Starting Date: 05-25-2012
Ending Date: 05-28-2012
Camp Olmstead, Near The Allegheny National Forest
Pennsylvania
United StatesDay Weekend
Heartwood Forest Council, 22nd Annual
Camp Olmstead, near the Allegheny National Forest
Heartwood is seeking Co-Sponsors for the 2012 Memorial Day Forest Council, to be held in the Allegheny National Forest. Heartwood is a regional network of public forest defense and advocacy grassroots organizations, with member groups in most states where the Eastern Hardwood forests once covered majestic and wild, from the Ozarks to the Appalachians. Each year Heartwood hosts two regional scale events, one held annually over the Memorial Day weekend in a different state each year. This year Heartwood’s 22nd Annual Forest Council will be hosted by the Allegheny Defense Project (ADP), and held at Camp Olmstead at 316 4th Ave., Warren, PA 16365.
This year’s theme is drawn from the nature of the major threats to our forest region, and explores their impact on both rural and urban life ways. Marcellus drilling, the Seneca bid to take management of the Kinzua Dam Hydro power rights, coal, solar and wind issues, all suggest that we think deeper about energy production and consumption in our society and our daily life, as we prepare to reclaim the structures that have led to such tremendous inequity around the globe. The primary focus or goal of the weekend is to share skills and provide training for activist Forest Watch, and coordinate local and regional forest protection and advocacy. Speakers this year will include Thomas Buchele, the Clinical Professor of Law and Managing Attorney, Pacific Environmental Advocacy Center ("PEAC") at Lewis and Clarke Law School who has fought for the protection of public lands for more than 25 years. Past attendees and featured speakers have included Woody Harrelson and US Congress Representative Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), both champions of public forest protection among the hundreds and dozens who stop timber sales every day with letters, appeals, litigation and direct action.
We very much want your organization to be a part of this event, a weekend conference focused on the how-to and what-next of state and national forest protection. Marcellus threats in PA and NY are among the many threats in the Appalachian region, and share many parallels with the Mountaintop Removal fight in southern West Virginia where the Forest Council was held last year, or with lead mining in Missouri’s Mark Twain National Forest where Heartwood also has member organizations. Biomass incineration for electric power is a particular threat to our forests and farm soils alike, but discussions of scale come into particular focus on this topic. We want to build on the work done at APIEL and other recent regional conferences, and provide a forum to build momentum in these grassroots movements. Networking across this region has proven to be an effective tool in forest protection, and we are reaching out to you to strengthen that network in the face of these new threats because you already share a part of this movement to build a new vision.
Your cosponsorship of $50 or $100 will go towards making this event a success. The costs of outreach, food and facilities for the some two hundred projected attendees is partially offset by fun fundraising events such as the Heartwood Auction, and registration fees. The Auction is another opportunity to gain recognition for your organization, by donating merchandise with your logo or an item that reflects your organization’s mission. Cosponsors names will be featured prominently in all promotional materials, as well as signage at the event. Tables will be available for display of brochures and other information, offering the opportunity to generate new members for your own group. Members of your organization will receive the Member Price for registration to attend this event. Your cosponsorship also brings your organization a year’s membership in the Heartwood network, including Heartbeat our biannual newsletter, action alerts, and notification of other events, such as the Heartwood Reunion held each October in Paoli, IN.
Heartwood invites our co-sponsors to hold a workshop over the course of the weekend, a one-hour discussion of your organization’s mission as it relates to forest protection. A draft of workshop topics and weekend agenda is included for your review. Workshop facilitators or presenters would pay no registration fee for the weekend, although we would ask for some contribution towards meals if you stay for the program. We encourage you to eat with us, Heartwood takes great pride in the healthy, hearty home-grown and home-cooked quality of the meals we share as much as the discussion and ideas that fill our minds and mouths as we eat together!
If you are interested in hosting a workshop topic or have any questions about Heartwood or the upcoming Forest Council, please contact HW Board Member and Pittsburgh contact Matt Peters at 412-320-0739.
For the Forests,
Matt Peters
p.s. one of the outcomes from the Forest Watch agenda in the program is a monthly Pittsburgh outing to Marcellus permit sites on nearby state forests, game lands, and parks, monitoring and commenting on the Permit from the beginning of the process, and alternating regular meetings with day-trip outings to collect on-the-ground data, and rescuing some of the plants from these threatened sites. Volunteers with computer mapping skills will be needed to incorporate data into strategic and interactive formats.Geographical Scope: National Conference |
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