The Katuah Medics are taking to the hills of Western North Carolina the weekend of July 13-15. This skills track will take the medic skills you already have and supplement them with basic backcountry skills such as:
compass, map, and navigation
establishing shelters
backcountry hygiene
backcountry food and water
minimizing your footprint
This is a skill share, so folks with all levels of experience are invited to bring their talents and share them with others.
Email katuahmedics4u (at) riseup (dot) net by July 8th for more information (location, gear list, etc…) and to RSVP.
For more information visit http://katuahmedics.blogspot.com/
or the events page on Facebook at http://on.fb.me/LpMC4r
RAMPS and Morgan Co. Frackban benefit 7/20 – 7/22: Stop the Kaboom!
RAMPS Announces late-July Mountain Mobilization
Last week, Mountain Justice and RAMPS stopped nine coal trucks and a coal bargeafter the Mountain Justice Summer Action Camp. These actions showed once again that people are willing to put their bodies on the line to stop the plunder of Appalachia and raised the spirits of West Virginians fighting to save their home, but Larry Gibson reminded us our work is not done.“Everything has to get bigger from here,” Larry said. “We need to put our backs up against the wall and not back down. The 99% means nothing if we don’t all support each other. No matter what our positions are we must come together.”
Larry is right. To win our struggles against the extraction industries, we will have to band together. The fight against strip mining has been gaining ground over the last few years (here, here and here), but King Coal will keep stripping to the bitter end and leave Appalachia with nothing unless we act now. It was only after aggressive direct action in the 60s and 70s that the political will was created to address strip mining on a federal level. If we want strip mining to end and restoration work to begin; if we want a post-coal future that is more than devastated landscapes, rampant fracking, and deepening poverty; if we want a healthy and whole Appalachia, we must escalate our resistance.
At PowerShift 2011, currently imprisoned activist Tim DeChristopher pointed out, “With only the people in this room, we could send 30 people onto a mountaintop removal site, shut it down temporarily, start to clog up the West Virginia court system. And we could send 30 people the day after that and the day after that and the day after that every day for a year. I believe we would never get to the end of that year because mountaintop removal would end before we reached that point.”
This summer we will take the first step toward that vision. Come to southern West Virginia on July 25. RAMPS will host a mobilization where people will prepare to take nonviolent direct action to shut down a strip mine. We are calling for as many people as possible to come together and do what the politicians, the regulators and the courts have been unwilling to do; to defend the land and the people; to stop strip mining.
The success of this depends on your participation. Whatever your skills, availability, or ability to risk arrest, there are ways for you to make this mobilization a success. To join ongoing working groups or find out more about ways to participate, please email [email protected]. We also deeply need your financial support. Please donate today so RAMPS can continue its vital work. Most importantly, spread the word.
We are all in a David versus Goliath struggle for our future, but Goliath is starting to stumble. With our survival at stake, we can unite and we can win.
Radical Action for Mountain People’s Survival
Everyone is out of jail
Summer Action Camp, May 19 – 26, 2012
Mountain Justice Summer Action Camp 2012, May 19 – 26
Where? Appalachian South Folklife Center, Pipestem, West Virginia
NEW
Tentative Schedule Up
It’s in a PDF.
Medic Training Opportunity at camp
Mountain Justice is hosting a 20-hour medic training Monday, May 21 at 2pm through Wednesday, May 23 at the Mountain Justice Summer Action Camp. For more information, see this section of the registration form.
Join
us as we build pressure and momentum in stopping strip mining and other
exploitative resource extraction in Appalachia. This Summer Action
Camp is the place to learn new skills, expand on ones you already have;
strengthen ties, meet new friends and get ready for bigger events later
in the year.
You
can bet the types of workshops offered will range from mountaintop
removal 101, non-violent civil disobedience, to campaign and community
organizing, science and SMCRA (Surface Mine Control and Reclamation
Act), and Appalachian community economics. In addition, there is a
training-for-trainers track. Expect direct action to be part of this
camp as well, though participation is not required for camp attendance.
