Keeper of the Mountains Foundation

Larry Gibson to Speak at Hawks Nest Premiere

2012-02-09T10:23:00.000-05:00

This Post is a reprint of a press release for this event

Presenting: Hawks Nest: Blood Beneath Our Feet

A Black History Month Program sponsored by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History

Where: Cultural Culture Center

Capitol Complex, Charleston, West Virginia

When: Sunday, February 19, 2012, 3pm

Contact: Kate McComas (304-521-7444 )

For immediate release:

Award winning film makers Mari-Lynn Evans and Phylis Geller will premiere the trailer for Hawks Nest: Blood Beneath Our Feet as part of the Black History Month Celebration at the Culture Center on February 19, 2012 from 3pm to 5pm.

The keynote speaker will Dr. Wilburn Hayden, a leading expert on the history of blacks in Appalachia with long and distinguished as a university scholar and social activist. He was featured in the PBS documentary film "The Appalachians," which has been shown regularly on local PBS stations since April 2005. Dr. Hayden who grew up in Forsyth County, North Carolina, has taught in three Appalachian institutions of higher learning and has been involved in Appalachian studies for a lifetime.

Rev. Ron English, Rev. Mathew Watts and Pastor Paul Dunn will speak about the tragedy and triumph of the Hawk Nest Tunnel Disaster as an untold story hidden in the hollows of Appalachian hills and its relevance to critical issues shaping the current narrative of socio-economic injustice in our state and nation. Moreover, the Hawks Nest story amplifies the insult of marginal visibility of African Americans in Appalachia whose history has been largely ignored primarily due to the paucity and decline of the black presence in the area.

Industrialization stimulated the migration. The Hawks Nest documentary uncovers details of events that betrayed the hopes of African American ex-slaves who migrated into Appalachia to work in the mining and railroad industries at the turn of the century but were left vulnerable to massive exploitation and victimization by corporate giants in the 1930s. Yet the story also reveals the peculiar paradox of triumph emerging out of tragedy and the genesis of the black middle class in West Virginia.

To honor the victims of the Hawks Nest Tunnel Disaster, Dave Saville, of the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, will announce the donation of 2,500 trees for a memorial forest .

Kenny Perdue, President of the West Virginia AFL-CIO, will speak about the significance of the Hawks Nest Tunnel Disaster on the formation of Worker’s Compensation legislation.

Larry Gibson, the founder of the Keeper of the Mountains Foundation and longtime community activist whose father worked at Hawks Nest, will also be a featured speaker.

Music for the program will reflect the shared cross cultural “roots” of soul music. Gospel and praise music will be performed by the Shabbat Choir from First Baptist, Charleston and blues and country sounds will be provided by well-known local artists John Lily, Lady D and other special musical guests.

A reception will follow the program. This event is free and open to the public.

###

Gainesville Loves Mountains is Moving Forward!

2012-01-30T20:10:00.002-05:00

Post Written by Gainesville, FL resident Jason Fults

Since Larry Gibson's successful visit to Gainesville, FL last March, we have been hard at work pursuing an official policy to end the purchase of Mountaintop Removal coal by our municipally-owned utility.

We started a Facebook page for our group, “Gainesville Loves Mountains,” and asked citizens to contact their Commissioners and the utility to speak out against Mountaintop Removal. We received lots of positive media attention and it was clear that the Commission was hearing from people. I've seen firsthand that the more people learn about Mountaintop Removal, the less they want to be connected to it.

While we are having an impact on our Commissioners, the technocrats at our utility's fuels division have been steadfast in their opposition to any sort of restrictions on where they purchase their coal. As recently as last week, the Assistant General Manager of the utility was stating publicly that they remain “...reasonably agnostic on where the coal comes from, other than we prefer deep-mine coal for performance reasons.” Yet as we continued our campaign, other forces were at work.

As it turns out, the growing availability of natural gas, resulting partly from the controversial gas drilling practice known as “fracking,” has driven fuel prices so low that in recent months the bottom appears to have come out from under the coal markets. Whereas our utility had previously considered deep-mined coal a luxury it could only sometimes afford, and had been using approximately 60% Mountaintop Removal coal, we were able this year to sign 1-year contracts for nearly 100% deep-mined coal and still come in under budget.

It is an awkward position to be in, to have “won” our local campaign against purchasing Mountaintop Removal coal, thanks in large part to another highly destructive mining practice. This “victory” is obviously inadequate, and our campaign will continue. Our goals for 2012 include:

• Continuing to discuss Mountaintop Removal at every opportunity. We'll host more film screenings and Appalachian activists this year, and continue to build public support in advance of the next round of coal contract negotiations later this year.

• Building a bridge between Gainesville and the Appalachian communities that provide our coal. One definitive victory that our campaign has had is a line item in all new coal contracts that requires the companies to disclose any major environmental violations. We'll be watching.

• Educating ourselves, our community, and our Congressional representatives on any federal efforts to ban Mountaintop Removal mining.

• Supporting a local effort for a more aggressive energy conservation ordinance that will move our community closer to a future free of electricity generated from fossil-fuels.

We want to hear what folks up in Appalachia have to say about our efforts, and want to encourage other communities that consume Mountaintop Removal coal to duplicate our campaign. Please contact us with any feedback, questions, or resources you have to offer.

Thanks,

Jason Fults, on behalf of Gainesville Loves Mountains

sisyphus@riseup.net

352-318-0060

The Mountain Top

2012-01-09T18:34:00.001-05:00

The Mountain Top

Kayford, West Virginia

The mountain man points across a half-mile gap

to a hill where silver leaves shiver in strong gusts,

to family graves, centuries old, unreachable

without permission from the coal company.

Coal keeps the lights on, the company brags.

On in the funeral parlor, the mountain man says,

inviting Jim and me to visit what’s left of his hill

since the dragline shovel devoured Appalachia.

Face smudged, boots soaked in sludge,

the old coal miner still hoists hammer

and pick to a rocky ledge, sets charges,

chokes on dust, coughs blood, dies hard.

And now comes the behemoth, ten stories high

with a button’s push swallows the mountain,

each bite 50,000 tons of sandstone and root,

heaves its maw into the hollows below.

Soil, forest, whatever’s above the black seams,

the company calls waste or overburden.

Inside the shovel the word is spoil, and once

the river’s sunk, fish killed, they speak of fill.

Taking the miner out of mining means 8 billion

pounds of explosives; 800 million acres

of forest; 500 mountains collapsed—leaves

the fresh yellow-painted signs saying HAZARD

DO NOT EAT BASS

BEYOND THIS POINT

We take the risky ride over washed-out gravel.

Dark leaf canopy, walls of sheer rock shadow

the way. Mud ditches raise the peril, coal

trucks racing down, hogging the road.

At the sunny crest, the mountain man guides us

past a yellow crack the size of a barbeque pit.

He calls it land rupture; I lean over to see where

it leads—straight down, a ragged black shaft.

Dynamite’s ripped open the belly, gutted the hill

from below. He says, please be careful, you don’t

want to fall in. We walk on toes by spindly trees

until the light opens to face the stark precipice.

The mountain next door has vanished, dropped

into the planet’s bowel, an entire forest gone.

A few hawks fly around aimlessly; the wind

carries the insistent whine of motors nearby.

At the brink stands one ghost tree, black roots

sinewy, naked in mid-air, branches stiff as bone.

The mountain man studies the bark. Don’t fall,

he advises. No one will come to save you either.

--Peter Neil Carroll

First published in Written Rivers: A Journal of Eco-Poetics (Winter 2011)

This poem first appeared in "Written Rivers": http://issuu.com/hiraethpress/docs/writtenriverwinter2011?utm_source=Hiraeth+Press+Newsletter&utm_campaign=4390d5fa65

Latest_News_from_Hiraeth_Press12_18_2011&utm_medium=email

Charleston, WV Will Bowl for the Mountain Keepers & Youth Leaders

2011-12-28T14:08:00.000-05:00

Post written by Morgantown, WV resident & Build It Up! WV leader Joe Gorman

This is an opportunity to bowl with Build-It-Up! West Virginia leaders and participants and representatives from other proactive youth summer programs around the East Coast and Midwest. Larry Gibson, from Keeper of the Mountains Foundation, will be the night's guest speaker.

Proceeds benefit the Build-It-Up! West Virginia, support a week-long training we're hosting in South Charleston, and benefit the Keeper of the Mountains Foundation's work to build a healthy, local economy and stop mountaintop removal.

RSVP & invite your friends to the event on Facebook!

$20 gets you a pair of bowling shoes and three games of bowling. Additional donations welcome - bring your checkbook!

Artwork Connects Us to History

2011-12-22T13:43:00.000-05:00

Post written by WVU Student Kofi Opoku

Kofi's piece with Marin Luther King Jr's historic words

After visiting the "Keeper of the Mountains" and listening to Larry Gibson’s story, I was amazed at his unrelenting fight against Mountaintop Removal mining. I was intrigued by how one man could speak up against an empire of coal companies and expect his voice to be heard. After Larry had finished showing us the devastated mountains, I dared to ask, “Do you ever feel like giving up?” He paused and answered me with his own question, “Do you know why Martin Luther King said he had been to the mountaintop?” It was then that it dawned on me; the reason why his passion seemed so familiar. Larry had the same fight in him as the activists and leaders who were willing to give up their lives for this country. Although MTR mining is seen as an environmental issue, there is undoubtedly a political underlining. It is this correlation between politics and the environment that I sought to emphasize in this poster series.

Kofi's piece with John Muir's historic words

Kofi's piece with Franklin Delano Roosevelt's historic words

Volunteering to Reclaim His Economy

2011-10-01T09:44:00.000-04:00

Written by Keeper of the Mountains Foundation Volunteer "Community Owned Energy Researcher" Tyler Cannon

Tyler Cannon voicing demands to Arch Coal in St. Louis

My name is Tyler Cannon, and I am a new volunteer for Keeper of the Mountains. My role includes research on various types of locally owned renewable energy sources. I have recently moved from Logan, WV, to Morgantown, WV, to attend West Virginia University, and when I saw this position open, I saw an opportunity to serve my home from a distance. Also, an opportunity to be a part of the solution; this solution being a West Virginia with a local economy that allows the people and the environment to not just exist, but to thrive. This research will provide understanding to those who wish to work towards this goal. Once we have understanding, we can put this vision into action.

Mountain Keepers Stir Detroit

2011-09-30T10:04:00.002-04:00

Written by Event Planner Tom Costello

Amber & Larry Speaking Out in Detroit

When I began to publicize Larry Gibson’s speaking in Detroit, many people asked me why he would come here and what does Detroit have to do with mountaintop removal. My response was that every time you turn that light switch on or plug your laptop to charge it, you run a direct line from that socket to that coal-burning power plant to a coal mine in Appalachia. Specifically, that coal comes from a mountaintop removal mine.

If one types in a Detroit area zip code on the Appalachia Watch website, you will trace that coal burned in Detroit to a mountaintop removal mine. In the words of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, “An injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. So we in Detroit or wherever we live need to educate ourselves on this every important issue and support Larry’s and others’ efforts to end it.

Larry Gibson and Amber Whittington not only discussed “what” mountaintop removal mining is in Appalachia, but they made an impassioned statement that these acts of destruction impact human lives, a culture and the land itself. If you have the opportunity to bring Larry and his colleagues to your hometown or school, I encourage you to do so. Others need to know what is being done to the mountains and people of Appalachia.

Job Posting Year End Fundraising Drive Coordinator

2011-09-21T12:19:00.002-04:00

Keeper of the Mountains Foundation

Year End Fundraising Drive Coordinator

Job Description

Position Dates: October 24th, 2011 - January 31st, 2012. Potential for expansion to full time employment.

Application Due Date: Applications must be received by 5:00 PM EST on Tuesday, October 4th, 2011. Please send applications as early as possible.

Compensation: Commensurate with Experience

Hours / Week: 20-30 hours/week – 5-7 days/week, Many Evenings and Weekends Required

Reporting Relationship: Reports to the Operations Director

Mission of & Introduction to the Keeper of the Mountains Foundation: The Keeper of the Mountains Foundation (KotM) aims to educate and inspire people to work for healthier, more sustainable mountain communities and an end to mountaintop removal. We believe a better future in the coalfields requires everyday people to come together and recognize their power to make long-term, lasting change. We envision an organization, led by West Virginians, with real power in West Virginia. We support communities that want to move beyond a coal-based economy and put in its place an economy that values people, land, and mountain heritage.

Current Situation and Objectives: The Keeper of the Mountains Foundation is experiencing strong growth. KotM is scheduling more speaking events, working with more Southern WV residents, and successfully fundraising. KotM is committed to grassroots fundraising from individual donations and scheduling fundraising events. KotM is planning to implement a well-organized, year-end fundraising drive through phone banks to outreach to our supporters and raise grassroots money to continue putting our vision into action. The Year End Fundraising Drive Coordinator is responsible for working with the KotM Year End Fundraising Drive Consultant and Operations Director to implement the Year End Fundraising Drive Plan.

Specific Responsibilities:

    • Attend a "Training for Trainers" on Organizing a Phone Banking Events

    • Organize & Oversee Regular Volunteer Phone Banking Events in November and December

    • Ensure all Phone Numbers In KotM Database Are Called in Phone Banking Events

    • Ensure Effective Online Donation Appeals are Sent Using Email, Facebook Causes, and Other Online Tools

    • Ensure Major Donor Meetings are Set Up and Asks are Made of all Potential Major Donors

    • Ensure Our Phone Bank Outreach Builds Long Term Organizational Activity & Base of KotM

    • Track All Donation Asks

    • Organize & Oversee All Data Entry to Maximize the Number of Donors w/ Phone Numbers for Phone Bank

    • Research Major Donors and Foundations

    • Recruit, Coordinate and Remind Volunteers and Board Members to Work the Phone Bank

    • Maintain, Update Database and Schedules

    • Follow-up with Low-dollar, High-Dollar and Sustaining Donors and House Party Hosts

    • Prepare Grants / Project Proposals and Progress Reports as Required by Operations Director.

    • Other Duties as Assigned

Preferred Qualifications:

    • Background Knowledge of Appalachia, Coal, Mountaintop Removal, and West Virginia

    • Experience in Grassroots Organizing and Fundraising

    • Experience in Direct Donation Asks

    • Experience in Excel, Word, Email, Facebook, Twitter and Google Documents

Skills:

    • Sales ability

    • Excellent Verbal Communication and Written Communication

    • Attention to Detail

    • Ability to Work Independently and as Part of a Team

    • Excellent Time-management Skills with the Ability to Simultaneously Manage Multiple Projects and Meet Deadlines

    • Able to Work Flexible Hours, Including Many Evenings and Weekends

    • Dedication, Motivation, Drive, Ambition, and Commitment to the Job

Location:
This position will be based out of the KotM Office in Charleston, West Virginia

To Apply:
Please send a Letter of Interest, Resume, and Three References to the Keeper of the Mountains Foundation at Apply@MountainKeeper.org.

For Questions:
Daniel Chiotos, Operations Director, at 304-205-0920 and/or Danny@MountainKeeper.org to ask questions about this position.

Father Dan's Labor Day Festival Statement on Mountaintop Removal

2011-09-06T11:51:00.001-04:00

Post Written By On The Road Again Program Speaker & Labor Day Gospel Weekend Volunteer Debbie Graff

Photo by Wendy Johnston of Sunday's Music

From a newspaper article in the Charleston Daily Mail, I read of Father Dan Pisano, a former traveling chaplain with the WVU football team, who not only spoke of his objection with the game being played on a Sunday, but that it is sponsered by the Friends of Coal. The article mentioned that the mountains where Fr. Dan grew up are gone. I called Fr. Dan that day to ask about his destroyed hometown. He had planned to come to Kayford to speak, but due to an illnes could not come. He sent me this statememt to read in his place and gave me permission to post this statement online. I have not had a chance to speak to Fr. Dan since it was announced that the team and coaches would be rubbing a piece of coal from the UBB mine before the game for luck. Perhaps he can help me make sense of that, because I have not been able to do so.

