<![CDATA[Kentucky Heartwood - News & Events]]>Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:58:30 -0800Weebly<![CDATA[Kentucky Heartwood Challenges Bledsoe Coal Lease   ]]>Thu, 07 Feb 2013 00:27:31 GMThttp://www.kyheartwood.org/3/post/2013/02/kentucky-heartwood-challenges-bledsoe-coal-lease.htmlIn December 2012, Kentucky Heartwood submitted comments on the Forest Service’s Environmental Analysis (EA) for the Bledsoe Coal Lease on the Redbird District of the Daniel Boone NF in Leslie County. If approved, the project would allow the underground mining of 455,080 metric tons of federal coal and its removal via an existing portal on private land. Despite the well-reported downturn in coal, the EA states “the need for the project is to assist in addressing the national need for coal.”

Bledsoe Coal, the company that is seeking the lease, received some notoriety when, in April 2011, it was one of the first two companies since passage of the 1977 Mine Act to be subject to a “Pattern of Violations enforcement action” by the Mine Safety and Health Administration due to the company’s unwillingness to address numerous safety violations in their Abner Branch Mine, not far from the Bledsoe Coal Lease.

In June of 2012, MSHA inspectors performed a surprise inspection of the Abner Branch Mine, and issued 19 citations and 12 withdrawal orders, shutting the mine down for eight days. According to MSHA “If left uncorrected, these conditions… could cause or contribute to a coal dust explosion.”

The EA was focused on cheerleading for the coal industry and downplaying negative effects of coal extraction, particularly by ignoring the cumulative and indirect effects of burning the coal and disposal of coal ash. While the EA reported 57,740 metric tons per year of direct and indirect CO2 emissions over the anticipated 3-year lease, when considering the effects of burning the coal, CO2 emissions jump to 491,583 tons of CO2 per year, or the equivalent of nearly 100,000 extra cars on the road. The EA similarly ignored SO2, NOx, and particulates, as well as environmental justice issues relating to coal ash disposal.

We are currently waiting for a decision from the Forest Service.

]]><![CDATA[2012 Wild & Scenic Film Fest a Great Success!]]>Tue, 01 Jan 2013 00:26:26 GMThttp://www.kyheartwood.org/3/post/2012/12/2012-wild-scenic-film-fest-a-great-success.htmlThank you to everyone who came out and helped make our first hosting of the SYRCL Wild & Scenic Film Festival a night to remember. The SYRCL (South Yuba River Citizens League) Wild & Scenic Film Festival is the largest environmental film festival in North America. Together, we raised over $1500 for Kentucky Heartwood and Kentucky Mountain Justice. 

Despite the cold, wet weather and heavy downtown traffic, we were completely thrilled to see over 200 people in attendance. Thirty-three new people became members and the lobby of the Kentucky Theater was such a bustle of lively conversation and activity that it was hard to get people into the theater for the films!  We want to take this opportunity to thank our 2012 sponsors one more time, and we invite you to consider sponsoring the 2013 Wild & Scenic Film Festival. The theme of the 2013 festival is “A Climate of Change,” and we are looking forward to beginning the process of screening this year’s selection of award winning films. Interested in volunteering for the 2013 film fest? Let us know! We are excited about this bringing this amazing event to Lexington again.

With a growing public awareness for the environment, the Wild & Scenic Film Festival aims to increase this groundswell through inspiring and educational films which hopefully will motivate people to go out and make a difference in their community and around the world.
]]><![CDATA[Wild & Scenic Film Fest to Premiere in Lexington]]>Fri, 16 Nov 2012 16:40:37 GMThttp://www.kyheartwood.org/3/post/2012/11/-wild-scenic-film-fest-to-premiere-in-lexington.htmlPicture
By Will Overbeck

Lately, the KY Heartwood Council has been working on planning a benefit show: Lexington’s first Wild & Scenic Film Festival on Tuesday Dec. 4, 2012 at the Kentucky Theater.

The Wild & Scenic Film Festival was started by the watershed advocacy group, the South Yuba River Citizens League (SYRCL) in 2003. The festival’s namesake is in celebration of SYRCL’s landmark victory to receive ‘Wild & Scenic’ status for 39 miles of the South Yuba River in 1999. The 3-day event features over 100 award-winning films and welcomes over 100 guest speakers, celebrities, and activists who bring a human face to the environmental movement. The home festival kicks-off the national tour to over 100 communities nationwide allowing SYRCL to share their success as an environmental group with others organizations. It is building a network of grassroots organizations connected by a common goal of using film to inspire activism.

