Where there are various regions there is bound to be a variety of people with alternative cultures, beliefs and lifestyles. The cultures found in Appalachia are unique in their own way and represent a body of individuals who found their way to that area. The land included in the Southern Appalachians can best be described by Horace Kephart in his book The Southern Highlander and His Homeland to include: “the four western counties of Maryland; Virginia's Blue Ridge Valley and Allegheny Ridge counties; all of West Virginia; East Tennessee; Eastern Kentucky; Western North Carolina; the four northwestern counties of South Carolina; North Georgia; and northeastern Alabama. (22-24) With so much space available, there are some important cultures and events that need to be discussed. In the process of identifying cultures within the Southern Appalachians, references will be made to native Indians, European settlers, industrialists, and the current economy. The Southern Appalachian cultures that will be discussed will show the lifestyles of many, the religion of the areas they focused on, and the values ​​individuals had towards the environment. The Cherokee and Shawnee Indians were the most prominent groups found in the southern Appalachian region. Cherokee Indians were believed to have arrived in parts of the southern Appalachians during prehistoric times. ("Cherokee Nation-Indian Territory.") They remained in areas such as southwestern Virginia, the Carolinas, northern Alabama, and Georgia, and the Cumberland Basin in Tennessee and Kentucky. ("The Native Americans, the Cherokee") The Cherokee Indians who had settled in the southern Appalachians were an Iroquoian-speaking people, they built their homes... middle of paper... factories, the loss of timber to interior of Appalachian forests and the amount of CO2 constantly released into the atmosphere. Currently, the damage we have caused to the environment in the Southern Appalachians is vast and incomprehensible. The greatest environmental challenge facing the Southern Appalachians today is the loss of the “native forests” so precious and beautiful of the Southern Appalachians. (19) Although much of the timber within the forests has returned after being used as lumber, there are extreme consequences to taking away such an important aspect of Appalachian nature and culture. What is lost cannot be gained, but we can certainly do what little we can to impact culture and the world on the need to preserve nature, so that the environment can thrive for many years to come. You can make a sacrifice for your area, for your world?