March 21-28, 2012: Register Now! Mountain Justice Spring Break 2012
posted December 31, 2011
Learn about and take action against the destructive effects of the dirty life-cycles of coal and natural gas!
Our struggle for environmental justice in Appalachia has never been as publicized, analyzed, or urgent as RIGHT NOW! Not a moment too soon, your chance to plug in and make things happen is here! This March 21-28, Mountain Justice Spring Break will bring hundreds of young people face to face with the impacts of mountaintop removal and coal industry abuse- and give you the skills and knowledge you need to fight back! Through education, community service, speakers, hiking, music, poetry, direct action and more, you will learn from and stand with Appalachian communities in the struggle to maintain our land and culture.
This spring break will be like no other! With skill building and analysis sessions ranging from critical organizing to non violent direct action, you will leave camp with the training you need to not only make things happen in your community, but train others to do it as well! And since it is a "break" we will find plenty of time between rabble rousing to relax, reflect, and have a great time with each other, whether hula hooping, playing music, or cuddling in a hammock!
Please share your spring break with us in breathtaking Northern West Virginia, cultivating the skills and visions needed to abolish mountaintop removal and hydro-fracking and replace it with vibrant, healthy, self-reliant communities. Come and bring your friends! We are committed to learning a lot, getting involved in ending mountaintop removal, and having tons of fun!
WHAT? Mountain Justice Spring Break
WHEN? March 21-28, 2012 This year we are very excited to announce that Mountain Justice Spring Break will coordinate community service projects in the coal fields of northern West Virginia and the gas lands of Pennsylvania. In order to accommodate more students with various spring breaks, these service projects will take place before and after the week of camp. Please indicate on your registration form if you are interested, or contact the outreach coordinator, Michelle at mltodd22@gmail.com for more information.
WHERE? Northern West Virginia
WHO? Mountain Justice participants come from diverse backgrounds such as coal field residents, college students, environmentalists, Earth First!ers, and other concerned citizens that care about our mountains. Participants share a common goal to halt MTR coal mining.
CAN'T WAIT? The MJSB planning collective is looking for Campus Coordinators who can organize a crew of people from your school or community. You (yes, YOU) are strongly encouraged to let us hook you up with a coordinator resource packet to help you start fueling this movement TODAY! Please email Michelle at mltodd22@gmail.com for more information on how to become a campus coordinator or fill out our campus coordinator interest form here.
CRMW and RAMPS to Host MJ Fall Summit in Raleigh Co., W.Va.
posted September 28, 2011
This October 28th-30th Coal River Mountain Watch and RAMPS will be hosting the 6th annual Mountain Justice Fall Summit in the Coal River Valley of Southern West Virginia. Rallying around destructive mining practices and the corporate control over our communities that allows these practices to continue, we intend to send a message that we will not stand for this any longer.
Massey Energy, formerly the largest coal producer in the state was bought out by Alpha Natural Resource this past June. The move was heralded as a move away from the safety and environmental violations that marked Massey's mining history in the region, Regulators and State politicians touting Alpha's "Running Right" slogan as a prediction of things to come.
However, almost 4 months… Read the rest
Register now!
Tree-sit Concludes After Thirty Days of Blocking Work on Coal River Mountain
posted August 21, 2011
RAMPS Campaign Vows to Continue Fighting to Save the Mountain
MARFORK, W.Va.—Catherine-Ann MacDougal is descending her oak tree on Coal River Mountain that she has lived in for the past month in protest of strip mining, and police have been notified. MacDougal, an activist with the RAMPS Campaign, had been in the oak tree on Alpha Natural Resources' Bee Tree permit since July 20; until August 2, she had been joined by fellow RAMPS activist Becks Kolins. Their tree-sit, the longest in West Virginia history, effectively halted blasting on the Bee Tree hollow portion of the site, aside from a small blast released on the third day of the tree-sit.
"The reality of limited resources now necessitates my descent but this is not the last they will see of us. I plan to remain here and fight for this mountain for years to come," said MacDougal.