With the support of National Partners: Patagonia, CLIF Bar, Osprey Packs, Sierra Nevada Brewing and Mother Jones, the festival is reaching an even larger audience in tour venues coast to coast. We have been very thankful to Patagonia as a supporter of KY Heartwood with a previous grant and are very excited with the chance to work with SYRCL to promote environmental activist films AND invite an audience to Lexington at the Kentucky Theater during it’s 90th year celebration!

I have a long history of watching movies at the Kentucky Theater from childhood memories in the 80’s to midnight movies in the 90’s when I was a teenager. Now I usually go to the Kentucky Theater for movies you simply can’t see anywhere else! Michael Jonathon’s Woodsongs Old-Time Radio Hour is a regular attraction and has a syndicated broadcast on local public radio stations. The Kentucky Theater has long been a venue for alternative movies and music concerts and is a staple of Lexington culture.

This premiere event promises to bring a spotlight to KY Heartwood and to KY Mountain Justice, our co-host. The festival is also a great way for local businesses to show their support for environmental issues, raise awareness for their own green initiatives and promote green business. Our sponsors will benefit from the media coverage and publicity and KY Heartwood will gain a broader audience in Lexington. We are hoping to attract new members to join and raise a significant amount of money for further protection of the natural resources in Daniel Boone Nat’l Forest and to support efforts stop mountain top removal coal mining while increasing the resiliency of our mountain communities.

Please show your support of the Wild & Scenic Film Festival by telling a few friends and making it down to the Kentucky Theater! Tickets cost $10, will be sold at the door, and are available on our website.
]]><![CDATA[6th Annual Stuart Butler Award Goes to Johanna Camenisch ]]>Fri, 17 Feb 2012 16:00:10 GMThttp://www.kyheartwood.org/3/post/2012/02/6th-annual-stuart-butler-award-goes-to-johanna-camenisch.htmlKentucky Heartwood was thrilled to present the 6th Annual Stuart Butler Memorial Award to Johanna Camenisch of Louisville on November 5. Johanna’s generosity, compassion, and dedication to justice have left an indelible mark on generations of school children and their parents, peace activists, women’s rights advocates, war protesters, and environmental supporters. 

As a young teacher in Midway, Kentucky, Johanna and her class lowered the flag to honor Martin Luther King on the day that she believed should be established as a national day of remembrance. When the principal noticed, he went out and raised the flag. In response, Johanna marched out and lowered the flag again.

After learning about the environmental dangers of released helium balloons, Johanna’s third grade class at the Brown School successfully lobbied the city of Louisville to pass an ordinance banning balloon release.

Johanna’s tradition of passing out Arbor Day seedlings to her students have helped create an urban forest in Louisville. Former student Kristen Munro-Leighton described the towering tree in her yard that she planted in elementary school because of Johanna’s encouragement.

In the early 70s Johanna and Nancy Gall Clayton single-handedly provided abortion counseling and support to women before the passage of Roe v. Wade. After convincing the phone company to list her home phone as an emergency hotline number, Johanna fielded calls 24 hours a day.

From Cambodia and Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan, Johanna has advocated for peace and supported the community of pacifists. Her efforts with the Louisville Peace and Justice Committee protesting the Iraq War have been permanently archived by the Filson Society in Louisville. Speaker and long time friend Joyce Evans related a story about Johanna’s daughter Chrissy, whose elementary school class was asked if they had ever been to Washington D.C. Chrissy raised her hand and asked, “To visit or to protest?”

Born the eldest of 12 in the farming community of Stanford, Johanna was shaped by the faith, hard work, and love of her family, sister Carmy Jordan described.

Thanks go to many people for making the evening unforgettable. Karen Jones and Beverly Ferrell, award winners in their own right, provided the music.

