May 23- 26: Memorial Day weekend --18th annual Heartwood Forest Council, held at Boy Scout Camp Oyo in the Shawnee State Forest near West Portsmouth, Ohio. Hosts for this years event include Heartwood, the Buckeye Forest Council, Save Our Shawnee Forest, Voices for the Forest, Meigs Citizens Action Now, Protect Biodiversity in Public Forests, EarthWatch Ohio, Portsmouth/Piketon Residents for Environmental Safety and Security, and Southern Ohio Neighbors Group. The theme of this year's Forest Council is "Burning Issues: Climate is a Forest Product." Heartwood helps you protect the places you love. Please join us http://www.heartwood.org/join.html.

Co-sponsors 2008 Heartwood Forest Council: Protect Biodiversity in Public Forests (OH) Portsmouth/Piketon Residents for Environmental Safety and Security (OH) Appalachian Ohio Group of the Sierra Club (OH) Ohio Sierra Club (OH) EarthWatch Ohio (OH) Ohio Environmental Council (OH) Cincinnati Wildflower Preservation Society (OH) Southwest Ohio Green Party (OH) www.getoutzine.com (OH) Full Circle Soil (OH) Trader Joes (Columbus, OH) Clintonville Food Coop (OH) Integration Acres (OH) The Village Bakery (Athens, OH) Annette McCormick (OH) Kentucky Heartwood (KY) Kentuckians for the Commonwealth (KY) Blue Grass Sierra Club (KY) Alliance for Appalachia (regional - KY) Concept Zero (regional - KY) Karst Environmental Education and Protection (national - KY) Coal River Mountain Watch (WV) Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition (regional - WV) West Virginia Highlands Conservancy (WV) Citizens Coal Council (national - PA) Allegheny Defense Project (PA) Protect Our Woods (IN) Indiana Forest Alliance (IN) GreenFire Consulting (national - IN) Permaculture Activist (international - IN) Knob and Valley Audubon Society (IN) www.BloomingtonAlternative.com (IN) Shagbark (IN) www.smalltownphotographs.com (IN) Apple Press (IN) Branches Magazine (IN) www.sustainableeconomics.org (international - IN) Regional Association of Concerned Environmentalists (IL) Missouri Forest Alliance (MO) Confluence (MO) Black Bear Bakery (MO) Newton County Wildlife Association (AR) Bean Mountain Farms (AR) Wild Virginia (VA) Virginians for Appropriate Roads (VA) Living Education Center for Ecology and the Arts (VA) Appalachian Voices (regional - NC) Dogwood Alliance (regional - NC) Environmental Paper Network (national - NC) Superior Wilderness Action Network (regional - WI) Global Justice Ecology Project (international - VT) www.lowbagger.org (international - MT) ForestEthics (international - CA) Wild Wilderness (national - OR) The Wilderness Society (national DC) www.voiceyourself.com (international - HI) Big Wildlife (international - BC, Canada)



More info:

Heartwood is a cooperative network of grassroots groups, individuals, and local businesses working to protect and sustain healthy forests and vital human communities in the nation's heartland, from the foothills of the Appalachians to the river valleys of the Great Plains, and from the Great Lakes to the Deep South. Heartwood has a nearly twenty year track record of bringing groups together to share information, coordinate efforts and devise a common approach -- not just to the challenges we face but perhaps more importantly to the positive future that inspires the work we do.

What is the Heartwood Forest Council?

The Heartwood Forest Council is the largest annual gathering of citizens from across the Eastern, Midwestern, and Southern United States who care about the health and well-being of our nation's forests. This will be the second time this event has taken place in Ohio, the first being at Camp Oty Okwa in 1992. We will focus on threats to our region and to human and community health, in an atmosphere of collaboration designed to form stronger personal and organizational connections. While addressing the issues we face and celebrating the work that we do, the Forest Council offers participants an opportunity to identify lasting solutions and proven action steps that will move us as a community toward a shared vision of a healthy, just, and sustainable society.

The program will begin the afternoon of Friday, May 23, and continue through mid-day, Monday, May 26 (Memorial Day), and will be interspersed with ample social time, leisure, lively local music, dancing and great food. The Forest Council will be family friendly - kids of all ages are encouraged to attend.

This year's Forest Council will explore how we can nurture sustainable local and regional networks and a culture of cooperation and care. Together we will identify viable alternatives to the dominant economy and its toxic legacy of waste and prepare ourselves with the knowledge and tools to protect ourselves, our communities, and our planet. The program will consist of three days of workshops, discussions, keynote speakers, and field trips. Key program elements will include:

Forest Issues: public lands management, roadless and other special areas, prescribed burning on state and national forests, genetically modified trees, sustainable forestry and low impact logging, land certification, and land management strategies and opportunities including the value of non-timber forest products.

Coal, air, energy and climate issues: coal mining and processing, including mountaintop removal, room and pillar, and longwall mining, coal-fired power plants, air pollution and global climate change. We will also talk about resurgent efforts to promote nuclear power, the alternatives to fossil fuel such as wind, solar and hydropower, and the connections between forests and energy production including cellulosic ethanol and biomass.

Sustainability issues: creating viable communities and taking responsibility for our own future; localized economies, permaculture, local and regional food production and distribution, alternative energy and transportation, traditional uses of plants and their preservation, religion and environmental protection, alternatives to the corporate control of food and seed supply; and how to sustain our minds, bodies and spirits as we seek environmental justice and transformational change.

Up to date information, including program, registration, directions, a complete presenter list, and ride-share information will soon be available at http://www.heartwood.org/forestcouncil/ 

We hope you can join us.

For more information, please contact:

David Maywhoor, Executive Director Buckeye Forest Council 614-487-9290, 1-866-OH-TREES <david@buckeyeforestcouncil.org>