The following is Fr. Dan's statement, read by me at the Gospel Music Labor Day Festival at Stanley Heirs' Park, Kayford Mountain, WV.

Photo Credit: Kelli-Jo Devereux

To The People Of The Mountain

First of all, I want to apologize to my friends and fellow-companions on the journey to end the stripping away of God’s creation, his mountains, for not being in attendance today! Secondly, I want you to know that I represent myself, not the Bishop of the Wheeling-Charleston Diocese, nor the Roman Catholic Church, although both the Bishop and the Church promote social justice throughout the world. In this regard, I personally believe that the raping of our West Virginia mountains is unjust, immoral, a health hazard to the people who inhabit the valleys of West Virginia where the rape of our mountains is taking place and, most of all, a sin against the God of all creation.

I grew up in McDowell County, Filbert #9, to be exact. As a young boy I recall the many summers I spent in the mountains, sometimes pretending to be Indians or Cowboys with my friends or just walking alone to be with nature.

Above an area where the Methodist Church sat, the mountains were deliciously thick in the summer with the scent of West Virginia wild flowers, tall trees and rich soil and so many memories. There was a large rock near the top of that mountain and it was covered with moss. The moss was as soft and rich as if it were made just for me. So I would lie on that rock on my back and look up at the sky through the tallest trees I had ever seen.

I don’t know why the lizards that ran around me didn’t scare me, or the sounds I heard that could have been animals or snakes. When looking back, I know that I felt that rock protecting me. I didn’t know it then, but being in that unforgettable place was the beginning of my journey into the priesthood. At a young age, that’s where I found God. In that forest, I experienced God. I don’t know why I recall that as the beginning of my religious journey, but I do. It was as irresistible as God is to me still. I became contemplative at an early age and that has sustained me throughout my religious life. Those mountains and that rock, I know, became part of my journey. I could never talk about myself in seminary in Boston without also talking about my beloved mountains of West Virginia. It’s part of my soul!

That rock is now gone. When last I visited Filbert #9, I could see stripping going on in the distance when I visited what is now called “Miracle Mountain” – a place where we would gather as a community for picnics, weddings, Church-related functions, and now reunions. I looked over into the distance from the cabin and could only see trucks and other vehicles stripping away the mountains where once we could look into the hills of Virginia. I fantasized as a child that I could see as far as North Carolina. It just seemed to be a place where I could stare into my own future because I could also see distant places, places I had never visited except in my imagination.

My younger sister and her friends would venture into those same mountains when she was young, and they called that space “Fairy Forest.” I never asked why but I imagine she and her friends found a place where they could pretend that there were little gnomes and fairies that protected them from dangerous snakes and other animals.

When my younger sister was born, my paternal grandfather walked me through the mountains and pointed out two wild turkeys. I had never seen such beauty nor experienced such companionship. It was a place where we discovered our relationship and it felt as ‘though I were in another world. This was before I could venture into the mountains further and discover that rock covered with moss, which became my summer daytime bed, which brought me to this way of life.

My father was an underground miner. I lost an uncle in a “mine blast” and his death left behind his wife and two children. I think the children were one and 2 years old. But a lot of other men lost their lives also as I grew up in that wonderful place. And so it seemed “usual” even then to feel part of a community of similarities. The Union assured everyone that they would inspect the mines for safety and we believed and trusted in that.

What I wasn’t aware of was that the people who owned those coal mines were all from out of state – Baltimore, Philadelphia, Pittsburg and other larger cities. I only learned this as I got older and realized how paternalistic life was. My father, in particular, was someone who fell into the hands of those he knew “owned” him. He became dependent on them in a way I don’t think he ever realized. It was unhealthy and even sometimes ventured into knowing my father as someone who could not survive on his own. As I grew older I wondered about how his life and dependency would influence my own life. I know it has.

According to the “The Friends of Coal” report dated 2009, there are 305 underground mines in West Virginia and 232 surface mines. Throughout the US, however, there are 583 underground mines and 852 surface mines. When I read that I grieved for all those mountains that were being stripped away from the people. Interestingly, surface mines and underground mines that are not scrutinized for inspections as they should be seem to exist in those places where people have no voice. They are told to lie to the inspectors in order to protect themselves and their jobs.

In my own county, which now ranks as the poorest county in the country, surface mining has caused flooding in the past 15-20 years, so much so that people who gave their lives to mining have moved away. Displaced older people, I know, grieve leaving a place that was once filled with laughter and the joy of neighbors. I drive through Keystone and pass by netting that is as tall as a three-story building to protect the people from the dust and dirt that drifts

from the stripping away of the mountains. In my own little town of Filbert, which now has about 20 or so families

[I am making an educated guess], I have heard that bears and other animals now venture into the back yards and street because they, too, are being displaced.

I know that the two largest mine-owning operations are CONSOL Energy out of Pittsburg, and Massey Coal Co., Inc., which was recently bought by Alpha Natural Resources, with headquarters in Virginia. Those who live in Pittsburg and Abingdon, VA cannot appreciate the devastation that those of us who watch our mountains – No, God’s mountains – be destroyed. They live in relative comfort and cannot see God’s creation fall into the hands of greedy and irresponsible owners. I envy them their joy, for we who long to walk once again through our mountains, will never have that again.

I am a supporter of underground mining. I am a supporter as long as the owners maintain proper and critical inspection and safety measures. I am not, and will never be, however, a supporter of strip/surface mining. Stop the rape. Stop the sin. Stop playing with God’s creation as ‘though you own it. You don’t own it, nor do we who stand against you today. But let us, we ardently pray, have what is left of our mountains.

The “Friends of Coal Bowl” is now playing out in Morgantown. Do the students know that the friends are really not our friends, but merely frauds? Do the students know that there is even a “Friends of Coal Women’s Auxiliary” who are responsible for education? Do they ever show the films that inform about the destructiveness of strip mining? Let us pray that they be fair and show both sides of the story. It is our right to demand and expect that of them.

I pray that one day the mountains will once again sing. I don’t care how surface mined mountains are “reclaimed.” Nothing that is gone can ever be reclaimed. Only God can do that. And so I pray for you who stand here today and practice your right and responsibility to protest. May someone out there in the West Virginia or Federal Government hear your voices and my prayer that one day, one day…………God’s creation will not be taken from us! God bless all of West Virginia. God bless you.

Be at Peace

with Your Consciences!

Fr. Dan Pisano

Schedule Announced for Labor Day Gospel Festival

2011-08-31T13:54:00.001-04:00

Photo Credit: Kelli-Jo Devereux

"I personally believe that the raping of our West Virginia mountains is unjust, immoral, a health hazard to the people who inhabit the valleys of West Virginia where the rape of our mountains is taking place and, most of all, a sin against the God of all creation. " - Father Dan Pisano

On Labor Day Weekend, Come Celebrate God's Mountains at the Gospel Music Weekend with Larry Gibson and his family at their Stanley Heirs Park on Kayford Mountain.

Father Dan Pisano , former WVU football team's traveling chaplain will not be there himself, but his statement will be read during our main service on Sunday at 3:30pm! Music, speakers, food, children's games and fun Saturday, September 3rd from 1-6 PM and Sunday, September 4th 12-4

Saturday Schedule:

1:00 - 3:00 Jean Davis and Stanbumgarner playing bluegrass / old time music with a Gospel theme

3:00 - 4:00 Sun Darling playing indie folk music with a Gospel theme

4:00 - 6:00 Geoge Daugherty is trying to come to play the saw and other music with a Gospel theme

Sunday Schedule

12:00 to 12:30 Matt Parsons' Music

12:30 to 12:45 Robin Blakeman discussing recent health studies of Southern WV Counties

12:45 to 1:00 Allen Johnson of Christians for the Mountains

1:00 to 1:30 Music

1:30 to 1:45 Laura Dagley of Christians for the Mountains

1:45 to 2:00 Local Preachers / Singers (Open)

2:00 to 2:30 Megan Gregory' Music

2:30 to 3:00 Local Preachers / Singers (Open)

3:00 to 3:30 Matt Parsons & Megan Gregory' Music

3:30 to 4:00 Primary Service (Robin Blakeman leading) & Father Dan Pisano's Statement Read (Debbie Graff) & Gospel Sing (Matt Parsons)

Please bring a dish for the potluck, and a tent if you plan to stay Saturday night. If your church is interested in having a table or promotional materials there or having time on stage for your band and/or preacher/speaker - please contact us ASAP.

This is a FREE Festival & we hope everyone can come. We do have costs though, so if you can make a suggested $10 - $50 donation to help us, we'll put your generosity to good use: http://bit.ly/kotmdonate

Community Energy + Land Protection Volunteer Researchers Needed

2011-08-30T18:40:00.001-04:00

Keeper of the Mountains Foundation (K.o.t.M.)

Community Owned Renewable Energy Research Volunteer

Position Description

Term: September, 2011 to December, 2011
Compensation: Volunteer, Direct Program Expenses will be Reimbursed
Estimated Weekly Time Commitment: 5 - 10 hours
Person: ?

Keeper of the Mountains Foundation Mission Statement:

The Keeper of the Mountains Foundation aims to educate and inspire people to work for healthier, more sustainable mountain communities and an end to mountaintop removal. We believe a better future in the coalfields requires everyday people to come together and recognize their power to make long-term, lasting change. We envision an organization, led by West Virginians, with real power in West Virginia. We support communities that want to move beyond a coal-based economy and put in its place an economy that values people, land, and mountain heritage.

Importance of This Position

The Keeper of the Mountains Foundation is actively working to protect the health of our mountains and people so that we can develop a just and local economy. We envision an economy that actively improves the health of Southern West Virginians and want that economy to benefit Southern West Virginians as much as possible. We want to see community owned renewable energy operate as a major driver for this developing economy and we want to organize people together to put this vision into action. This research is the important first step so that all in our organization can understand what different ownership options there are for community owned renewable energy before we start to actually work to put it into place.

Goal of this Volunteer Position:

The central goal of this position is for all people actively engaged in developing and eventually implementing the Keeper of the Mountains Foundation's vision of a healthy Southern West Virginia economy with community owned renewable energy as a driving force to understand the different ownership options for community ownership. This volunteer will produce the written material necessary for Keepers' staff and volunteers to understand our options so that we can discuss and choose which is the primary model we want to implement.

Responsibilities:

- Produce an Overview of Different Models of Community Owned Renewable Energy Document for KOTM use that explains how each model works as well as the potential for implementation in the current policy & regulatory structures of West Virginia. This document may also explain difficulties in implementing community owned renewables as well as the needed policy changes.

- Produce a 1 page (front & back) overview of what different relevant options there are for community owned energy and a definition + brief description of each

- Produce a written overview of existing community level renewable energy leaders' experiences who KOTM already has contact with. There may be other experts that are identified to talk with to learn from their experience with community level renewable energy, but these are the people with the necessary experience to start with.

- Research and Summarize existing models of community renewable energy ownership that are being used in different areas of West Virginia and the United States. Examples will be provided.

- Communicate at least Weekly with the Operations Director of the Keeper of the Mountains Foundation.

- Write at least one blog post for the Keeper of the Mountains Foundation's website at the beginning of the position to outline your goals and why you're doing the work and one blog post at the end of your position to outline what progress was made, the importance of your work, and why you are doing it

- October 15th Report with a Progress Evaluation & Update to Keeper of the Mountains Foundation

To Apply:

Contact Danny Chiotos at Danny@MountainKeeper.org

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Keeper of the Mountains Foundation (K.o.t.M.)

Land Protection Research Volunteer

Position Description

Term: September, 2011 to December, 2011
Compensation: Volunteer, Direct Program Expenses will be Reimbursed
Estimated Weekly Time Commitment: 5 - 10 hours
Person: ?

Keeper of the Mountains Foundation Mission Statement:

The Keeper of the Mountains Foundation aims to educate and inspire people to work for healthier, more sustainable mountain communities and an end to mountaintop removal. We believe a better future in the coalfields requires everyday people to come together and recognize their power to make long-term, lasting change. We envision an organization, led by West Virginians, with real power in West Virginia. We support communities that want to move beyond a coal-based economy and put in its place an economy that values people, land, and mountain heritage.

Importance of This Position

The Keeper of the Mountains Foundation is actively working to protect the health of our mountains and people so that we can develop a just and local economy. We envision an economy that actively improves the health of Southern West Virginians and want that economy to benefit Southern West Virginians as much as possible. We want to see community owned renewable energy develop on protected locally owned land we want to organize people together to put this vision into action. This research is the important first step so that all in our organization can understand what different protection options there are for legal land protection before we start to actually work to put it into place.

Goal of this Volunteer Position:

The central goal of this position is for all people actively engaged in developing and eventually implementing the Keeper of the Mountains Foundation's vision of a healthy Southern West Virginia economy with community owned economic activity on protected lands as a driving force to understand the different options of land protection. This volunteer will produce the written material necessary for Keepers' staff and volunteers to understand our options so that we can discuss and choose which is the primary model we want to implement.

Responsibilities:
- Produce an Overview of Different Models of Land Preservation Document for KOTM use that explains how each model works as well as the potential for implementation in the current setting of West Virginia's legal system. This document may also explain difficulties in implementing different models of land protection, as well as any needed policy changes.

- Produce a 1 page (front & back) overview of what different relevant options there are for legal land protection and a definition + brief description of each option

- Produce a written overview of existing land protection leaders' tips through conversations with known experts. There may be other experts that are identified to talk with to learn from their experience with legally protecting land, but these are the people with the necessary experience to start with.

- Research and Summarize existing models of land preservation that are being used in different areas of West Virginia and the United States. Examples will be provided.

- This Researcher may also, if there is the capacity and time, research the out of state land ownership patterns in the areas where we are likely to engage in land protection activity.

- Communicate at least Weekly with the Operations Director of the Keeper of the Mountains Foundation.

- Write at least one blog post for the Keeper of the Mountains Foundation's website at the beginning of the position to outline your goals and why you're doing the work and one blog post at the end of your position to outline what progress was made, the importance of your work, and why you are doing it

- October 15th Report with a Progress Evaluation & Update to Keeper of the Mountains Foundation

To Apply:

Contact Danny Chiotos at Danny@MountainKeeper.org

Mingo County Resident Enforcing the Law

2011-08-10T12:01:00.000-04:00

Post Written by KOTM On The Road Again Speaker and Mingo County Resident Donna Branham

Lenore, WV Resident Donna Branham

The widespread destruction of land and water resources caused by strip mining and the failure of the states to effectively regulate the industry themselves resulted in the passage of Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). I recently had the opportunity to attend a training in Pittsburgh on how to use SMCRA to protect my home from the threats of coal mining activity.

The purpose of SMCRA was to make mine operators conduct their operations in a way that would avoid environmental and public health injury, and to restore the land after mining to its pre-mining condition. SMCRA gives citizens extensive rights to participate in the process of controlling strip mining abuse. Congress believed that citizen involvement would be crucial to SMCRA's success. All mining operations have a disruptive effect on the environment, but the sheer volume of material involved in strip mining makes the impact on the environment extremely serious. Private citizens are most likely the first to recognize that their property or community is threatened by a mining operation: Congress intended that you should be able to stop any damage before it starts. Strip Mining, including Mountaintop Removal, can severely erode the soil or reduce its fertility; pollute waters and/or drain underground water reserves, scar or altar the landscape, damage roads, homes and other structures, and destroy wildlife. The dust and particles from mining roads, stockpiles, and lands disturbed by mining are a significant source of air pollution. Citizens whom are involved with a surface mining problem or coal mining related problem should obtain the most recent copy of the federal and state laws and rules to take action to protect their homes.

