2008 Mountain Justice Summer Action Camp! : Cleveland IMC (((i)))

Mountain Justice Summer is a call to action and a request for help from the people of the Appalachia mountains for help in saving our mountains, streams–and forest from greedy coal companies. But why are we asking for help?

Over 1200 miles of stream have been buried and destroyed and countless mountains and ridge tops have been blown up–gone for all eternity. Additionally, under the Bush administration, laws have been altered to encourage and accelerate the destruction. The price of coal has doubled and the destruction of our watersheds is accelerating and spreading out like cancer, not slowing down. Our state and federal agencies charged with protecting our environment are liquidating our mountains.

We are losing. And our loss is not only for our own generation–but for future generations as well. Where now there are barren scraped biologically dead toxic wastelands there used to be water producing mountains. Water is going to matter to the future generations more than coal. You cannot drink coal. The Pentagon has predicted than many of the future wars on our planet will not be fought over coal or oil–but for water. The lack of clean drinking water is already a global problem for humanity, as our population increases it will only get worse. A mainstay of supermarket shelves across North America is water. The destruction of water producing mountains is not only a crime of the present–but is a very real attack on the future generations–you cannot drink coal.

We cannot afford to continue losing this struggle. A few already rich executives in coal companies are getting wealthier at the expense of us all. The acceleration of mountain top, side and ridge removal is a curse on the future–and present generations. We need your help.

You are invited to:

Mountain Justice Summer Camp
May 17 - 23
Harlan County, Kentucky

Our 2008 Mountain Justice Summer camp will be at the base of beautiful Pine Mountain, with an old-growth forest and incredible hiking just above the camp - plus live mountain music, great food, films, workshops on coal mining and Appalachian culture, skills training, and plenty of time for fun and relaxing.

Best of all, the camp is extremely low-cost, only $20 plus $10 per
night. There are cabins with bunk beds, plus tent spaces, a beautiful lake, awesome mountain views, and some of the best people you will ever meet anywhere (sorry - no dogs this year).

Register now at:

http://www.mountainjusticesummer.org

Go to the website to see pictures of the camp and some photos of our camp last year in Tennessee. This is our 4th annual camp, and we think this is going to be the biggest and best camp we have ever had, with well-known speakers like Kentucky author Silas House, Kayford Mountain Keeper Larry Gibson, Teri Blanton of Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, Ed Wiley from Rock Creek, West Virginia, plus many local Harlan County residents and coal miners who are concerned about mountaintop removal mining.

Music includes: Nashville's Jake Leg Stompers, folksingers Micheal and Carrie Kline, Here's to the Long Haul, Jeremy Dotson, CD Collins, Danny Dollinger from Austin Texas, and much more!

During the week we will have community service projects, including
innoculating Hemlock trees at Camp Blanton against Hemlock Wooly Adelgid, plus forest ecology and plant identification hikes, tree
climbing, The Maze, Sand Cave, Knobby Rock - this is going to be an awesome week so we hope to see you there!

Please note: Sorry, no dogs at MJS Camp this year. There are plenty of camp dogs around, so you will have canine company even if you have to leave your best friend at home.

Here is our current schedule (subject to changes)

Concurrent workshops are designated by a slash

*** Sat May 17

8:00 Breakfast
9:00 Morning Circle & Welcome to Mountain Justice Summer!
10:30 Mountaintop Removal with Vernon Haltom, Coal River Mountain Watch, Whitesville WV / Conflict Resolution /Legal Workshop- Chris
Irwin, United Mountain Defense
12:00 Lunch
1:00 MTR 101 - Vernon Haltom (repeat) / Community Organizing
2:30 Appalshop's "Coal Bucket Outlaw" with Roy Crawford / Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative - Sadie Heck
4:00 Free time / Shadow Theater - Georgia Matt
6:00 Dinner - Speaker: Dr. Tom Barnes slide show "Pine Mountain"
(tent.)
7:00 Live Music
9:00 Film "Harlan County USA" (Academy Award winning documentary) introduced by Dr. Lynda Ann Ewen, author of "Which Side Are You On? The Brookside Mine Strike in Harlan County KY"
11:00 Quiet Time