People loved the food! Thanks to Wenchels for lip-smacking cole slaw; Alfalfa’s Restaurant and Mark Schimmoeller for the tasty chili; Bluegrass Bakery for the bags of bread; Connie Lemley for the delicious salad greens; Betsy Camenisch for the green beans; Johanna for the cranberries, funeral salad, sweet potato casserole; and Trina Peiffer and Laurie Schimmoeller for the cookies and chocolate. To all our amazing Kentucky Heartwood Council members who cooked the rest of the meal, cheers!

The gift certificate from Good Foods enabled us to get coffee, creamer, cider, and olives. Thank you!

Tona Barkley and Bluebird Whitehead and Levi Gordon loaned us the lovely tablecloths. Johanna and her sisters provided the pumpkin centerpieces for every table. Ella Lemley-Frye sent her miniature gourds and pumpkins as decorations. 

To our speakers Laurie Schimmoeller, Nancy Gall Clayton, Joyce Evans, Helen Roach Rench, Nancy Theiss, Anne Linden Steele, Don Pratt, Dorothy Converse, Carol & Harold Trainer, Judy Munro-Leighton, Trina Peiffer, Jim Chatham, Steve Leavell, Tiana French, Kristen Munro-Leighton, Carmy Jordan: you uplifted us all. Thank you for your stories, your memories, and your extraordinary work.

Stu’s family, Linda and Emily Collier and Debbie Monbeck, presented Johanna with the award of two birdhouses made by biologist Wayne Davis. The cash award of $500 was, at Johanna’s request, distributed among Kentucky Resources Council, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, Smile Train, and Coalition of Immokalee Farm Workers. 

The event could not have happened without the coordination and work of Levi Gordon and Bluebird Whitehead and the rest of the Kentucky Heartwood Council.  And finally, thanks go to the Unitarian Universalist Church for welcoming us to their beautiful facility. Many people helped clean up, including Johanna, who stayed until the last fork was dried!

In all, the evening raised over $1,600. We will now be able to add a thousand dollars to our endowment fund for forest protection, bringing it to over $11,000! 

]]><![CDATA[Thanks for a Great Dance!]]>Tue, 18 Oct 2011 16:42:15 GMThttp://www.kyheartwood.org/3/post/2011/10/thanks-for-a-great-dance.htmlHello everyone!

               We had a great dance!  Many thanks go to the Capital City Orchestra (Diane Simmons, Don Coffey, Jim Eaton, Joan Adrian, Karen Friley, Kay Kennedy, Lara Panayatoff, Laura Lee Cundiff, Lee Creech, Lisa Hicks, Paul Andis, Roger Holden, and Trent Ripley) for the fine music. Our expert callers were Sylvia Coffey, Beth Brokaw, Peter and Phyllis Rogers, and Steve Bennett – thank you for leading us through the dances!  The tasty food was cooked by Caroline Taylor-Webb, Clay Goebeler, Lyn Akers, Jane Marie Watts, Laurie Schimmoeller, Stone & Ember Bakery, Doug & Samantha Osborne, and Chris Schimmoeller.  Flowers and cilantro (not to mention two great boys!) provided by Trina Peiffer.  Our kitchen and break down crew included the amazing students from Frankfort High, Jeri, Maya, Michael, Audrey, as well as Caroline and Mrs. Fleck. 

               Thanks to Jon and Lyn Akers for running the registration table and to Clay for handling the Kentucky Heartwood table.  Betty Beshoar provided the reusable dishware.  John & Velda Watts, Sean, and the Millville Sportsmen have an awesome facility – thank you for letting us dance in such a fun space!

               Jessie Bessinger and Tina Marie made trips to deliver supplies, and Joel Dufour sponsored the event and was support crew in lots of ways.  Thanks to the State Journal and Tricia Spalding for taking photos.

               The fundraiser could not have taken place without the work of Sylvia Coffey.

               Thanks to everyone, we raised just over $500 for the forest protection work of Kentucky Heartwood, plus we had a fabulous time!