The federal rules can be browsed online at the Government Printing Office website: ecfr.gpoacess.gov. The federal rules can also be purchased from the Government Printing Office. The West Virginia Surface mining Reclamation Rules may be purchased fom the Department of Environmental Protection or may be viewed on line at www.dep.wv.gov

As I study and collaborate with others that attended the Workshop, we will post some step by step instruction and explanation of how citizens can take action at three crucial stages of mining operation:

1. Reviewing the operator's application for a permit to begin their mining activities

2. Monitoring an ongoing mine operation

3. Participating in the proceedings after mining which releases an operator from the bond posted at the beginning of the mining operation.

Citizens' Coal Council SMCRA Training Slideshow:

Unveiling Appalachia's Dirty Little Secret

2011-08-01T14:27:00.003-04:00

Written by Trip Organizer and Charleston, WV native Nicole Holstein.

Mountaintop removal mining is Appalachia’s dirty secret. Despite increasing news and government attention, I meet peers constantly that have no idea what MTR even is, much less the extent to which it affects communities and economies in this region.

My environmental student group, Students for Environmental Awareness (or SEA for short), from Marietta College were lucky enough to be able to visit one of the most contentious MTR sites in West Virginia, Kayford Mountain.

Driving up the bumpy mountain road in our van, we at once appreciated the beauty and feared what we would see around the next turn. We pulled up to Larry’s property where he told us briefly about his family’s struggle with the effects of mining and the abuse they have suffered at the hands of coal supporters. Standing in his driveway, we could not yet see the MTR site over the ridge, and there no mining activities that day to hear.

He asked us to stop and listen as he asked,‘What don’t you hear?"

“Birds,” I said. The entire mountain valley was silent as a grave.

He walked us to the edge of his property, passed coal-dust covered vehicles and houses, passed trees covered in sickly lichen, and we stepped over the ridge; you could sense the feeling of pain we all shared at that moment. Before us was a moonscape. Juxtaposed against the surrounding mountains which were still green and beautiful, where life-giving rivers still meandered between, was this abomination. And looking around, you knew the same fate threatens all that you could see.

One question people always ask when I tell them about Mountaintop Removal, or when they first see what a Mountaintop Removal site looks like is “Why?” We know the answers-money, greed. But it still doesn’t make sense to us. To the majority of people, the raping of the mountains and the abandonment of communities like the dumping of overburden into a valley is incomprehensible. And that is why Mountaintop Removal is Appalachia’s dirty secret.

If people knew, if people saw, they would stop it. That’s why trips like these are so important, and why groups like SEA are so important, and why work like what the Keeper of the Mountains Foundation does is so important. I made a short video from the footage I had on my cell phone and put it on YouTube, one of the most powerful tools of communication we have today. It was simple and small, but the impacts could be far larger than the effort I put into it. I hope people see. I hope people visit. I hope people act.

Nicole Holstein
President
Students for Environmental Awareness
Marietta College
Marietta, OH

P.S. To schedule a tour of Kayford Mountain and see Mountaintop Removal first-hand, call Larry Gibson at 304-542-1134 or Danny at 304-205-0920 or email us at Danny@MountainKeeper.org at least a week in advance and we'll schedule a tour for you.

Why I Do What I Do

2011-06-28T15:11:00.000-04:00

Written by On The Road Again Program Speaker Wendy Johnston's 13 Year Old Niece and Mercer County, WV Resident Hannah Howard. This statement will be delivered tonight at a WV Department of Environmental Protection Public Hearing of a Proposed 35-acre Strip Mine Expansion.

Hannah Howard

My name is Hannah Howard, I am a thirteen year old girl from Mercer County, West Virginia. I've lived in Mercer County all of my life, and I refuse to live anywhere else. I love West Virginia, and all of it's scenery. The luscious rhododendrons, the luminous greenery, and most importantly the mountains.

When I go to my grandparents farm, I usually go and help my grandfather with the gardens, which happens to be on the top of a mountain. Everytime I'm up there I stop what I am doing, and look at the view. There, on the top of that mountain, are two trees, kind of close together, yet far enough apart, in order to see the beautiful mountains in between them. It has been the most beautiful sight I have seen in my thirteen years, and if you don't mind, i'd like to keep that.

Honestly, I think what the miners of the strip mining groups are doing is just horrible things to do to the Wild, and Wonderful West Virginia.

Two of the most importnant resources in life, is water, and air, and all that strip mining industries are doing is taking that away. Without fresh water, and air, how will the people survive? All of the toxic chemicals are going into the water, and air. One example of where this is taking place is on Browning Lambert Mountain. There are families up there. They need fresh water, and air. There are families of young, and old. Why would you want to cut anyone's life short, without fresh water to drink, and fresh air to breathe.

Existing Strip Mine on Browning-Lambert Mountain, WV

When I heard about strip mining, I was disgusted with what West Virginia had come to. I come from a family who fights for what we believe in. We aspire to end strip mining once, and for all. No matter what how long it takes, or how severe the consequences are. We will fight for what we belive in!
In conclusion, we will accomplish our goals. We will do whats right, and make West Virginia a better place. All the D.E.P needs is a little help, and together, we will end mountaintop removal. Thank you.

Sincerely, Hannah Howard

P.S. I oppose the granting of Amendment No. 1, permit No. S401808.

Mountain Keepers Music Festival

2011-06-08T15:23:00.002-04:00

Written by Huntington, WV Event Planner Natalie Vanderpool

ANNUAL MOUNTAIN KEEPERS MUSIC FESTIVAL CELEBRATES WEST VIRGINA’S FREEDOM

On Saturday, July 2nd and Sunday, July 3rd, the annual Mountain Keepers Music Festival will be held at Kayford Mountain's Stanley Heirs Park. The two day event will feature then local and regional musicians playing a variety of bluegrass, gospel, country and old time music, as well as poetry, and pot-luck meals. This is a free concert that will celebrate Appalachian life and attendees are encouraged to bring a covered dish.

The purpose of the concert, according to local citizen activist Larry Gibson, is to “bring family and friends together for a weekend of celebrating West Virginia’s heritage and freedom." July 2 and 3 will see people from all walks of life, bound by their common love of our mountains and people. This will be a safe festival as festival organizers will have trained security present and all are invited to peacefully enjoy this Festival.

The festival will feature many emerging artists who celebrate their homes and heritage. Legendary and Award Winning West Virginia musicians Michael & Carrie Kline will be singing old time West Virginia folk songs and ballads. Crystal Good, 2004 Winner of the Governor’s Innovative Artist Award, of the Affrilachian Poets will also perform her unique poetry. Kate Long, winner of the International Bluegrass Music Association Song of the Year award, will be singing her Appalachian Styled music. Ben Sollee, a renowned celloist who defies convention by mixing in a soulful voice which earned him a place in National Public Radio’s list of Top Ten Unknown Artists in 2007, will be performing on Saturday evening. Following Ben Sollee will be the popular Charleston Rock n' Roll band Almost Adam as well as "Old Style Rhythm & Blues, Gospel Soul & Country Funk" band The Carpenter Ants.

Attendees are encouraged to camp out on Saturday night as more musicians will be performing casually around the campfire. Sunday afternoon will kick off with a gospel service and followed by the musical acts of Jane Branham singing Virginia Mountain Music and Country Roots Musician John Lilly. The annual pot-luck meal will also be held on Sunday.

Please Invite Friends to our Facebook Event

While this is a free festival, we are asking you to chip in with a donation to help us cover the cost of maintaining Stanley Heirs Park on Kayford Mountain and put on this Festival.

Saturday's Schedule:

1:00 PM = Festival Welcome

1:15 – 2:15 = Michael Carrie Kline

2:15 – 2:30 = Crystal Good

2:30 – 3:30 = Kate Long

3:30 – 3:45 = Crystal Good and/or Another Affrilachian Poet

3:45 – 4:15 = Carpenter Ants

4:15 – 4:30 = Speaker

4:30 – 5:30 = Ben Sollee

5:30 – 7:00 = Almost Adam

7:00 – Dark = Carpenter Ants

Sunday's Schedule:

11 AM = Preacher

11:30 – 12:30 = Jane Branham

12:30 - Close = John Lilly

GIVE NO CONCESSIONS: Organizing for Freedom

2011-05-27T09:25:00.000-04:00

Written by Event Organizer and Middle Tennessee State University student Charles White

Our role as the Students for Environmental Action (SEA) on our campus empowered us to look into hosting a leading figure of the climate justice movement on campus. Larry Gibson seemed to be the perfect choice. We initially made contact with his organization in October of last year. We set up a date and a location, committed to funding, and started spreading the word. The Keeper of the Mountains' Operations Director, Daniel Chiotos, was very helpful throughout the entire process. We shared friendly phone calls every few weeks updating the process. He was more than helpful, sending us a packet of information about Larry and the Foundation as well as suggestions for media outreach. We got the Ideas & Issues section of our Student Programming to set aside funds for the event. We also asked for funding from the school as SEA and were able to fundraise more by hosting a benefit concert. We created a Facebook event very early in the process (which I ‘shared’ rather frequently). We made posters and handouts. We contacted local media and received coverage in the school newspaper. We setup a table with food and information for the event. It was simple, awesome, and rewarding!

On April 19, 2011, Middle Tennessee State University was graced by the presence of climate justice HERO Larry Gibson. It was Larry’s first official speaking engagement after he regretfully had to miss Power Shift 2011 (which a group of MTSU students had attended the previous weekend in Washington D.C.) due to personal health concerns. We are thankful he was well enough to speak here in Murfreesboro. Larry was joined by Amber Whittington of Ameagle, WV. Amber is one of fifteen youths from the coal-mining region of Appalachia who Larry is personally training to become leading organizers. Larry hopes that through sharing his experiences with this group of promising protégés he will be able to help empower this new generation to carry on his outstanding work of educating and motivating people of action to resist corporate greed- especially in regard to environmentally and socially destructive coal extraction. Amber spoke to us of the poisonous drinking water in affected communities, of grandmothers who have to fight for their safety when they should be comfortably retiring, and of the extremely high rates of cancer, liver and kidney diseases which are the results of current coal-mining practices in her home state. She did an outstanding job for her first time in front of a crowd- keep up the good work, Amber! She also inspired our own budding students-activists.

Here at MTSU have been working to spread the word about the atrocity of Mountaintop Removal since a number of us attended Mountain Justice Training Camp during May of last year. We realized the magnitude of this issue and its direct connections to Murfreesboro, Tennessee. According to ilovemountains.org, Murfreesboro receives energy from Widows Creek- a TVA operated coal-fired power plant on the Tennessee River in northern Alabama- that receives a portion of its coal from mountaintop removal at the Spruce No. 1 mine in West Virginia. As many of you know, this is the surface mine that is encroaching on the historic site of Blair Mountain. It disturbs me that even as I type this I am inadvertently supporting destruction of this extraordinarily important place in our nation’s history. I will get back to that part in a moment.

Larry was completely on point for the entire hour and a half presentation. He began by telling the audience a story about his recent visit to the Ecuadorian Amazon; of the acrid smell of burning oil that is now present in the rainforest because of Chevron’s oil-extraction practices, and crude oil seeping from the ground and polluting the Ecuadorian’s sacred waterways. His experience reminded him of what is happening to his own people back in the mountains of Appalachia. Peoples’ well-being is being compromised for profit by corporations such as Massey Energy- now owned by Alpha Natural Resources, the 2nd largest coal company in the country. Larry told us about how he has always had a connection with the land and all the plants and critters that inhabit it. By not standing up and fighting for the healthy world which we believe to be the right of all Earthling life-forms we are allowing our mother’s blood- the precious water- to be infused with toxic heavy metals such as arsenic, mercury, lead, etc. This devastates the lives of all her children who drink thereof.

Water is what unites all planetary citizens. We need it for survival. Take away our clean water and you are destroying our livelihoods. From the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, to the BP Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico; from chronic oil spills in Nigeria and Ecuador (that dwarf the tragedy in the Gulf) to the Tar Sands of Utah and Alberta; from unregulated Hydraulic Fracturing all over the world to giant fields of Monsanto’s genetically modified crops sprayed with fossil carbon-fuel derived compounds; from Mountaintop Removal in Appalachia to every other extractive atrocity destroying global citizens’ lives worldwide, people are beginning to make connections. We are living in a world that is ensnared in a global system of greed that cares nothing about our future- only about short-sighted initiatives benefitting a small global elite. This system is poisoning our water, polluting our air, and obliterating our right to have healthy and sustainable realities. At the same time, this system of greed justifies the dirty industries that are responsible for these atrocities. But no longer will we allow them to play these dangerous games and gamble with our lives. It is time to grow up as a species, my fellow Homo sapiens sapiens!

I join Larry Gibson in calling for a revolution in this country and the world! We shall give no concessions, nor shall we accept them. We are the freedom fighters, and we will organize to create a better world! The board is set. The pieces are moving. We are building a broad social movement the likes of which has not been seen for some time. Please join Larry, myself, and many others as we walk for freedom from corporate oppression at the March on Blair Mountain, from June 4-11, 2011, to kick off a summer of escalated direct action campaigns worldwide.

The website created for the march says, “The March on Blair Mountain is a unifying rally involving labor unions, environmental organizations, scholars, artists, and other citizens and groups. The march commemorates the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Blair Mountain in 1921, when 10,000 coal miners rose against the rule of the coal operators and fought for their basic right to live and work in decent conditions. Currently, Blair Mountain is threatened with obliteration by mountaintop removal (MTR) coal-mining, and it is here that a new generation of Appalachians {and all Planetary Citizens} takes a stand” (for more information and to register, please visit marchonblairmountain.org).

Thank you, Larry, for sharing your inspiration with our community of Murfreesboro, TN. We face the evil of a giant, unlined, toxic landfill that is a mere hundred yards from our primary community water source- Stones River. We have one of the leading music-recording degree programs in the nation; we have and a town full of radical musicians, artists, and activists who are learning to find their voices and shout them loud and clear for the entire world to hear. We are with you all the way, Larry. We see the future. It’s beautiful and full of small egalitarian communities which have formed a special relationship with the earth- which no longer need to extract death to fuel their lives. I promise, we are going to create it. Thank you for electrifying a new generation of leaders to take on the epic task at hand. Courage, camaraderie, endurance, and ingenuity will help us lead the way to a healthier, happier planet. May we all be well and stay true to our purpose.

Remember: GIVE NO CONCESSIONS!

Will Alpha Listen to Coalfield Residents?

2011-05-25T14:05:00.017-04:00

Written by On The Road Again Program Speaker and Glen White, WV Resident Paula Swearengin

Yesterday as a mother fighting against "Disposable Appalachia" and a representative of the Keeper of the Mountains Foundation I got to join some great people and visit Alpha Natural Resources in Abingdon, Va. to approach them with many questions about the future of Appalachia. We met with Kevin S.Crutchfield, chief executive officer, and Michael R. Peelish, executive vice president to discuss what they "inherited" from Massey Energy. Alpha Natural Resources recently announced plans to acquire Richmond, Virginia based Massey Energy with a $7.1 billion buyout.

