelines can also be a source of problems because they doze through a cemetery while laying lines or making roads to the gas wells.
Road construction can also displace and destroy cemeteries.
But the two things that cause the most damage to cemeteries in the Appalachian region are simple neglect and vandalism. Instead of properly setting the markers back in the ground, many are thrown away with no regard to the information that is being destroyed. Vandalism is an increasing problem that involves stones being broken, pushed over, photographs are being smashed and the grounds being trashed. Arknasas Lance Dorris is the proud recipient of the Agnes McLeod Stephens Piping Scholarship what is awarded each year at Lyon College to a deserving piper. Lance is a Freshman at Lyon College.