*** Sunday May 18

8:00 Breakfast
9:00 Morning Circle - Welcome to Harlan
County - Teri Blanton, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth
10:30 Dayhoit walking tour w/Teri Blanton/ Church Service - Sage Russo, Christians for the Mountains / Appalachian Cultural Sensitivity - Dr.
Lynda Ann Ewen
12:00 Lunch
1:00 Working with the Media - Viv Stockman, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, Dana Kuhnline of SEAC, Vernon Haltom CRMW/ Art & Activism - Sarah Haltom, Coal River Mountain Watch
2:30 Deep Ecology & Bioregionalism - john johnson/ Water Testing/
Climate Justice
4:00 Free Time / Making Kim Che - Patty D and Erin M. / Theater
Performances - Steph Pistello
6:00 Dinner - Coalfield Citizens Panel with Harlan and Letcher County residents
7:00 Live Music
9:00 Film "Coal Miners Daughter"
11:00 Quiet Time

*** Monday May 19

8:00 Breakfast
9:00 Morning Circle
10:30 Coal Mining 101 - with Harlan County miners / Active Listening - Georgia Matt
12:00 Lunch
1:00 Hiking Blanton Forest - Kyle Napier, Ky State Nature Preserves Commission / Beehive Collective presentation / Tree Climbing - Hilary Hosta
2:30 Listening Projects / Field Water testing / MTR site tour
4:00 Free Time
6:00 Dinner - Speaker: Larry Gibson, Kayford Mountain Keeper
7:00 Live Music
9:00 Film Kentucky Premiere! "Burning the Future: Coal in America" with filmmaker David Novack from New York City
11:00 Quiet Time

*** Tuesday May 20

8:00 Breakfast
9:00 Morning Circle
10:30 Non Violent Direct Action - Hilary Hosta, Matt Leonard, James Brady / Anti-Oppression
12:00 Lunch
1:00 Kentucky author Silas House ("Clays Quilt", "The Coal Tattoo")/
Butch Turk skills training / Tree Climbing - Hilary Hosta
2:30 History of Opposition to Surface Mining - Chad Montrie, Univ.
of Mass-Lowell ("To Save the Land and People") / Beehive Collective workshop
4:00 Free Time
6:00 Dinner - Speaker: Ed Wiley (invited)
7:00 Live Music - Public Outcry (hopefully)
9:00 Film "Mountaintop Removal" w/ filmmaker Mike O' Connell (winner of Reel Current Award, Nashville Film Festival awarded by Vice President Al Gore)
11:00 Quiet Time

*** Wednesday May 21

8:00 Breakfast
9:00 Benham, KY Coal Mining Museum field trip / Making Art with SarahHaltom, Coal River MountainWatch
10:30 Composting toilets/ "Listening for a Change - Oral Histoy and
Appalachian Heritage" w/ folksingers Michael and Carrie Kline/ Archery/ DIY workshops
12:00 Lunch
1:00 Water testing - Dick Shore/ De-escalation Techniques - Doc /
Primitive Skills - Kris D. / Tree Climbing - Hilary and Chris Irwin/
Other DIY workshops

2:30 SMCRA and Citizens Rights - Gerogia Matt / Appalachian Community Economics - Randal / Belly Dancing - Sarah Haltom / DIY workshops
4:00 Free Time
6:00 Dinner - Dick Shore as John Muir
7:00 Live Music - Folksingers Michael and Carrie Kline
9:00 Films Appalshops' "Stranger With a Camera" and "Thoughts in the Presence of Fear" w/ Herb E. Smith
11:00 Quiet Time

*** Thursday May 22

8:00 Breakfast
9:00 Morning Circle & State Breakouts
10:30 Nukes Are Not the Answer - Mary Olson, NIRS / Environmental Philosophy - Charlee Tidrick
12:00 Lunch
1:00 Bank of America/Citi Campaign - Scott Parkin, Matt Leonard
Rainforest Action Network and Hilary Hosta / Legal Workshop (repeat)-Chris Irwin, United Mountain Defense / Hiking/ Forest Ecology and Plant Identification - john johnson
2:30 Campus Organizing
4:00 Free Time
6:00 Dinner - Speaker: Kentucky Author Bruce Hopkins "Sacred Ground"
7:00 Music - Poetry night - Talent Show
9:00 Films Appalshops "Its Hard to Tell the Singer from the Song"
(Hazel Dickens) and "Dreadful Memories" (Sara Ogan Gunning)
11:00 Quiet Time

*** Friday May 23

8:00 Breakfast
9:00 Closing Circle
10:30 MJS Meeting
12:00 Lunch
1:00 Take down and head to Heartwood Forest Council in Ohio!

Please register now at

http://www.mountainjusticesummer.org

Hope to see you all there!

Cleveland Indy Media Center