We approached them with many topics such as a general overview of the effects of mountain top removal and coal mining on the people of Appalachia. Michael Clark and Dorothy Taulbee, both coalfield residents and representatives of the Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards (SAMS), discussed how they had been affected on a personal level by mountain top removal. Dorothy showed them pictures of what used to be her home and explained that her town no longer exists because it is now buried beneath a slurry impoundment. She went through a list of loved ones and friends she had lost due to illnesses they acquired from exposure to toxins. She went on to explain that she had gotten sick as well with lung cancer (she never smoked) and even survived the loss of a lung. She paused in her speech and gently patted Michael Peelish on the shoulder to say "I think God spared me so I can be like Moses and spread a message. You can't do this, honey." She almost brought me to tears.

An image that is lingering in my thoughts is a big picture they had hanging in their board room. It was of a miner's hands clenched together. The hands were dirty from coal and the thumbnail looked somewhat bloody. Michael Peelish started his introduction by talking about those hands. He proudly said he gave a copy of the picture to each miner they employed. He talked of things like integrity and safety while I was drawn to the reality of what those hands mean. They only thing I could think about was the sacrifice the people of Appalachia have made for coal and what coal has cost us. When it came to be my turn to speak I couldn't stop myself from telling them what those hands meant to me. I pointed to the picture and said "Those hands are my grandfather's hands. He died with dirty lungs. Those hands are my Daddy's hands who died of lung cancer from asbestos and dirty lungs. Those hands are my Stepfather's hands who now has heart disease and dirty lungs!"

Debbie Jarrell of Coal River Mountain Watch continued talking about "those

hands" when it came to be her turn to speak. She talked about "those hands" being her families too. She also said "We have always dealt with the boom and bust of the coal industry. When you are through this time we are really going to be hurting!" Throughout the entire meeting we then tried to portray to them what they had on THEIR hands. The destruction of Appalachia and its people for profit. These are the stories Alpha's executives need to hear when they are worried about bottom lines and this country's demand for coal.

The rest of the meeting consisted of discussions about Coal River Mountain, Kayford Mountain, reclamation, the slurry impoundment in Brushy Fork and with each of us sharing something personal with them and how we were affected. I left feeling somewhat optimistic because even though they said a lot about safety they didn't give us any reassurances or promises about ending mountain top removal. They did promise to investigate our concerns, including visiting the Brushy Fork Impoundment just as soon as things were finalized in June and invited us to come back some time in July. We'll see what comes from that.

I want to thank everybody that got involved in the meeting and for giving me the opportunity to share my voice. I encourage all of you to write letters to Alpha Natural Resources and share your concerns and experiences. They need to know that not only did they inherit more coal production by buying out Massey Energy they also inherited more of the demise of innocent people that goes along with coal production.

Blessings to you all,

Paula Swearengin

Attendees for this meeting were as follows:

-Debbie Jarrell of Coal River Mountain Watch

-Dorothy Taulbee of the Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards

-Glen Collins of RAMPS Campaign

-Kim Ellis of RAMPS Campaign

-Junior Walk of Coal River Mountain Watch and Keeper of the Mountains Foundation

-Michael Clark of the Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards

-Paul Brown of Pax, WV

-Paula Swearengin of the Keeper of the Mountains Foundation

Larry Gibson and Mari-Lynn Evans Energize Ohio Citizen Action's Cleveland office

2011-05-20T12:44:00.001-04:00

Post Written by Stephen Gabor, Ohio Citizen Action

CLEVELAND — Larry Gibson, Keeper of the Mountains, and Mari-Lynn Evans, 2010 West Virginia Film Maker of the Year for her documentaries “Coal Country and “Low Coal,” spent an hour at Ohio Citizen Action’s downtown Cleveland office yesterday talking to staff about their work to end mountaintop removal coal mining.

According to Gibson, mountaintop removal is “the tsunami of Appalachia,” having destroyed over 6 million acres. Gibson told the staff that 82% of West Virginia land found in the coalfields is owned by coal companies and “wherever coal goes, misery goes.”

Gibson and Evans were featured speakers at the protest outside FirstEnergy’s annual shareholders’ meeting at the John S. Knight Center in Akron. FirstEnergy’s Lake Shore power plant, three miles east of downtown Cleveland on Lake Erie, buys coal from companies engaged in mountaintop removal mining. The extraction site most closely connected to the Lake Shore plant is Kayford Mountain, Gibson’s home.

Gibson has successfully saved 50 acres of his own family’s land even while the land around him continues to be destroyed by mountaintop removal. Gibson said, “There are two trains leaving Appalachia. One has coal on it. The other has money on it.”

Bowl for the Mountain Keepers Yourself!

2011-05-18T12:54:00.001-04:00

For a PDF Version of this guide or to let us know you're interested, email Danny@MountainKeeper.org or call us at 304-205-0920, happy bowling!

OUR MISSION

The Keeper of the Mountains Foundation aims to educate and inspire people to work for healthier, more sustainable mountain communities and an end to mountaintop removal. We believe a better future in the coalfields requires everyday people to come together and recognize their power to make long-term, lasting change. We envision an organization, led by West Virginians, with real power in West Virginia. We support communities that want to move beyond a coal-based economy and put in its place an economy that values people, land, and mountain heritage.

WHAT IS “BOWLING FOR THE MOUNTAIN KEEPERS”?

Bowling for the Mountain Keepers is a FUNdraiser for Keeper of the Mountains Foundation (KOTM). The first Bowling for the Mountain Keepers event was held in Morgantown, West Virginia, and had approximately 25 people attend who together raised over $700 for KOTM. It involved great people, bowling, greasy food, and outrageous costumes.

Organizing a Bowling for the Mountains Keepers event is an incredibly do-able and useful way for you to contribute to the movement to stop Mountaintop Removal and build a better Appalachia. The KOTM is dedicated to raising money from our grassroots to grow new leadership within the Southern West Virginia Coalfields. This is a great way for you to help us grow our movement to stop Mountaintop Removal and for you to have a great time at a bowling alley!

HOW TO DO IT

This is how it was done in Morgantown, WV.

Organizing the event

1. Ask your most dedicated and active friends about a date to hold the event. You will want some help with outreach and preparation, so you don't want to schedule the fundraiser on a day when nobody can come. Bowling by yourself isn't that much fun.

2. Once you know when people can attend, set a date and time.

3. Set up a Facebook event for the fundraiser and invite as many people as possible.

4. Reserve bowling lanes. Based on an expected number of participants, find a bowling alley and reserve enough lanes for everyone to bowl. Usually there are six people to a lane. Be sure to reserve at least two extra lanes for unexpected bowlers. **Also, if a lot of people are likely to attend, be sure to negotiate a deal with the bowling alley. For Morgantown, the price of each game was reduced by $1 and the shoes were provided for free!!!

5. Add more fun to the event!!! In Morgantown, Bowling for the Mountain Keepers included a costume contest, and everyone from “Larry Gibson” to Superwoman showed up!!

6. Invite a speaker from the KOTM On The Road Again Program to lead a short talk on Mountaintop Removal so all the bowlers are educated and motivated to take action. Folks need to know why they're there and why they should donate. This should be a SHORT talk though since people are primarily there to have fun & bowl.

7. Make sure that everyone knows to bring enough money to cover 2-3 games of bowling, plus bowling shoes.

Setting up a donation process: There are many ways to raise funds for KOTM through Bowling for the Mountain Keepers.

1. Use email, Facebook, or other means of outreach to ask invited bowlers to donate directly to KOTM and to get their friends, family, and colleagues to donate as well.

2. Set up a Google donation form. This form simply collects information from people and does not accept donations. You can find this option through your Google account. It only takes 30 minutes to set up the form. You can learn how to set up a form by doing a quick search for “how to set up a google form.”

a. The form should, at a minimum, require entries for Full Name, Address, Phone Number, Email, and donation amount (either direct donation or pledge). Additional options are to set up a check box for donaters to sign-up for receiving KOTM emails, or for volunteering.

b. When you create the form, you can set up the option for folks to either pledge a direct donation or to make a per-pin pledge. This is a fun way to get your friends and family involved (tell them that you're a terrible bowler and maybe they'll pledge a higher amount!!!). In Morgantown, friends and family of the bowlers pledged anywhere between 5 cents and $1 per pin that the bowler knocked down. Some bowlers even pledged a per-pin amount for their own bowling games.

3. Once the form is set up, copy the link to the form and send it out through the Facebook event page, your email, and any other means possible. Be sure to ask folks to pass it around.

4. At and after the event, collect the donations. Be sure to ask bowlers to bring their checkbooks to the event, and to make things easier, if any of their friends pledge a direct donation but can't make it to bowling, have the bowler collect those donations ahead of time and bring them to the event as well. For all per-pin pledges and uncollected donations, you will have to collect these after the event, by emailing or calling the bowling participant and having them collect and deliver the donations.

5. Send all donations to Keeper of the Mountains Foundation at 179 Summers St, Suite 234, Charleston, WV, 25301

Bowl for the Mountain Keepers: The Day of the Event

1. Items to bring:

a. Sign-in sheet and pen as well as a bucket to collect the donations in.

b. Prizes for highest bowling score and for best costume (if you incorporate a costume competition into your event – this is lots of fun and easy to pull off).

c. A creative costume (if you have a costume contest)

2. Be sure to have someone serve as the "Keeper" of the event.

a. The Keeper will need to help make sure that everyone gets onto a lane, signs the sign-in sheet, and has a good time.

b. The Keeper will also need to stop bowling for 15 minutes and introduce the speaker(s).

c. The Keeper will also coordinate the voting process for best (and/or worst) costume, collect each person's "best game" score, and then hand out prizes for the winners.

d. At the end of the event, the Keeper will need to make sure that everyone pays for their games, and make sure all donations are collected. Remind the bowlers to collect their unpaid donations and pledges, and let them know where and how to submit donations they collect after the event.

e. Thank everyone for helping to stop Mountaintop Removal

Pushing UVA Beyond Coal

2011-05-13T12:38:00.000-04:00

Written by Event Organizer and University of Virginia Student Kenneth Hawes

The University of Virginia is one of about 60 colleges nationwide that operate coal-fired power plants on their campuses. The UVA power plant, which is located adjacent to the university hospital (a “clean air zone”), provides the majority of the university's heating needs. Electricity comes from the grid, which means it comes from about half coal power. While the University has a history of widely publicized sustainability efforts, it is the single largest electricity consumer in the city of Charlottesville and its power plant is the most threatening source of pollution in the community. The students recognize that the devastation that coal causes throughout its life cycle is inconsistent with Thomas Jefferson’s vision of stewardship of the earth and service to the community, but often feel helpless when faced with the bureaucracy of the administration.

Thankfully, the newly formed UVA Beyond Coal campaign is changing that sentiment. In one of their largest events of the year, Beyond Coal invited Larry Gibson and Adam Hall to speak at the university on Earth Day, April 22. Larry called out the university for flagrantly violating its fundamental ideals, and gave a firsthand account of the death, destruction, and suffering that results from the use of coal. He also energized the student body and instructed them not to become discouraged, saying, “You got more people at this college than you do administrators here.” He emphasized the power that students and communities members have over the President and how important it is that students not give up fighting.

While Larry brought “facts and figures” with him, Adam Hall gave some personal stories that were, in many ways, even more inspiring. He told of the pride of the people of Appalachia, of the history, culture, and natural beauty that he loves so much, then he described why this issue is such an urgent one. “When you turn on that light switch, you’re blowing up mountains. When you turn on that light switch, you’re destroying communities.” After hearing Larry and Adam speak, the students are more fired up than they ever have been, and more determined than ever to move UVA onto clean, renewable energy. After the event, students from Beyond Coal went with Larry and Adam to President Teresa Sullivan’s office, where they personally delivered a letter outlining the goals of the campaign. After just one year, and with the help of Larry Gibson, Adam Hall, the Sierra Club, and countless other allies, the Beyond Coal campaign has the administration’s ear, and doesn’t intend to let go until UVA starts truly living up to its ideals.

VIDEO: March on Blair Mountain with Larry Gibson

2011-05-11T11:32:00.012-04:00

2011 is a very successful year for us, and our speakers are in very high demand because of you. We are activating new leaders in the coalfields of West Virginia to speak all over this country about Mountaintop Removal, from Florida to California to right here at home in West Virginia. Thank you for stepping up to the plate, you have made it possible for us to rapidly spread the movement to stop Mountaintop Removal.

While our speakers have been touring the country educating people all over about what Mountaintop Removal is doing to their communities, people are gearing up here at home to save an important mountain. I want to invite you to the coming March on Blair Mountain from June 5th to June 11th. The original march took place in 1921 and we will be re-enacting this March to save Blair Mountain from Strip Mining. This will be a 60 mile march and I invite you to take part in any part of the March that you can. I am trying to get all my friends from across the country to come to West Virginia for this week.

All of you, the working people, should be there to protect this symbol of labor in this country. The 1921 Battle of Blair Mountain took place so you would have the right to organize and negotiate for a decent days pay for a decent days work. I would appreciate it if you would join us!

Again thank you,
Larry Gibson
Keeper of the Mountains Foundation

Hokies Love Mountains

2011-05-04T21:14:00.000-04:00

Written by Virginia Tech Event Coordinator Kara Dodson

In less than 3 years, environmental stewardship has become a main focus within the Virginia Tech University system and student body. We’ve got a “Climate Action Plan” to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a new Office of Energy and Sustainability, and a dozen environmental student groups tackling recycling and dining issues on campus. BUT, the same school that’s proud to “invent the future” and serve the community (school slogan: “Ut Prosim”) burns 43 tons of coal per year at the on-campus steam plant. The 1970’s plant contributes to 50% of VT’s greenhouse gas emissions. Student residents living in Thomas Hall (100 feet from the coal plant) breathe in coal dust night and day throughout the year. The school has no Committee, long-term funding, or concrete plan for moving off of coal.

When Larry Gibson and Adam Hall visited VT on April 21st, they called out VT for its blatant eyesore-smokestack. Without hesitation they both linked the coal plant to Appalachia’s destruction, Blacksburg’s increased health risks, and VT’s tarnished “innovation” image. Both men are fervent speakers, preaching from the heart. The 60 “Hokies Love Mountains Rally” attendees were blown away by the heart-wrenching stories of Appalachian families suffering from health, financial, property, environmental, and cultural woes caused by the coal industry. Children diagnosed with brain tumors. Birds dropping from the sky. Fathers fighting sons from opposite sides of protests. Ghost towns in the wake of mines closing.

Adam Hall was especially effective in challenging VT students to “get off their asses” and do something about the coal plant. He’s a courageous young man, serving our country in Afghanistan, Iraq, and now in the US. As a 22 year-old he’s got more guts and seen more tragedies than any of the rallyers last Thursday. Walking away ashamed of Appalachia’s abuse, many of us decided that we can all dedicate time and energy to shut down the VT coal plant. We can all call out the VT Administration for its irresponsibility and defense of ancient technology (much like Larry and Adam did). Beyond Coal at VT, supported by the Sierra Club, has a new fire under its butt, stirred by Larry and Adam. Community by community we can all defeat coal and replace it with CLEAN, SAFE energy.

A Journey: Where is MTR Taking Me?

2011-04-22T21:49:00.000-04:00

Written by On The Road Again Speaker and Athens, WV Resident Wendy Johnston

            Two years ago, I barely knew anything about mountaintop removal mining. I thought that it wasn’t occurring near me and though it was terrible, how did it affect me? Well that was just before I discovered a pending application for surface mining on a mountain close to where I grew up. Wow! Talk about an eye opener. I had just started Grad School, I had a job, one child in college and two headed that way soon. I also lived on a farm and had numerous other commitments to fulfill. How would I have time to fight such a thing? What would be the repercussions if I did? I had more questions about my own involvement in this one thing than anything I had ever contemplated in my life. Before I knew it, I was thrown head first into a battle to save mountains, a region, a people and a culture that had been a part of me since my ancestors first came here over 200 years ago. With lots of doubt, fear and cowardice I headed into a battle that I was not and am not sure now that I could win.

