Maria Gunnoe of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition in West Virginia, a ten year grantee of the Noyes Foundation, was chosen as the North American winner of the “Nobel Prize” for grassroots environmental activists. The Prize, including a cash award of $150,000, was started twenty years ago to annually honor six individuals, one each from Africa, Asian, Europe, Island Nations, North America and South and Central America.

Maria was selected for her community organizing work against mountaintop removal coal mining. She has been a strong voice for social and environmental justice in Appalachia, speaking at rallies, testifying at public hearings and in court, organizing and training her neighbors, and rallying allies from around the region and country.

The target of threats over the years, Maria has directly felt the effects of the blasting, digging and dumping from mining operations. Her family’s home is next to piles of mining waste and her property has been flooded seven times in the past eight years. Nevertheless, Maria keep fighting, most recently winning an injunction against the Army Corps of Engineers, which had issued new permits to mining companies.

“In the heart of Appalachia, where the coal industry wields enormous power over government and public opinion, lifelong resident Maria Gunnoe fights against environmentally devastating mountaintop removal mining and valley fill operations,” the Goldman Environmental Foundation said during the Prize ceremony.

The other Goldman Prize recipients included an attorney from Bangladesh, an engineer from Indonesia, a Russian scientist and activists from Africa and South America. The winners are selected by an international jury who review a group of confidential nominations.

In 2003, another Noyes grantee, Judy Bond from the Coal River Mountain Watch, won the Goldman Prize for her work against strip mining operations.