              

For the Forest!  Chris Schimmoeller

]]><![CDATA[Kentucky Heartwood Honors John Walker, Daniel Boone National Forest]]>Thu, 05 Aug 2010 21:23:34 GMThttp://www.kyheartwood.org/3/post/2010/08/kentucky-heartwood-honors-john-walker-daniel-boone-national-forest.htmlPicture
Kentucky Heartwood was privileged to present a plaque to John Walker of the Daniel Boone National Forest in recognition of his work to protect and restore the lands of Cromer Ridge in the Daniel Boone National Forest. Along with the plaque, which was presented to John at the DBNF headquarters in Winchester, Kentucky Heartwood presented a letter stating:

"Kentucky Heartwood is honored to present John Walker of the Daniel Boone National Forest with a placard to express our appreciation for his tenacity and creativity in the efforts to protect and restore the lands and surrounding waters of Cromer Ridge. The efforts of John Walker and fellow Daniel Boone National Forest personnel in this undertaking exemplify an ethic of land stewardship harkening to the roots of the U.S. Forest Service, and offer a heartening look forward to an agency with a renewed focus on mending the damage of past transgressions on the landscape."

Cromer Ridge is an area in the Rockcastle River watershed that has been degraded almost unimaginably by decades of illegal off-road vehicle use. The Forest Service has been working to remove the off-roaders and rehabilitate this area, in large part to control the vast amount of sediment flowing into the Rockcastle River and Woods Creek Reservoir. Kentucky Heartwood visited the site as part of our Spring Hike and was so impressed by the work being done that we felt acknowledgement of the important work being done there was more than appropriate.
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]]><![CDATA[Frasure Creek Mining pulls permit application to mine near Robinson Forest!]]>Thu, 24 Jun 2010 18:09:59 GMThttp://www.kyheartwood.org/3/post/2010/06/frasure-creek-mining-pulls-permit-application-to-mine-near-robinson-forest.html
As some of you may remember, last year Kentucky Heartwood asked our supporters to send in comments opposing the expansion of strip mining operations bordering the south end of Robinson Forest. The mining would have eaten up some of the last intact forest surrounding Robinson. 


Well, we just got news yesterday that Frasure Creek, the company that had sought the permits to mine there, has withdrawn their 404 application for "economic reasons." If they want to seek a permit again they'll have to start at the beginning of the process, incur more costs, and face more opposition.


A big thanks to all of you who took the time to send in letters opposing this mine! With national pressure for investors to pull their support from MTR, legislative traction in D.C., and federal agencies beginning to show interest in actually regulating and enforcing the law, coal companies are on the defensive. Let's all keep up the good work!]]><![CDATA[Kentucky Heartwood Submits Comments Critical of Logging and Burning plans at Land Between the Lakes]]>Fri, 11 Jun 2010 18:02:18 GMThttp://www.kyheartwood.org/3/post/2010/06/kentucky-heartwood-submits-comments-critical-of-logging-and-burning-plans-at-land-between-the-lakes.htmlKentucky Heartwood is now working to assist former residents of what is now known as Land Between the Lakes, but known as Between the Rivers to the people forcibly removed from their community and land in western Kentucky. The Forest Service is burning much of the peninsula, and now has plans to log and clearcut 1850 acres of forest in the Demumbers Creek watershed. You can download and read our comments.
demumbers_creek_scoping_comments.docx.pdf
File Size: 197 kb
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]]><![CDATA[TN Landfill may harm Big South Fork]]>Wed, 05 May 2010 13:58:15 GMThttp://www.kyheartwood.org/3/post/2010/05/tn-landfill-may-harm-big-south-fork.htmlKentucky Heartwood learned last month of a proposed landfill in Tennessee just a few miles upstream from the Kentucky line and the Big South Fork. The landfill would impact Bear Creek and the successful work already done to restore this stream, as well as the McCreary County water supply and the waters of Big South Fork National Recreation Area. You can read our comments below.
solid_waste_comment_letter_khw.pdf
File Size: 155 kb
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]]><![CDATA[Forest Service uses false information to justify timber management]]>Wed, 05 May 2010 13:48:31 GMThttp://www.kyheartwood.org/3/post/2010/05/forest-service-uses-false-information-to-justify-timber-management.htmlKentucky Heartwood submitted comments to the Forest Service regarding the 7,000 acre Redbird Midstory Removal Project. The project documents can be seen here. The Forest Service used faulty information to justify the project, which they plan to implement with a Categorical Exclusion, circumventing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and its standards of review. The project would force an unnatural one- and two-aged structure on this recovering forest to simplify future timber harvests and regeneration, rather than helping the forest to recover its native range of structures and functions. You can download and read our comments below.
rb_midstoryremoval.pdf
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