            Two years into this fight to save our world, which is what this has become, I am not quite as afraid as I was at the beginning. I have finished grad school and resigned from my job at the local library. I have another child in college and one more headed that way soon. My parents, husband and I have started a CSA, selling shares of our vegetables grown in an acre and a half garden, to our neighbors and friends. There is now fresh lamb meat and beef available for sale directly from my freezer and the battle to save Appalachia rages on. I wonder at times if I have the energy and time to continue as a mountain soldier. I have discovered that if we can save Appalachia from the destruction of mountaintop removal that we may be able to save the fresh water supply of millions of people. I have learned that when a mountain is destroyed that the communities around it disappear. I have learned that when those communities disappear so does a way of life that has survived for generations. I have also met some of the most amazing, giving, intelligent and hardworking people that I could ever imagine knowing. A network of people who have joined together from every walk of life that you could imagine to fight for clean air and clean water and to save what is left of Appalachia for the future generations.

            Last night this battle took another turn in a twisting and winding road that has left me on the doorstop of strangers wondering where I will be led next. I met a family last night that lives on the edge of the only active mine site in our county. This is close to the same site that was proposed in that application that I discovered two years ago. In our county the land is divided by the Bluestone River, a small river that carries fresh water from our mountain headwater streams to the New River, to the Kanawha River, to the Ohio River, to every home that has a faucet in the southeastern United States. On one side of this river is land that has been farmed by generations of agriculturally minded immigrants who settled this land to find peace and happiness. On the other side of the Bluestone there are beautiful, steep and rugged mountains that hide small and almost forgotten communities. These same mountains also hide, coal, the mineral that is the source of greed and power for many and the source of cheap electricity for many more. For many years this thing called coal was mined from underground in this part of Mercer County, providing numerous local residents with a way to make a living that had been the way of their ancestors before them.

Photo by Wendy's Father, Sid Moye, of the Strip Mine in Mercer County

            The underground mines have long since taken their bounty from these mountains and left the communities to wither away. The coal industry not only took the mineral from these places but also the very life of the communities as they rolled on out of town with large profits, leaving behind virtual ghost towns. Sneaking in behind this once thriving underground mining industry were those waiting to rape these mountains of the last of the coal left here. Very few people even know that there is a 120 acre active surface mine in Mercer County where as few as 14 men work daily to explode the mountainside and take what is left of the coal that could not be mined from underground. Coal that was meant to purify the abundance of fresh water that could be found in the valleys of these high ridge tops providing drinking water for miles and miles of communities. This is not the mining of the “boom” days when hundreds of families lived up every holler in southern West Virginia. This is the mining that is destroying what is left of those communities.

            Last night I sat on the front porch of a simple framed house, by a rapidly running creek at the foot of Browning Lambert Mountain and I looked into the faces of those who would soon not have water flowing into their homes as they had for years, those who may not have homes at all if the mining company is allowed to continue raping and pillaging the mountain. This is where I am now in this battle. Educating others about what is actually happening and what will continue to happen if they don’t rise up and fight.

            As I sat there talking, spewing out information that I have been gathering for two years, I wondered if I didn’t sound like someone speaking a foreign language to them. I wondered if when I left, did they feel as exhausted as I did when I was first learning what was occurring all over Appalachia. Did they feel overwhelmed by the information my Dad and I had heaped on them, telling them what they must do in order to protect all that they hold dear? I know that when I was first learning and studying, I was incredulous, wondering how the industry could get away with what was happening in Appalachia. The difference was, these folks already knew not to trust those people. They have spent years being mistreated by the industry and those who should have been holding them to task. They expected to be lied to by the blasting agent who had met with them the week before. While I had spent years thinking that the Department of Environmental Protection was just that, years of believing that these inspectors were protecting the mountains that I called home, these folks knew that they weren’t and had accepted it. They were also a step ahead in that they had already organized their neighborhood with an initial meeting with the blasting agent and had realized that they were being lied to and would need outside help. Now, my job and my Dad’s, will be to provide them with the information they need and to connect them with people who will teach them how to hold the company to task.

            Although the path of this journey is ever changing, my goal is still the same. My goal is to do my part to save the culture and people of Appalachia, to save the mountains that have been home to animals and plant life that have sustained these same people for generations and to leave the world that my children and grandchildren will inherit a little better than what it is now. My goal is also to educate those who are ignorant of the atrocities that are destroying this world. I hope that when my journey ends that my children and grandchildren and those who have learned from what I have shared with them will carry on with the same goals. I only hope that by starting on them earlier than I did that they will be able to do more to save this life giving land that we have been instructed to care for.

Making Sunday Afternoon Sweet With The Bees

2011-04-01T14:56:00.007-04:00

Written by Event Organizer and Charleston, WV Volunteer Leah Smith

The Beehive Design Collective tours around the country educating folks about something many have never heard of before---mountaintop removal. But when the bees came to the Covenant House in Charleston on Sunday, March 27th, they were greeted by fifty local community members, many of whom know mountaintop removal more than anyone would want to.

Some of these community members are coalfield residents who feel the affects of mountaintop removal everyday. Keeper of the Mountains Foundation Speakers Junior Walk, Pamela See and Side Moye started off the event. They powerfully shared their stories of living in the coal fields. Junior Walk grew up drinking poisoned water, and he and his family have worked for the coal industry. Pamela See moved to WV more recently and already is seeing the effects of the poisoned water on her body. Sid Moye has seen mountaintop removal move into his area where he tries to farm.

The members of the Beehive Collective, the Bees, then asked everyone to gather together in the front of the room for an exercise in sharing experiences and ideas about mountaintop removal. They asked various people from the crowd to read statements like, “I could educate someone about MTR,” “I consider myself an activist,” and “I feel connected to coal.” As the statements were spoken, everyone was asked to come close to the center of the group if they strongly agreed, and further out if they didn’t. This physical display opened an engaging discussion of people’s collective experience.

Throughout the afternoon, community members in attendance shared their knowledge of heavy metals in the water, of how orange ooze has come up from their gardens, and how their canning has gone rotten (within a family who has been canning for sixty years). Stories of how individuals can’t get MRIs to check out the amount of lead in their bloodstreams because the magnets may attract the heavy metals to such a degree that it would hurt their bodies. We heard from a school teacher who sees corporate sponsorship of ball fields and recreational activities instead of computer labs or science departments, which would bring our children greater intelligence and ability to move beyond the monoeconomy of the coalfields they grow up in.

The Bees, originally coming out of Northern Maine, are aware of their positions as outsiders. As they spent three years researching, story collecting, and creating “The True Cost of Coal” banner, they listened to what communities told them about the role of outsiders. In an area where most land is owned by absentee landowners (out-of-state companies own more than 3/4 the surface acreage of McDowell County and 2/3 of Logan County), where outsiders are known for broken promises and systematically ignoring responsibility for their actions, the Bees carefully listened to what their role as outsiders should be. We could all see this as they very thoughtfully and intentionally gave their presentation. They gently and creatively told the stories they have heard, giving very inviting space for anyone in the room to add anything they felt was left out or anything that was thought to be said wrong.

The Bees used their poster full of metaphors, plants, insects, and animals to tell the history of the Appalachians -- the indigenous roots, times when agriculture was king, the corporate buying of land through the broad form deed, reign of company towns and gun thugs, all the while giving strong examples of warriors who have been fighting for justice. They closed with a few examples of (the many many) present day warriors and community organizers, a way to spread ideas and action. They encouraged discussion on what everyone in the room is locally involved with and how new folks could plug into current organizing and increase the movement, such as the Sludge Safety Project and The March on Blair Mountain, which will hopefully keep this interest building!

Thanks to all who came out to teach and learn!

Two Days in Gainesville

2011-04-01T13:17:00.003-04:00

Written by Event Organizer and Gainesville, FL Volunteer Jason Fults

Last week, Larry visited Gainesville, FL to inform residents of the impacts of mountaintop removal (MTR) and our connections to the Appalachian coalfields. Our growing community has become quite the consumer of Appalachian coal, with more than 60% of our city-owned utility's energy coming from coal. Larry was invited to Gainesville as part of the Cinema Verde Environmental Film & Arts Festival, where Low Coal, which is a new film which features Larry, was screened. Low Coal endeavors to tell the stories of Appalachian residents whose lives have been impacted by the coal industry.

The film screening was the focal point of Larry's two-day visit, and welcomed more than forty attendees. One of those attendees was our city's Mayor, Craig Lowe, and an article about Larry with a picture of him meeting the Mayor was printed on the front page of The Alligator the next day.

During his stay, Larry also gave a presentation at the University of FL, networked with local conservationists, spoke with the media, and met with administrators from Gainesville Regional Utilities. GRU is a progressive, municipally-owned utility, and is investing heavily in biomass and started one of our nation's most ambitious solar incentive programs. They were very receptive to Larry's visit and open to further discussions with concerned citizens. Larry and company also “crashed” a county commission meeting where local conservation issues were being discussed to bring his visit and the reasons for it to their attention. Throughout these activities, Larry gave a stirring argument for reducing our consumption of MTR coal and invited Gainesville residents to visit Kayford and see firsthand the destruction that MTR has caused.

Our next steps will include working with our Regional Utilities Committee and local politicians to review our coal procurement policies and discussing the possibility of forming a Gainesville delegation to visit the coalfields. Undoubtedly, Larry made a lot of new friends here, and we hope that he'll be back to visit us again soon. Next time however, we hope that his visit will be a celebration of our successful campaigning to build justice in the coalfields of Appalachia!

Parkersburg, WV is Building a Movement for Healthy Water

2011-02-25T20:22:00.002-05:00

Written by Event Organizer and Parkersburg Resident Angie Iafrate

For the last decade or so, I’ve considered myself to have an activist’s spirit. I’ve marched on Washington for various reasons, written letters to the editor and emailed my congress people about various issues, volunteered with local nonprofit organizations, organized a community event here and there, and tried to stay generally aware of all those social, political, and environmental matters that concerned people are concerned about, even if my understanding of said matters was somewhat shallow. Mountaintop removal was one such issue that I had always been theoretically against, but never really knew enough about to take it on as “my” cause. Honestly, being raised in Parkersburg, WV, what passes for a metropolitan area in our great Mountain State and seemingly a world away from “coal country," I felt like a bit of an outsider, like the issue was not mine to be had. And besides, by no means an expert in environmental science, ecology, etc, my only argument in defense of my position was a simple, “Blowing up mountains is wrong—you know that they will never grow back!” Beyond that, I didn’t feel like I had the capacity to win any arguments, change any minds, or make any kind of a real difference. Add to that the fact that for most of the past couple years I’ve been a single mom with a baby-to-toddler, a job, and a graduate school course load, and saving the mountains of West Virginia was not really on my immediate to-do list.

Recently having moved back to my hometown with my now-2-year-old son, I was intrigued to hear that mountain activist Larry Gibson (who I was somewhat familiar with via that “general awareness” thing noted above) and filmmaker/activist Mari-Lynn Evans (whose name I was not familiar with but with whose PBS series The Appalachians I was) would be speaking in Marietta, Ohio, just a few miles down the road and across the river, in late January. Wanting to learn more about these issues and always up for hearing the inspiring tales of activists more intrepid and committed than I, I booked Grandma’s babysitting services and headed off to Marietta that cold January night for what would be a truly enlightening experience. Enlightening, I say, because it became crystal clear to me while listening to Larry and Mari-Lynn that this activism isn’t simply about “saving mountains;” rather, it is above all about the people who live on those affected mountains and in their affected valleys, and whose health and culture are suffering at the hands of industrial and political negligence. And that was something that, once I looked it in the eye, I could not in good conscience look away from.

And look away I didn’t. That night after hearing Larry and Mari-Lynn speak, I jumped onto the internet and started searching for a way to get involved. I read everything I could find about MTR, “liked” all the pages of relevant organizations on Facebook, and did all the other things people do on the web to get connected. Over the next week or two, I found my enthusiasm about getting involved just as strong as it had been that first night, if not stronger, probably because now I actually knew something about the issue and realized that there was much more to the argument than "mountains never grow back." I was still reading, still watching, and still keeping my feelers out for ways to get involved when the Keeper of the Mountains Foundation Page appeared in my Facebook news feed. I clicked on the note to discover that an old college activist friend, Danny Chiotos, was the Operations Director and looking for a few good wo/men to help with organizing events across the state. I immediately contacted Danny, who put me in touch with a couple other Wood County residents that had also attended the Larry/Mari-Lynn event and gotten in touch with the foundation soon after. As it turned out, I was not the only one who cared about these issues in my hometown, which I’d always considered to be discouragingly conservative and apathetic, if the truth be told. Discovering that I was not alone was energizing!

As the three of us were geared up to do something, Danny informed us that there was some urgent legislation up for action this legislative session, ending on March 12, that needed our immediate attention: the Alternative Coal Slurry Disposal Act, which would prohibit coal companies from disposing of chemical-laiden coal-washing waste water by injecting it into abandoned underground mines--where it then seeps into the groundwater supply and consequently is poisoning the community members who drink it. (Coal companies adamantly deny it, naturally, but common sense and scientific evidence alike refute the resoluteness of their claim.) He and the Sludge Safety Project (SSP), a coalition of groups and individuals concerned about these coal-related water-safety issues, suggested organizing a meeting here in Parkersburg to inform our local residents about the issue and encourage them to pressure their legislators to support the act, as it would take the support of legislators from all over the state--not just in the small communities directly affected--to get the bill through. I had a roller-coaster of reactions to organizing the meeting. First, I was enthusiastic and excited that there was something so immediate and concrete that could be done. Then, when I realized we had only a little over a week to publicize it, I was skeptical that I could pull off my end of the deal (i.e, getting the logistics taken care of and bodies in the seats) with the little “spare” time I generally have in life as it is. But when Danny and the SSP assured us that they would be happy with a turnout of even just 5-10 people, I chilled out a bit and decided to go for it, warning all parties involved that I couldn’t promise any miracles as far as a crowd but that I’d do the best I could.

There was no time to waste, so waste time I didn’t! With large thanks to my mother who kept an eye on my son as I was neglecting my parental duties in favor of activism (hey, it’s better than neglecting them for wild nights out at the bar, right?), within 2-3 days I had Photoshopped a flyer, plastered it around town, put it on a few car windshields when I happened to notice their “I Love Mountains” bumper stickers, sent it to my Wood County cohorts and asked them to do the same, created a Facebook event page, sent a blurb to the local newspaper, emailed a few local community groups where I thought we might find symphathizers, and did some minor Facebook harassment of friends and acquaintances who might be interested in spreading the word. I still wasn’t sure if people would come, but since I knew I would be there, and my brother promised to be there, and Russ and Phil and their wives would be there, I was comforted by the fact that if all else failed, we would at least have 6 attendees, and that would make the event a success if we were only aiming for 5-10.

A week flew by pretty quickly, and it was show time! I had to wonder, though, if this was a show we were putting on for ourselves. Are people around here actually concerned about issues like coal slurry when, on the surface, it doesn’t seem like “our” issue up here in Wood County, and when 95% of them have probably never even heard the term "coal slurry" before this? (I, by the way, was one of those just a month ago!) A little bit of time would tell.

