Thanks for the reply Matt. I did realize that would be a problem with no governing body for Appalachia, but I do like your idea of tying it to the Appalachian Trail. There is the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, which is a non-profit which organizes volunteers to help keep up the trail. I'm not sure what their operating budget is.

After reading that idea though, I did get to thinking about other groups who might benefit. With the continued economic struggles for many in parts of Appalachia, it's too bad a charity group couldn't use a tartan in order to raise money for the region similar to what is done for Arctic and Antarctic tartans. A nice idea, but I imagine the high cost of designing and custom weaving a tartan would be too big of a risk for such an organization.
Still, it would give us all an excuse to get another kilt. "But honey, I know I promised that there'd be no more kilts for a while, but I couldn't not help those families! I did it for the children!"

That said, I think tying the tartan to a good cause would not only help promote it by making it official, it would definitely broaden its appeal. Hrm, now how do I get the cogs moving on this?