Mountain Justice welcomes parents, kids, families, and people at all ages and stages of life. For the past few years, MJ camp and our other events have had a physical space and a crew of people we’ve called the Kid Collective—loving and experienced child care givers and educators, armed with books, crafts, toys, games, and quiet space! Please think about bringing your little ones. Please contact erin(AT)mountainjustice(DOT)org if you plan to bring kids, so we can get more details, give you more info, and prepare as best as possible to make this a great event for your family!
The final schedule will be released later. The registration form is now on-line. To be notified when these come out, sign up for our News and Announcement List.
Registration fees will be $20 minimum plus $15/day, or $150 for the
duration of camp. This includes all workshop activities, three meals a
day and a place to sleep. No one will be turned away for the lack of
funds–scholarships are available.
If you need a ride to camp or can offer one, post at our Rideboard.
There’s also more work to pull this off. If you’d like to get involved now, here’s the working groups and their contacts:
- Promotion & Outreach
Whitney: whitney(AT)wiseenergyva(DOT)org - Agenda & Schedule
Lou: lou.lepping(AT)gmail(DOT)com - Registration
Alice: awautomation(AT)usa(DOT)com - Groundwork & Logistics
Chuck W: conscious(DOT)lightbeing(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Matt: mattlandon2001(AT)yahoo(DOT)com - Food
Joe (at camp): joe(AT)firestormcafe(DOT)com
Cathy (prior to camp): strangur(AT)graffiti(DOT)net - Action
RAMPS: info(AT)rampscampaign(DOT)org - Reference Checking
Ricki: rickidraper(AT)gmail(DOT)com - Conflict Resolution
Adam: adamh230(AT)gmail(DOT)com - Medics
DanDan: dgregor2(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Dave: dave_p0512(AT)riseup(DOT)net - Welcome Wagon (Welcoming people to camp)
Ricki: rickidraper(AT)gmail(DOT)com - Community Service
Cathy: strangur(AT)graffiti(DOT)net - Anti-oppression & Collective Liberation
Lou: lou.lepping(AT)gmail(DOT)com - MJ Kid Collective (childcare and daycamp)
Erin: erinbick(AT)gmail(DOT)com - Intake & Volunteers
working-groups(AT)mountainjustice(DOT)org - Eco-chaplaincy
Sarah: sarah(AT)ecochaplaincy(DOT)net
http://ecochaplaincy.net - Feedback & Communication
Chuck W: Conscious(DOT)lightbeing(AT)gmail(DOT)com
May Day actions against UBS’ funding of mountaintop removal

Today, Appalachians will demand that UBS stop funding and supporting mountaintop removal mining.
Come out to our actions in:
Asheville, NC 11 am at 138 Charlotte St.
Knoxville, TN: 10 am at Market Square
Chattanooga, 11 am TN Corner of W MLK & Broad Street
Lexington, KY: 3 pm 307 South Ashland Avenue
Johnson City, TN: 214 East Mountcastle Drive, Suite 1700
Washington, DC: 1501 K St NW
New York: 1285 Avenue of the Americas
And if you can’t make it today, please call UBS and demand that they change their official policy on MTR!
Knoxville UBS Branch
865-329-1239
Johnson City
423-928-7144
Kingsport
423-246 7111
Oak Ridge
865-522-5183
Chattanooga
423-267-1813
Cookeville
931-528-5426
Washington, DC Branch
202-638-7090
Headquarters NYC
212-713-2000
Headquarters New Jersey
201-352-3000
SEND EMAILS TO:
Steven L. Meadows, Executive Director, Knoxville Branch
[email protected]
David B. Arnold, Vice President – Investments, Johnson City & Kingsport Branches
[email protected]
Bryan Mayo, Vice President – Investments, Oak Ridge Branch
[email protected]
Jefferson B. Cronan CFP, Executive Director, Chattanooga Branch
[email protected]
John Stephen Boots, Account Vice President, Cookeville Branch
[email protected]
March 21-28, 2012: Register Now! Mountain Justice Spring Break 2012

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.