The event was scheduled for Wednesday, February 23rd at 7pm. On February 23rd at 6:40pm, I was in the room by myself, with our three presenters out to grab a bite of pizza, and the one lady who had shown up very early outside reading a magazine. Hmmm…should I start to worry? Apparently not, because by 6:45pm, people had started filing in. People who weren’t Russ or Phil, or their wives, or my brother. People I had never harassed on Facebook, and had never really seen before in my life. Wow, all that hard work of publicizing really paid off! People care and want to come! By the start of the presentation, we had twenty-one people in the room (twenty-two, counting a wonderfully-behaved one-year-old!) and with a couple of late stragglers, we had a total of 25 attendees. Annie, Mat, and Becca from the SSP gave an excellent presentation, even though our featured speaker from KotM had a last-minute emergency and couldn't make it up north. I think we were all surprised by the success in terms of numbers, and even more pleased by the fact that the crowd was engaged in the topic, asking questions, and really seemed to care about what is going on around these slurry injection sites and about the people who are in many cases literally dying with all signs pointing to a toxic water supply.

Later that night I sent an email to everyone who had provided an address, thanking them for coming to the event and reminding them of the next-day action we suggested taking at the end of the talk: contacting our legislators on the Finance Committee (where the bill was heading next) and thanking those who supported it in the Judiciary Committe. I heard back from a few who told me they had done so. Hopefully the others did, as well. Phil and Russ both emailed me, too, about setting up a brainstorming meeting to keep the community involved and interested in these issues. If we stay on top of things and continue to reach out to our community, I am confident that we can grow the movement of concerned citizens in the Mid-Ohio Valley-- which is pretty remarkable considering that one month ago, I was only vaguely familiar with these issues myself, and would have bet the proverbial farm that I could count on one hand the number of other Wood County residents who would care enough to learn more, themselves. Sometimes I don't mind being wrong!

Of course, this story doesn’t end only on a positive note. The Alternative Coal Slurry Disposal Act, I am recently informed, is about to be killed, after already having been gutted with the original “ban” language removed in its first committee. The legislature is still, apparently, putting the financial well-being of coal companies at a higher priority than the health of the people. Our efforts in putting this last-minute—and very successful—event together, however, were by no means in vain. Educating the public, who in turn can educate their friends, as well as our legislators when the matter comes up again in legislation (and it WILL come up again), is a vital step to making change. I would encourage all citizens of this great state (or any state affected by these issues), regardless of whether or not they are directly touched by these issues, to follow our lead and start educating their public about what is going on in these communities. For one, you actually are directly touched by these issues, in ways you may just not realize yet. And two, you may be surprised, like we were, to discover just how many people really do care and want to act, but simply need a place to start.

Bowling for the Mountains (in costumes!!)

2011-02-21T15:34:00.003-05:00

This is going to be a fundraiser/costume contest/bowling extravaganza for anyone looking for a good time and a good cause to contribute to. Keeper of the Mountains Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)3 led by Larry Gibson, a coalfield resident who has been fighting for his mountain and calling for an end to the destruction of the Appalachian Mountains through Mountaintop Removal coal mining for more than twenty years. Keeper of the Mountains needs continued support to help Larry and other residents spread the word about MTR all around the country.

If you use Facebook, please RSVP & Invite your friends here.

About the fundraiser, we're asking for $9 per person to cover the bowling expenses (three games per person), but please remember to bring your checkbooks to donate to the effort!! It's a fundraiser after all ;-) Please donate anything you can, and if you want to make it fun, have your friends and family pledge a per-pin donation (or make such a pledge yourself), and then be the best bowler you can be!!

And if you can't make it but would still like to donate to the cause you can do so here

Or, you can fill out a donation form made especially for the event here (please share this with your family and friends!!)

And second most importantly, come decked out in your favorite costume!! There will be prizes for best bowling score AND best costume, so if you're a horrible bowler, you better get creative with your costume ;-)
So come on out and support Larry Gibson and an end to Mountaintop Removal coal mining!! And be sure to invite all of your friends and family members who might want to join in. We'll see ya there!!

VIDEO PREMIER “THE REAL COST OF COAL” SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 26

2011-02-15T17:19:00.003-05:00

WINSTON-SALEM, NC ---In conjunction with Enviro-Passion, an exhibition at 5IVE & 40RTY dedicated to our love and respect for the environment, 5IVE & 40RTY and Blessings Project Foundation present “THE REAL COST OF COAL”, a documentary produced by Blessings calling for the end to mountain top removal coal mining. The premier will be held at 5IVE & 40RTY on Saturday, February 26, at 5:40pm. For information, visit http://www.5iveand40rty.com/ or call 336-724-2474.

The premier will feature speaker, and subject of the documentary, Larry Gibson who has dedicated his life to protecting his family’s and others land in the mountains of West Virginia.

Enviro-Passion is on exhibit through February 26 and showcases works by documentary photographers, an environmental artist/sculptor, and landscape architect/gardeners. Photographers Christine Rucker, Virginia Weiler and Carl Galie exhibit photographs from documentary projects they have created for the Yadkin River, Piedmont Land Conservancy and mountaintop coal removal, respectively. Sculptor/environmental artist Bryant Holsenbeck, uses everyday items normally thrown away to create her individual works of art and installations that have been on display throughout the southeast. And, landscape architects/gardeners Jeremy Murray and Charlie Watkins, who are assisting with the Goler Community Garden project, have built an indoor garden at 5IVE & 40RTY to create awareness for the importance of “building soil and building community.”

Participating organizations include: Keeper of the Mountains, North Carolina Conservation Network, NC Conservation Trust. Piedmont Environmental Alliance, Piedmont Land Conservancy, Sierra Club and Yadkin RiverKeeper.

The Man Who Said ‘No’ to Coal Companies: Activist Details State of Polarizing Industry

2011-01-31T11:42:00.000-05:00

By Kari Lydersen January 28, 2011 (cross-posted from the In These Times Magazine)

Photo by Lloyd DeGrane

CHICAGO—Larry Gibson’s father was a veteran of West Virginia coal mines.
“He could mine 50 pounds of coal laying on his side in a 28-inch tunnel, with a belt line,” said Gibson proudly, speaking Tuesday at Café Catedral in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood, a few blocks from an archaic coal-burning power plant. “He worked there for 13 years before being laid off.”

Gibson himself never worked as a miner, but in the past decade it’s become a full-time job for him to fight off the coal companies who want to buy his forested mountaintop land, which they tell him is valued at $650 million, he said.

When Massey Energy originally tried to convince him to sell his land, Gibson said, they offered him $140,000. At that time, he said, a Massey vice president told him that if he held out he would become “an island” in an “ocean” of mountaintop removal strip mining.

“And he was right,” said Gibson.

The money has been hard for people to resist in a region with high unemployment and poverty. The only other work available is in Wal-Mart, fast food joints, telemarketing and mostly low-paid healthcare jobs, Gibson explained. And in the mines. But West Virginia mining jobs, once predominantly union and well-paying, have become much fewer, much lower-paying and much more likely to be non-union.

The website Political Affairs recently reported:

Data from the federal Energy Information Administration show that for 2007 (the latest year available), of 34,500 underground mining jobs, just over 10,200 were unionized; while of the 18,300 surface mining jobs, just 1,500 were unionized.

Non-union mines have notably worse safety records. An analysis by the Pittsburgh Post Gazette published in April 2010 found that of 265 coal mine deaths since 2002, only 30 were in union mines. Among recent disasters: an explosion at Massey Energy’s non-union Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia in April 2010 that killed 29 miners.

An anecdote in the Post Gazette helps explain why non-union mines are so much more dangerous:

Deep in a coal mine in Harlan County, Ky., one day in the late 1980s, a large rock began to slip and appeared to be inches away from falling on Scott Howard and his partner. Mr. Howard refused to continue working in that area. His supervisor told him to go see the mine owner, whose response was curt.

"The next time a boss tells you to do something and you don't do it, you won't work for me anymore," Mr. Howard said the owner told him. Had the mine been unionized, Mr. Howard could have reported the problem to a member of the union's safety committee and he would have been protected from potential retaliation.

Instead, Mr. Howard filed a court action against the company, developing a reputation as a rabble-rouser that, he said, eventually cost him his job.

Gibson said coal companies like Massey are adept at public relations campaigns wherein they make it appear environmental groups and local mining opponents are destroying jobs, when in reality decent mining jobs are being shaved away by the use of high-tech machinery, temporary contract workers and general corner-cutting by companies on staffing levels and safety.

“It’s all propaganda,” Gibson said. “It wasn’t citizens or environmentalists who did away with jobs, it’s mechanization that’s killing jobs. These aren’t career jobs any more, they’re contract jobs, and the company is the only one who can break the contract.”

He said people are told that if they quit before their contract is up, they’ll actually owe the company money. “And people in Appalachia don’t have money for lawyers to challenge that kind of thing,” said Junior Walk, a young Appalachian activist.

Walk and Gibson were in Chicago to draw connections between the places coal is harvested and the places it is burned – like the the mostly low-income immigrant neighborhood where the event was being held.

Union jobs are among the arguments company officials and politicians have put forth against shutting down that coal-fired plant; though most of the workers at the plant are not from the surrounding area. The coal actually burned in Chicago comes from Wyoming, though the once-vibrant Illinois coal mining industry may see a resurgence soon as mandatory pollution control equipment on new power plants means the “dirtier” Illinois coal can be burned again.

Across the nation, only about 28 percent of miners are union, and that trend will likely be mirrored at new or reopened Illinois mines. Typically only long-standing mines have unions, and companies are known to try to dissolve unions there by renaming or closing and reopening a mine.

The Spruce Number One mine for which the permit was denied would have created 250 jobs. But mining opponents said the mountains are more valuable to the local economy intact than they are blown up to yield the coal inside them.

Ultimately, more jobs and economic well-being would be created through tourism and other enjoyment of the mountains, they say.

The battle over coal is so bitter in Appalachia that Gibson wears a bulletproof vest, keeps two guns handy and has a special door so heavy – to prevent kick-ins—that he has to slide it open on wheels. He feels he’s threatened both by actual coal company representatives and locals who work or hope to work for the coal companies. He hopes with rising awareness of the air pollution from coal-fired power and the impacts of mountaintop removal mining, his neighbors will begin to see that dangerous coal field jobs aren’t worth sacrificing their surroundings and health.

“We don’t have to use violence to make a change,” he said. “All we need is the truth.”

Kari Lydersen, an In These Times contributing editor, is a Chicago-based journalist writing for various publications, including the Chicago Reader and The Progressive. Her most recent book is Revolt on Goose Island. She can be reached at kari.lydersen@gmail.com.

From the Holler to the Hood

2011-01-24T16:28:00.002-05:00

Taking on Dirty Coal -- From the Holler to the ‘Hood'

Chicago, IL, January 24, 2011--Larry Gibson an Appalachian Hero in the struggle against Mountain Top Removal coal mining will meet Tuesday morning with Chicago Alderman Joe Moore, the lead sponsor of the Chicago Clean Power Ordinance, to discuss the devastating health and environmental effects that reliance on coal as an energy source has brought to their two communities. The two will note how the entire life cycle of coal destroys lives and ruins the environment, from the rural mountain communities where it is extracted to the large urban cities where it is burned.
With the recent US EPA veto of the permit for Spruce Mine, the largest single mountaintop removal mine in West Virginia history, and the current push to pass the Clean Power Ordinance in Chicago, now is the time to begin moving forward to renewable energy and away from the fossil fuel industry.

“I met Larry Gibson in 2009 when I first visited West Virgina as part of a delegation led by Rogers Park-based Eco-Justice Collaborative,” said Alderman Joe Moore, lead sponsor of the Chicago Clean Power Ordinance.

“While there, I saw first hand the social and environmental devastation of mountaintop removal mining and realized that this was just the first step in the trail of devastation left by our reliance on coal.”

“What we are talking about isn't 'just' mountaintop removal strip mining, it's the annihilation of entire mountains for cheap energy”, said Larry Gibson of the Keeper of the Mountains Foundation."

Gibson was born on Kayford Mountain in West Virginia and moved to Cleveland with his family as a child. After retiring from General Motors on disability in the early 1980s, he returned to West Virginia and his mountain. At the time, he discovered the family's 500 acres had shrunk to 50 acres. The coal company had acquired the rest.

“The mountains in West Virginia are my home, and I’m doing everything I can to protect them”, said Gibson. “I tell people who come to see me ... I am not a tourist attraction. Don’t come here unless you are ready to do something.”

When Alderman Moore returned from Appalachia, he responded to Gibson’s challenge to take action.

“In Chicago, we have two old coal plants that not only are causing respiratory problems and premature deaths, but also are the largest stationary sources of global warming pollution,” said Moore. “I have introduced an ordinance in the Chicago City Council that calls for the clean-up of these plants”.

A few weeks ago, the US EPA revoked the Spruce Mine permit which stopped what would have been the largest mountaintop removal operation in West Virginia. This action was historic as the 2,300-acre mountaintop removal mine previously had been permitted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The Chicago City Council Committee on Health is scheduled to hold a hearing on February 14th on the Chicago Clean Power Ordinance.

“When this ordinance passes, it will be just as historic as the veto of Spruce Mine,” said Moore. “To date, no major metropolitan city in this country has passed an ordinance that regulates the harmful emissions coming from the stacks of its power plants”.

“This is why I’m here in Chicago”, said Gibson. “I want everyone to know that they are connected to mountaintop removal through dirty electricity and poisoned water. Coal is a global commodity. Whether Chicago gets coal from mountaintop removal or underground mining, the power plants here are driving the strip mining practice. I want everyone, just like this Chicago Aldermen, to do something to stop the destruction of our mountains and our communities. People in Appalachia are suffering from poisoned water just like people here in Chicago are suffering from polluted air.”

We Visit Chapel Hill

2011-01-21T11:43:00.002-05:00

Written by UNC-Chapel Hill student and event organizer Stewart Boss

North Carolina is the number one importer of mountaintop removal coal, but it’s a fact we easily forget. Despite our addiction to mountaintop removal coal, the irreversible damage and destruction it causes is often forgotten here because there’s no coal mining in our state.

Larry Gibson’s trip to Chapel Hill, N.C., and UNC this week was an inspirational reminder that we need to do something about what’s going on in West Virginia. Whether through our dirty electricity or our poisoned water systems, North Carolinians ARE connected to mountaintop removal. Larry was joined by Adam Hall, who is a U.S. Army veteran who has dedicated his life to combat surface mining and fight for what he calls: "The God-given right to drink clean water."

On Tuesday night, Larry and Adam joined the Sierra Student Coalition, the Institute for the Environment, the Parr Center for Ethics, CUAB, and the UNC Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity for a program on “Mountain Justice.” He candidly shared his personal experiences and Larry called on students, faculty and community members to get “mad as hell” and actively engaged in stopping the systematic destruction of his home.

Larry made it to several classes at UNC on Wednesday to keep spreading the word about how mountaintop removal has devastated his corner of West Virginia. That night, Liz Dowling-Sendor invited friends and family for a fundraiser party with some of the best brownies I’ve ever had and some fantastic cider. UNC professor and filmmaker Chad Stevens screened his powerful documentary “Leveling Appalachia,” setting the stage for a candid discussion with Adam and Larry about the rampant greed and corruption that has allowed the coal companies to take away our mountains and monopolize West Virginia’s economy.

“They told us that North Carolina would never survive without tobacco,” one lady said. “Well, here we are.”

An inspiring thought indeed. A big, warm thanks to Adam and Larry for bringing their stories down to Chapel Hill this week and adding fuel to our fire as we begin a new year.

Leveling Appalachia: http://e360.yale.edu/content/feature.msp?id=2198

Standing Up to Show the True Impacts of the Coal Industry

2011-01-20T15:49:00.001-05:00

We and many other coalfield residents and allies came together today to stand up to the coal industry and showed the TRUE impacts of coal. This is our march through the "Rally for Coal" - fearless people.

Our Solemn Presence Today:

The Coal Industry's Presence Today:

Larry Gibson's Words:

Junior Walk's Words:

And Remember:

Show the True Impact of Coal on Thursday, January 20th

2011-01-18T14:04:00.001-05:00

"Impacts of Coal" Rally
Thursday, Jan 20
1:30 p.m.
Meet at Laidley Field Parking Area (1549 Piedmont Road at Elizabeth St,
Charleston, WV)

RSVP to the Facebook Event & Spread the Word

Acting-Governor Tomblin is hosting a "Rally for Coal" at the state capitol
on Thursday to show his opposition to the EPA's veto of the Spruce No 1
mountaintop removal mine. The governor has announced that the purpose of
his rally is to "show the EPA how coal impacts our lives, and the lives of
our fellow countrymen." So let's go and remind the governor of coal's
impact - slurry injections, blasting, poisoned water, destruction of our
communities, cancer and death. The EPA finally did its job and now it is
under attack by our own state government. The governor does not speak for
us. He speaks for coal. We must support the EPA's decision and make our
voices heard.

Please show up, bring your friends, bring a camera and bring signs, photos
and any other visuals that illustrate the devastation that coal has wrought
in our region. We will gather at the bus stop at Laidley Field and leave at
1:30 to walk together to the capitol, near the acting governor's rally. We
will walk together, stand together, leave together.

RSVP to the Facebook Event & Spread the Word

IMPORTANT:
* This is a non-violent event; we intend to demonstrate in a peaceful and
respectful manner.
* Please do not engage with pro-coal demonstrators, regardless of how they
react to us.
* Do not bring anything that could be construed as a weapon, including signs
with wooden poles
* Take responsibility for the safety of the people standing next to you.
* Please stay with the group at all times.
* Dress in layers so you will be warm.

------

If you can stay in the Charleston area on Thursday, People Concerned About
MIC would greatly appreciate you presence at the Chemical Safety Board
meeting, which begins at 6:30 WV State University Student Union in
Institute.
The Chemical Safety Board's meeting will inform the community on the
agency's final investigation report on the August 2008 at the Bayer plant
and their recommendations to regulators and industry about how to make the
our valley safer.

Show the True Impact of Coal on Thursday, January 20th

2011-01-18T14:02:00.000-05:00

"Impacts of Coal" Rally
Thursday, Jan 20
1:30 p.m.
Meet at Laidley Field Parking Area (1549 Piedmont Road at Elizabeth St,
Charleston, WV)

Acting-Governor Tomblin is hosting a "Rally for Coal" at the state capitol
on Thursday to show his opposition to the EPA's veto of the Spruce No 1
mountaintop removal mine. The governor has announced that the purpose of
his rally is to "show the EPA how coal impacts our lives, and the lives of
our fellow countrymen." So let's go and remind the governor of coal's
impact - slurry injections, blasting, poisoned water, destruction of our
communities, cancer and death. The EPA finally did its job and now it is
under attack by our own state government. The governor does not speak for
us. He speaks for coal. We must support the EPA's decision and make our
voices heard.

Please show up, bring your friends, bring a camera and bring signs, photos
and any other visuals that illustrate the devastation that coal has wrought
in our region. We will gather at the bus stop at Laidley Field and leave at
1:30 to walk together to the capitol, near the acting governor's rally. We
will walk together, stand together, leave together.

IMPORTANT:
* This is a non-violent event; we intend to demonstrate in a peaceful and
respectful manner.
* Please do not engage with pro-coal demonstrators, regardless of how they
react to us.
* Do not bring anything that could be construed as a weapon, including signs
with wooden poles
* Take responsibility for the safety of the people standing next to you.
* Please stay with the group at all times.
* Dress in layers so you will be warm.

------

If you can stay in the Charleston area on Thursday, People Concerned About
MIC would greatly appreciate you presence at the Chemical Safety Board
meeting, which begins at 6:30 WV State University Student Union in
Institute.
The Chemical Safety Board's meeting will inform the community on the
agency's final investigation report on the August 2008 at the Bayer plant
and their recommendations to regulators and industry about how to make the
our valley safer.

Victories in Our Fight for Justice

2011-01-13T14:34:00.001-05:00

This has been a huge week for us. We have seen an interim committee in the West Virginia State Legislature advance a bill that would ban coal slurry injections and another bill that would regulate natural gas drilling of the Marcellus Shale, we have also see Bayer announce the elimination of its storage of the deadly chemical M.I.C near Charleston, and finally we have seen the E.P.A. announce the historic veto of the Spruce #1 Mountaintop Removal Permit.

In fact these are rungs on the ladder to our ultimate victory. We should not get too comfortable in these steps, rather these should be fuel to keep our fire going and movement gaining momentum. We should keep our ultimate goal in mind and continue taking steps in the right direction.

These long overdue and responsible changes will take only take place within our Government and within the coalfields themselves if we continue to act. I appeal to you, the people, to be vigilant and look to the future.

Please Call Lisa Jackson at the EPA to thank the EPA for its veto of the Spruce #1 Permit at 202-564-4700

Thank you,
Larry Gibson

Keeper of the Mountains Foundation

P.S. We are appealing to you for donations to help fund our upcoming year to continue our daily fight against the crimes of the coal industry, please donate to help fuel our fight

Larry Gibson on Judy Bonds' Passing

2011-01-04T15:17:00.002-05:00

My friends its a sad day. We've lost a voice of the mountains, one of the great voices of the mountains, and most certainly a soldier, to cancer. Her voice will not die or cease because she's left. In memory of her and what she stood for, most certainly, the voices from the hollers and the mountains will continue simply because who she was and what she stood for.

Do not let her passing be in vain. Let her be an example for you to stand and speak out and say, "Enough is Enough." The price we pay in the Appalachian Coalfields, as you can see by the passing of this young lady, Judy Bonds, is far far too high. And so when you're wondering what you can do, take a stand give her her voice back. Don't let her voice die, you be the voice she had.

Be the voice of the people oppressed so we can have equality, the health, the fresh water, the fresh air that the rich people take for granted. And those of us who live in the Coalfields of Appalachia cannot take it for granted. This is Larry Gibson reminding you that the fight is not over, it has been raised to a higher level. Keep her and her family in your thoughts. Continue to fight and if in any given time you wonder, you think about the lady who fought as hard as she did and she will be the fuel for your fire.

Take her passing to be the fuel for your fire. Concentrate on the issue at hand. She would say, as i do, never give up what you believe in. I will give you this promise that i will never back down on what i have told you. So, i encourage you to step up to the plate and ring your voices through the hills and hollers and let them know you're not going anywhere. I look forward to having a long future with you.

Larry Gibson, Keeper of the Mountains Foundation

Stand with me for Appalachia

2010-12-15T11:11:00.001-05:00

I'm writing to you as a volunteer and donor for the Keeper of the Mountains Foundation. My personal experience with the atrocities of surface mining strengthened my commitment to the organization. Everyone that wants to fight the injustices being committed in the name of profit should join me in becoming an active donor:

http://mountainkeeper.blogspot.com/p/donate.html

Your donations will help cover the cost of our On The Road Again Program. Larry, myself, and many other coalfield residents will travel the country in 2011 to educate others about the process known as mountain top removal and also what actions they can take to end this practice.

As a West Virginia native and a resident of the coalfields for most of my life, I know first-hand the detrimental effects the coal industry has had on our communities and our environment. Both of my grandfathers were coal miners, and both died from complications of black lung. I am not against coal miners but I am against big corporations that come into our state, exploit our people, destroy our environment, then leave with profits without being held accountable for the mess they leave behind.

In the early 2000's I experienced that destruction first hand. Blasting on a mountaintop removal coal mine began within a quarter-mile of my home. The noise was constant and everything was covered in dust all the time. My house would shake, knocking pictures from the walls, and rocks would fly into the yard where my children played. In 2005, while deployed with the military, I received a call from my father saying my house was off of its foundation and that the foundation was severely damaged.

Before all this happened we didn't like mountaintop removal but it was just something we accepted as part of living in WV. After the coal company blatantly denied responsibility for the destruction of my home, I began to realize, "This is what is happening to all my family and neighbors, and it's not right."

So I made a choice to actively fight the process, and quickly joined the Keeper of the Mountains Foundation. Mr. Larry Gibson has been an inspiration to me, and this organization is an integral part of ending mountaintop removal. I support it not only with my time but by being an active donor, and I hope you will join me:

http://mountainkeeper.blogspot.com/p/donate.html

Thanks for standing with us!

Sincerely,

Marilyn Mullens

Keeper of the Mountains Foundation Volunteer

P.S. If you can't donate, but you do use Facebook, please set up a Holiday Wish to help fund our work.

Connecting the Dots in Ecuador

2010-12-07T17:51:00.001-05:00

"All the companies gave us was contamination, sickness, and death. Strange diseases that we never knew before. People are dying of cancer and that's why the Cofan People are continuing to fight against Chevron in this lawsuit."

- Cofan Leader

"Keeper of the Mountains" Larry Gibson and Board Member Bill DePaulo are currently in their Third Day of traveling through Ecuador. They are traveling with Amazon Watch to lean from, educate, and connect with community leaders who are fighting for justice in their communities, much as we are in ours. Indigenous Nations in the Ecuadorian Rain Forest have been poisoned by the massive oil drilling operations that Texaco, now Chevron, undertook to profit from their people.

Bill DePaulo is writing of his and Larry's time in Ecuador and had this to say,

"Day 1 was primarily in Quito and no one could describe it as strenuous. common if interesting tourist stuff in many respects But distinguished by the fact that Ecuador has taken extraordinary steps at preservation of it's cultural and architectural heritage

Second day we flew over the Andes to Lagos Agrio, the town Texaco built in the jingle out of nothing for oil exploration. Plus we went to Texacos first drill sites.

From ChevronInEcuador.com

Later in the day we crossed Rio Aqua Rico to meet with leaders of the small indigenous group Cofan who are plaintiffs in the multiple billion dollar lawsuit against Chevron/Texaco over oil spills at more than 900 pits they created at 350 drill sites from 1964 to 1990.

The leader who spoke to us lost two small children after they drank water from local streams polluted by Texaco.

Today we went to one of the more dramatic open pit sites that shows the grossly negligent manner in which Texaco operated. Dumping raw waste water from drill sites into open pits designed too overflow into fresh water streams and pollute the water table, animal and fish life.

We are headed to a local clinic that treats victims, young and old, of oil pollution

Tomorrow we go to the Yasuni National Forest, one of the biologically diverse sites on earth, threatened by oil exploration."

Don Blankenship is DONE

2010-12-03T18:46:00.001-05:00

From his start with A.T. Massey Coal, Don Blankenship has been breaking the union and poisoning peoples' water. Through the years he has been the face of the coal industry and political corruption in West Virginia. His coal company has been the culprit of everything from disregarding worker safety to destroying our mountains to poisoning our people. He has been the visible head of corporate greed in our state for far too long, and now he's done.

Don Blankenship will retire on December 30th, 2010. In the same year that the people of West Virginia have won a new Marsh Fork Elementary and are winning regulation of the coal industry - we will see the retirement of the most visible coal baron in the state. He has surrendered to angry workers and residents and is leaving his seat in the company.

We must remember, that as bad as Don Blankenship is, the problem is deeper than any one man. We will start 2011 another step ahead of where we started 2010, but we will still have mountains being stripped, communities with poisoned water, workers working in unsafe conditions and a need for coalfield communities to decide our own future. We will start 2011 with another victory under our belts, and with a need to keep fighting the coal industry for justice. We must keep growing and we must continue gaining power.

Be proud and celebrate, but for heaven's sake, keep organizing. Please donate to keep us organizing and winning victories like this.

Contact the EPA by December 1st

2010-11-19T11:10:00.000-05:00

Last April, the Environmental Protection Agency took a bold step toward cutting back mountaintop removal when it issued draft guidelines to reduce the practice of "valley fills" -- which bury streams and poison Appalachia's water sources -- unless they meet a high standard. The guidelines were just one of a series of draft rules issued that day designed to reduce the impact of mountaintop removal coal mining.

Can you join me by contacting the EPA in support of their rules to protect clean water?
http://www.ilovemountains.org/epa-guidance

Coal is killing the people of the Appalachian coalfields. Just the same as if you pick up a pistol and shoot your neighbor, people are dying for coal company profits. Me and my fellow Appalachians have been saying this for years that we deserve justice for everybody in the Appalachian coalfields.

Now, there are finally people listening in the EPA. While they are not going nearly far enough to protect the Appalachian people, they are starting and we must back them up. Big Coal is doing what they always do and is putting the money made off the backs of the Appalachian people into fighting new rules that would protect us.

We are somebody, all of us are somebody. Just because Big Coal has Big Money doesn't mean a thing if we come together and act. Now it's our turn to be heard and we've got to raise our voices.

Submitting a comment takes just a few moments. Please, act now: Tell the EPA to stand firm on limiting mountaintop removal coal mining.

Thank you for standing with me,

Larry Gibson
Keeper of the Mountains Foundation

Help Tell the Story of Coal Industry Crimes by Contributing to Low Coal

2010-11-04T14:15:00.000-04:00

Filmmakers Mari-Lynn Evans and Jordan Freeman have stood alongside coalfield residents and Larry Gibson for years to amplify the voices crying out from the the effects of the coal industry - from Mountaintop Removal to unsafe mines to poisoned water supplies. They have just put out a new film Low Coal which sheds new light on the coal industry, please help them get their film off the ground and help amplify the voices of coalfield residents.

Invite Larry to Your Community

2010-10-28T16:22:00.000-04:00

Larry Gibson Educating & Activating a Nation

Click to Connect With Him Today

Risking Arrest to Plant on a Mountaintop Removal Site

2010-10-25T16:53:00.005-04:00

Written by Morgan Goodwin and Cross-Posted from ItsGettingHotInHere.org

Today 44 volunteer 'reclamation workers' (activists) illegally marched onto a supposedly reclaimed mine site to plant trees. Why? Because the 'reclamation' efforts done by the mining company resulted in a barren hillside with sparse grass and baking sun - a far cry from the lush and diverse forest destroyed in the process.

After negotiating with the police and planting all the trees, all 44 were allowed to leave the site without repurcussions.

The fight over mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia revolves around jobs. Even though the highly mechinized practice has drastically reduced the number of people employed in the mining industry, the proponents of mining say that West Virginia is poor and needs the jobs. Opponents say healthy and prosperous economies can be created in the area if only the destructive and poisionsous processes of the coal companies are stopped and the natual wealth is not destroyed.

John Johnson, forester and environmentalist said, “The coal industry does not attempt to return the landscape to its previous biodiversity – leaving it up to the citizens to reclaim it themselves. Fixing the ruined landscape will provide long term jobs for those put out of work by the abolition of mountaintop removal.”

At 12:30 on Sunday, October 25th, hundreds of people rallied at Stanley Heirs Park, adjacent to Larry Gibson's home on Kayford Mountain. Statesman Ken Hechler and Kayford Mountainkeeper Larry Gibson, along with two miners from Colombia lead the march to the mine site, with participants aged 18 to 96 years old.

Lifelong Coal River Valley resident Junior Walk says, “Coal companies sure as hell aren’t going to take it upon themselves to do something about it – some one’s got to do it.”

44 people walked out onto the mine site to plant 30 hemlocks, pen oak and tulip poplar trees, as well as planting chesnuts, walnuts, acorns. Some deployed a banner reading: "EPA We're Doing Your Job - Over 500 Mountains Destroyed - Reclamation Jobs Now!"

