2024 Forest Council

line drawing of a turtle with forest growing on it's back and a phoenix bird above the trees

32nd Annual Heartwood Forest Council


Detailed Schedule


Friday May 24

3:00 pm Registration opens. Time to set up your tent, get oriented to the site, meet friends old and new.

6:30 pm Dinner.

7:30 pm Introduction to Place: Dr. Susan Leopold, executive director of United Plant Savers. Slideshow of Ohio's Biggest Trees, Marc DeWerth

9:00 pm Ugata - Interactive, Educational, Earth-based African Dancing and Drumming

Saturday May 25

Early morning bird/herb walk; Yoga or tai chi

7:30-8:30 am Breakfast

9:00 am - 12:00 Morning Circle. The Heartwood Morning Circle is our time to introduce ourselves to the group, talk briefly about where each of us is from and what we are working on, and hear who in the circle might be working on similar issues in order to connect and build our networks. Please keep your comments brief so that everyone has time to speak.

Noon - 1:00pm Lunch

—Afternoon workshops: 90 min each—

1:30 - 3:00 pm Session 1

  1. Activism on Fire: How we use the science. John Wallace and Heather Cantino. Dining Tent.
  2. Forest Ecology walk with Chip Carroll, UpS Site Manager.
  3. Health and Environmental Effects of Plastics Production. Dr. Randi Pokladnik. Yurt.
    Follow the toxic trail of plastics production from the well pads to our bodies and the planet's ecosystems.
  4. Random-Weave Baskets with Talcon Quinn.
    Learn how to make random-weave baskets from freshly harvested vines. Talcon creates sustainably and ethically crafted art that utilizes traditional, natural materials rooted in her Appalachian heritage. Visit her booth at the Green Marketplace over the weekend.

3:15 - 4:45 pm Session 2

  1. Forest ecology walk with Chip Carroll, UpS Site Manager.
  2. Risks from Genetically Engineered Trees. Anne Petermann and Heather Lee, Global Justice Ecology Project, and Lois Melican, American Chestnut Cooperators Foundation. Dining tent.
  3. National Park and Climate Preserve campaign. John Wallace, Shawnee Park and Climate Alliance. Yurt.
  4. Fund For Wild Nature Grant Application Workshop. Tracy Davids and Doug Bevington, Fund for Wild Nature. Porch.

5:00 - 6:30 Evening Plenary: Federal Policies and Forest Protection Dining Tent

  • Sonia Demiray, Climate Communications Coalition. Biden's 30 x 30 proposal
  • Steven Stewart, Indiana Forest Alliance. Old Growth Protection proposal
  • Dr. Rae Schnapp, Heartwood, Community Canopy Alliance. Urban Opportunities
  • Dr. Steven Krichbaum, Heartwood, Wild Virginia. Appalachian Ecosystem Protection Act

7:00 - 8:00 Dinner

8:00 Keynote Address: Chad Hanson, John Muir Project - Dining Tent
Dr. