®@heartwood_org twitter post: Now Posted - Intro, Dates, Location & Preliminary Schedule for this year's Heartwood Forest Council http://heartwood.org/forestcouncil/
Heartwood mourns the passing of Alison Cochran Little. Alison was among the founders of Heartwood. Alison was present at the earliest meetings and played a key role in giving expression to the shared vision that would become Heartwood: people helping people protect the places they love.
We hope you enjoy these recordings that Alison made with her husband Chris Little (Alison on fiddle and Chris on guitar) and with the band the Randys (Darren Haggerty: drums, percussion; Alison Cochran Little: fiddle, vocals; Chris Little: guitar, vocals; Tim Pearson: bass; Wade Van Orman: piano, clavinet, organ, guitar, vocals; Tiffany Walton: vocals)—offered here in Alison's memory by her husband Chris Little (120MB zipped collection of mp3s):
Heartwood has been working with singer/songwriter Jason Wilber, who is the guitar player for John Prine, on a compilation CD of music by nationally known recording artists to raise awareness about and help stop the tragedy of mountaintop removal coal-mining.
We have partnered with film-makers Mari-Lynn Evans and Phylis Geller whose award winning documentary, "The Appalachians," was widely shown on PBS to produce the music CD as a companion piece to their new film, "Coal Country." The CD is called "Coal Country Music." "Coal Country" has been accepted into several film festivals and was recently named the best film of the year at the West Virginia Film Festival. Coal Country will be shown on the Discovery Channel's Planet Green/Reel Impact series on November 14 and is scheduled to be released on DVD, in conjunction with the Coal Country Music CD release, November 10.
"Coal Country Music" includes liner notes by Ashley Judd and Woody Harrelson and information about the Alliance for Appalachia. All proceeds from the sale of the CD will be used to support the work of the Alliance for Appalachia of which Heartwood is a member and be used to STOP mountaintop removal coal-mining. Review copies are available.
For more information, contact Andy Mahler, 812.723.2430
Coal Country Music song list
The following quote from actor Woody Harrelson which appears on the CD describes what's at stake:
"Mountaintop removal is the most devastating peacetime activity in human history -- in fact, if the destruction to our nation's natural and cultural heritage were being perpetrated by a foreign power, it would be considered an act of war -- because in a very real sense, it is -- it is a war against the Earth. Every week, mountaintop removal coal-mining detonates more explosive force on the land and the communities of Appalachia than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima; to extract the coal that is warming the planet and poisoning the water, air and land.
The artists on this musical compilation are
dedicated, as I am, to ending this unsustainable,
and ultimately suicidal practice and to promoting
renewable energy alternatives and the green jobs
they will create. Won't you please join them."
Woody Harrelson
Forest Council
Coal Country Music
Coal Country Movie
Wayne NF Study
Why Heartwood?
Heartwood is important to me because of what it stands for -- a positive force in the face of adversity. I'm here at the reunion to give my support and to be in good company. Danny Seltzer, IN
Join Heartwood now!
HEARTWOOD is a regional network that protects forests and supports community activism in the eastern United States through education, advocacy, and citizen empowerment.
HEARTWOOD was founded in 1991, when concerned citizens from several midwestern states met and agreed to work together to protect the heartland hardwood forest.
This region was once blanketed with a majestic hardwood forest containing more than 70 species of hardwood trees. Unfortunately, much of this forest has been cleared and what remains is mostly isolated fragments of public land that nonetheless play a critical role in providing habitat for wildlife, purifying the air and water, moderating global climate change, and offering places of beauty and enjoyment. .
Today, our efforts remain rooted in the heart of the central hardwood region, with an emphasis on our “core states” of Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, and Missouri. Over time, Heartwood has branched out to serve areas of need throughout an 18-state region, giving special attention to the “at risk” national forests in Michigan, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, West Virginia, and Virginia.