Mine security vehicles and police showed up moments later and negotiated with the activists. By 3:30pm all the trees had been planted and the protesters left the site without repurcussions. While technically tresspassing, it looks like the police didn't have the taste for arresting folks who are calling attention to what the mining companies should be doing.

To see just how agregious this shortcoming is of mining company policy towards reclamation, check out this report from NRDC earlier this year:

For years the mining industry has exploited a federal statutory provision that exempts them from restoring the land to its approximate original contour if there is a plan to develop the land for “equal or better economic use” such as “industrial, commercial, residential or public use.”

However, NRDC’s analysis – also using aerial imagery – confirms that nearly 90% of mountaintop removal sites have not been converted to economic uses.

That's right: Mining companies don’t love mountains but they love bragging about how they restore mine sites for the benefit of local communities. Our study exposes Big Coal’s broken promises by proving that post-mining economic prosperity is a big, flat lie.

John Johnson, forester and environmentalist said, “The coal industry does not attempt to return the landscape to its previous biodiversity – leaving it up to the citizens to reclaim it themselves. Fixing the ruined landscape will provide long term jobs for those put out of work by the abolition of mountaintop removal.”

Coal country politicians have largely supported the mining industry, even to the extreme detriment of American heritage, community health and the economic well being of Appalachia. In an election where Democrats and Republicans alike are rushing to bow at the altar of coal, voters in West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennesee, Virginia and elsewhere are often left to regulartory agencies like the Office of Surface Mining, the EPA, state DEP agencies and Mining and Mineral Services. Just getting them to do their job enforcing existing laws (like requiring reclamation) will be a huge victory in the fight to end mountaintop removal.

Want to help?

1.Email chfo@osmre.gov (Roger Calhoun chfo@osmre.gov Head field operator of Office of Surface Mining and Reclamaiton) Ask him why people are threatened with arrest for reclaiming mine sites? Shouldn't we be paying Appalachian residents to do reclamation work, not arresting them? Send them a link to this blog, or a photo or article, and make sure they feel the heat.

2. Go to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection and fill out their online form, asking the same questions.

For updates, check climategroundzero.org, follow @app_rising and @coalisfilthy, and check facebook.com/apprising. For more photos visit the Photobucket Album All photos taken by Jacob Mack-Boll

2010-10-05T15:45:00.000-04:00

Mountain Justice Fall Summit

Kayford Mountain, West Virginia

A Weekend of Education and Action

October 22nd-24th

Come to the coalfields of Southern West Virginia to gain skills in grassroots organizing, get trained in non-violent direct action and learn about Appalachian culture. Hear first hand from Coal River Valley residents about the devastation of mountaintop removal.

Kayford Mountain is the home of Larry Gibson, whose family has been living there since the 1700's. In 1986, coal companies began stripping Kayford Mountain, and Larry has been fighting for his land ever since. “The slow motion destruction of Kayford Mountain has been continuous – 24 hours a day, seven days a week," says Larry.

Over 500 mountains have been destroyed and over 1,000 miles of streams have been buried in valley fills. Mountaintop Removal (MTR) continues to cause irreversible damage to the environment and aquatic systems that thousands of people rely on for food, water, and homes.

Take action to end mountaintop removal, and start something better in its place. Come join us for a weekend of education and action!

Keeper of the Mountains Joins Thousands at Appalachia Rising

2010-09-27T21:14:00.001-04:00

Larry Gibson inspiring hundreds at Voices From the Mountains

Larry Gibson Arrested with Hundreds & Hear the Voices of Supporters at Appalachia Rising (thank you Chad Stevens for the Video!)

Larry Invites You To STAND UP at Appalachia Rising

2010-09-13T21:49:00.001-04:00

When I went to New York, I called for the rebirth of resistance, and I never thought I’d hear such a roar of people saying “Yeah, we need the rebirth of resistance.” Well yeah, we need a rebirth of resistance here to get back what the people have lost! Right now there is not enough resistance. We are natural organizers. We live in the area called the coalfields - where the union was strong. If we hadn’t organized in the beginning we would never have had anything. We can’t back up… We gotta get that grit back. That’s what we’ve got to find in people today. They’ve got it; they’ve just forgotten that they have it. Join me in resisting Mountaintop Removal at Appalachia Rising in Washington DC.

                                      - Larry Gibson

Housing
Organizers have secured fee and low budget ($20/night) housing in churches and hostels for people who can sleep on the floor or in bunks. To reserve your space, please fill out this form.

For a complete list of cheap hotels, go to this website.

Getting to Washington DC

Register for Appalachia Rising here, and we will put you in touch with mobilizers in your area who will help you get to DC. Mobilizers are organizing transportation in vans, buses, and carpools from all over the US.

Voices from the Mountains, Saturday and Sunday September 26 and 27

Voices from the Mountains is a movement-building summit the weekend before of Appalachia Rising's Day of Action. While the day of action puts our movement into unified action, Voices from the Mountains lays the groundwork of future collaboration and movement growth. It will combine information sessions from experts and directly impacted people, strategy sessions to bring the movement forward, speakers, entertainment, and skill-based workshops. See the schedule on the website here.

Day of Action, Monday September 27

The Day of Action will be a march of thousands of people, taking our message directly to the White House. For individuals who choose, there will be non-violent civil disobedience. Trainings are provided over the weekend.

Schedule:
                  10 AM: Rally at Freedom Plaza
                  11 AM: March Begins
                  12:15 PM: March arrives at Lafayette Park, at the White House.

Build the buzz & Spread the word
We need you to come, and bring your friends, families, and co-workers to this historic event. In the final weeks before Appalachia Rising, now is the time to spread the word with all the tools we have available. Use the multimedia on the website to inspire your friends on facebook. Spread, or write blog posts like this one by Appalachia Rising organizer, Dea Goblirsch, or this one, by environmental hero Tim DeChristopher

Twitter: Follow @App_Rising on twitter. Sample tweet: Appalachia Is Rising. Join the nat'l rally to save the mtns Sept 25-27: www.appalachiarising.org @app_rising #apprising #stopmtr

Our friend, Mickey McCoy of Inez Kentucky summed it up perfectly. "I'd rather not travel to Washington DC. I'd rather not break the law in non-violent civil disobedience. Frankly, I'd like to work in the garden in my retirement, but when 300 million gallons of toxic coal sludge from a Massey Energy impoundment flooded Martin County, my home, I found myself in a fight for the life of my land and community, and with those stakes, you don't have a choice. The time for action is now!"

Great Time on Labor Day Weekend + Upcoming Changing of the Leaves Festival

2010-09-07T13:08:00.002-04:00

Larry and Carol have the first dance to Tony Rogers and Dave's "One Love" - a real touching moment

This past Labor Day Weekend on Kayford Mountain was a great time for everyone who made it out! We want to send a HUGE thank you to musicians Aaron Scott, Paige Dalporto, Elizabeth LaPrelle, Tony Rogers of The Ahs Band & his friend Dave, and Kipp McGhee of Pavlov's Dog for coming out to donate a performance to the weekend.

Mark your Calendars for the Changing of the Leaves Festival on Saturday, Oct. 9th and Sunday, Oct. 10th - it'll be one of the last good camping weekends before it gets cold - so come on out, hear some great music, and enjoy the leaves with friends & family.

Elizabeth LaPrelle singing the chilling "West Virginia Mine Disaster"

For the first time EVER - Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" on the banjo

Labor Day Music Festival on Kayford Mountain

2010-09-03T11:29:00.000-04:00

Larry Gibson's inviting everyone up to Kayford Mountain for his annual Labor Day Festival on Saturday, Sept. 4th starting at Noon with Music starting at 3:30 - hope you can make it!
Schedule of Music:

3:30 --> Tony Rodgers of "The Ahs" from Hinton, WV
5:00 --> Paige Dalporto from Charleston, WV
6:00 --> Elizabeth Laprelle from Rural Retreat Virginia
7:00 --> Aaron Scott & Kipp McGee

This Labor Day Festival will feature local and regional musicians playing a variety of bluegrass, gospel, folk and old time music, as well as pot-luck meals. The headliners will be area musicians Kipp McGhee and Aaron Scott, who has opened for such major musicians as Rascal Flatts, Alison Krauss and Kenny Chesney.

This is a free concert that will celebrate Appalachian life and attendees are encouraged to bring a covered dish. The purpose of the concert, according to local citizen activist Larry Gibson, is to “bring family and friends together for a weekend of celebrating West Virginia’s heritage and freedom." September 4th will see people from all walks of life, bound by their common love of our mountains and people.

Elizabeth & Sandy Laprelle singing at Kayford's 2008 Mountain Keepers Music Festival

Directions to Kayford Mountain

Camping is open on Saturday night - bring an instrument and we'll jam!

* If you can't make this - or have some spare time around noon before you come up to Kayford- it'd be great to check out the Blair Mountain Labor Day Event starting at noon at the Whipple Company Store in Fayette County

Hundreds Enjoy the Mountain Keepers Music Festival!

2010-08-04T12:53:00.001-04:00

Crowds gather in the pavilion to hear thoughtful speakers and old time ballads.

Keeper of the Mountains, Larry Gibson, with NASA Climate scientist, Dr. James Hansen (center) and former West Virginia Congressman, Ken Hechler.

Rebekah Jean, Mistress of Ceremonies

Musician Jen Osha gets a hug from Ken Hechler

This past fourth of July

Success! Security System and Solar Panels Installed by Volunteers on Kayford Mountain!

2010-07-11T12:47:00.000-04:00

Thank you to the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition for backing this project from the beginning, and a very special Thanks to Kevin Fooce for his time and expertise.

Blog written by flatcreek and originally posted at Appalachian Voices Front Porch Blog

This past weekend a crew of dedicated volunteers descended upon Kayford Mountain, the home of legendary anti-mountaintop removal activist Larry Gibson. The volunteers were on hand to install a much needed security system. For the past 25 years, Larry Gibson has been a leader in the fight to end the destructive practice of mountaintop removal coal mining. Larry's land is surrounded by tens of thousands of acres of strip mines; his home has served as a safe place for citizens, members of the media, and decision makers to witness firsthand the horrors of mountaintop removal coal mining. The images captured and stories written about his destroyed homeplace have served as a catalyst for national awareness of the travesty occurring in Appalachia.

Larry is renowned for his hospitality; he his always available to show people the mountaintop removal coalmine adjacent to his land and is the host of annual parties that routinely draw hundreds of attendees.

Unfortunately, Larry’s outspoken stance on mountaintop removal, and his courageous efforts in standing up to the coal companies, has led to threats of violence and to repeated acts of vandalism to his property. This winter a campaign was launched to raise money for a security system for Larry’s home and public park. Through online donations, a drawing and the tireless efforts of volunteers, over ten thousand dollars were successfully raised to purchase Larry a state of the art security system. This weekend a crew of hardworking volunteers successfully installed the new system, just in time for Larry’s legendary 4th of July party.

Thanks to all who donated time, money and effort to make Larry’s security system a reality.

Special Thanks to: Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, Blessings Project, Appalachian Voices, Appalachian Institute for Renewable Energy, Here's to the Long Haul, Kenny Biggs and his wife, and the hundreds of donations from Friends of the Mountains like you.

West Virginia Artist Donates Original Sculpture to Keeper of the Mountains!

2010-07-10T13:08:00.001-04:00

Thank you to West Virginia artist, Carter Seaton for her unique piece, Sculpting the Earth.

This is an original sculpture made with coal from Kayford Mountain, West Virginia.

You can enter a drawing for Sculpting the Earth and support the Keeper of the Mountains Foundation. Be sure to enter today since the drawing will close on November 1st!. Please see details below.

Chances to win will be given in the following amounts:
   $10 = 1 entry
   $50 = 7 entries
                                $100 = 15 entries

Please make tax-deductible checks to "Keeper of the Mountains Foundation" and mail to: Robin Blakeman, PO Box 6753, Huntington, WV 25773

No purchase necessary to win. For an entry, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the above address, Attn: Robin, Mountain Keeper Sculpture.

Independence Day Celebration

2010-06-16T13:28:00.002-04:00

July 3rd, 2010 - Join us for food, live music, and fun on Kayford Mountain. For more information, call (304) 542-1134.

Success - We're installing a security system!

2010-06-14T13:51:00.001-04:00

Thank you to everyone for your hours of work and your donations. With your help, we raised over $10,000 for security measures on Kayford Mountain, and we are installing the security cameras, solar panels and other equipment this month.
Stay tuned for pictures, a more proper thanks to the organizations and individuals who made this happen, and a final update of the project.
Thank you all.

Keeper of the Mountains Foundation

Larry Gibson to Speak at Hawks Nest Premiere

Gainesville Loves Mountains is Moving Forward!

The Mountain Top

Charleston, WV Will Bowl for the Mountain Keepers & Youth Leaders

Artwork Connects Us to History

Volunteering to Reclaim His Economy

Mountain Keepers Stir Detroit

*Job Posting* Year End Fundraising Drive Coordinator

Father Dan's Labor Day Festival Statement on Mountaintop Removal

Schedule Announced for Labor Day Gospel Festival

Community Energy + Land Protection Volunteer Researchers Needed

Mingo County Resident Enforcing the Law

Unveiling Appalachia's Dirty Little Secret

Why I Do What I Do

Mountain Keepers Music Festival

GIVE NO CONCESSIONS: Organizing for Freedom

Will Alpha Listen to Coalfield Residents?

Larry Gibson and Mari-Lynn Evans Energize Ohio Citizen Action's Cleveland office

Bowl for the Mountain Keepers Yourself!

Pushing UVA Beyond Coal

VIDEO: March on Blair Mountain with Larry Gibson

Hokies Love Mountains

A Journey: Where is MTR Taking Me?

Making Sunday Afternoon Sweet With The Bees

Two Days in Gainesville

Parkersburg, WV is Building a Movement for Healthy Water

Bowling for the Mountains (in costumes!!)

VIDEO PREMIER “THE REAL COST OF COAL” SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 26

The Man Who Said ‘No’ to Coal Companies: Activist Details State of Polarizing Industry

From the Holler to the Hood

We Visit Chapel Hill

Standing Up to Show the True Impacts of the Coal Industry

We and many other coalfield residents and allies came together today to stand up to the coal industry and showed the TRUE impacts of coal. This is our march through the "Rally for Coal" - fearless people.

Our Solemn Presence Today:

The Coal Industry's Presence Today:

Larry Gibson's Words:

And Remember:

Show the True Impact of Coal on Thursday, January 20th

Show the True Impact of Coal on Thursday, January 20th

Victories in Our Fight for Justice

Larry Gibson on Judy Bonds' Passing

Stand with me for Appalachia

Connecting the Dots in Ecuador

Don Blankenship is DONE

Contact the EPA by December 1st

Help Tell the Story of Coal Industry Crimes by Contributing to Low Coal

Invite Larry to Your Community

Risking Arrest to Plant on a Mountaintop Removal Site

Want to help?

Keeper of the Mountains Joins Thousands at Appalachia Rising

Larry Invites You To STAND UP at Appalachia Rising

Great Time on Labor Day Weekend + Upcoming Changing of the Leaves Festival

Labor Day Music Festival on Kayford Mountain

Hundreds Enjoy the Mountain Keepers Music Festival!

Success! Security System and Solar Panels Installed by Volunteers on Kayford Mountain!

West Virginia Artist Donates Original Sculpture to Keeper of the Mountains!

Independence Day Celebration

Success - We're installing a security system!

Job Posting Year End Fundraising Drive Coordinator