The Bee Tree permit is the largest active strip mining permit on Coal River Mountain and is currently up for renewal. At a public hearing held last week by the W.Va. Department of Environmental Protection, about 50 residents showed up to ask questions and submit comments. Many discussed their concern over the health impacts of mountaintop removal, blasting near the Brushy Fork Impoundment, and the destruction of the mountains where they and their families had traditionally hunted, fished, and gathered wild plants.
MacDougal explains that the apparent ineffectiveness of other strategies…
Read the rest on the RAMPS website: http://rampscampaign.org.
More recent events...
“Voices
for Appalachia”
Written and Narrated by Hundreds
An Appalachia Portrait-Story Project
 In early March of 2008, The Portrait-Story Project came for the first time to the Southern Highlands of
North America. The results, now available for posterity have come to be known as "Voices for Appalachia - A Portrait-Story Project - Written and Narrated
by Hundreds." (voicesforappalachia.org)
These portraits indicate every community that The Portrait-Story Project bottom-liners had the privilege of co-generating content with during their nearly
two years of travels. Dozens of households embodied this "art-media-social phenomenon" by inviting these creatives amongst themselves, kin, neighbors and associates,
supplying them with bed, board and morale for their volunteer service and then asserting their narratives upon the original drawing of themselves. As awareness of The
Portrait-Story Project spread throughout Appalachia, it tended to keep manifesting, provided specific request or an explicit desire to participate, which happened by
word of mouth or e-mail, and hospitality upon arrival.
 On these Appalachian Portrait-Stories we have a panorama of expressions: snippets of everyday life, celebration of the land and culture and struggles for
empowerment or at least survival - as handwritten by those living it. In a few cases where an otherwise able participant stated their illiteracy, a relative by
blood or marital commitment volunteered to write their words for them and annotated so.
We are very proud to be able to present this body of over 500 Appalachian Portrait-Stories originals. If you have adequate interior wall space within
Appalachia to exhibit the bulk of this original art and handwriting at approximately eye level, and desire this precious, unique collection for your public
event, then contact United Mountain Defense; umdvolunteerhouse [at] yahoo.com or 865-689-2778.
 There
is a manmade ecological disaster of geologic proportions occurring
in the rolling mountains of the southern Appalachians; its
called mountain range -- or Mountain Top Removal (MTR) mining.
It is the ultimate in theft of a people's heritage -- the
destruction of watersheds -- and the annihilation of one of
the most diverse places on earth.
Mission Statement
Mountain Justice seeks to add to the growing
anti-MTR citizens movement. Specifically Mountain Justice
demands an abolition of MTR, steep slope strip mining and
all other forms of surface
mining for coal. We work to protect the cultural and natural
heritage of the Appalachia coal fields. We work to contribute
with grassroots organizing, public education, nonviolent
civil disobedience and other forms of citizen action.
Historically coal companies have engaged in violence and
property destruction when faced with citizen opposition to
their activities. Mountain Justice is committed to nonviolence
and will
not be engaged in property destruction.
We work together to create diverse and sustainable economies in
Appalachian regions traditionally dominated by the coal industry by
supporting businesses, jobs and ways of living that are not environmentally
or culturally destructive and are nourishing to the social and biological fabric of healthy communities.
Though our work is focused in Appalachia, we oppose dirty energy and environmental injustice everywhere and we support clean energy and just economic transition for all. Seeking to eradicate, rather than simply shift, the burden of environmental injustice, MJ works to build solidarity and mutually-supportive relationships with communities where extraction and energy generation take place beyond our region. As coal becomes more politically and commercially volatile, industrial and political power-brokers are attempting to position natural gas, often sourced by hydraulic fracturing, nuclear energy, tar sands, biomass incineration, and other forms of resource extraction as clean and just alternatives.
Mountain Justice rejects this fallacy outright and supports those who resist these dirty, dangerous energy sources and also those who are working to implement truly clean energy solutions. We also recognize the native peoples who are the original inhabitants of this land. Accordingly, we seek to support the struggles of indigenous communities who are facing injustice daily at the hands of extractive industries.
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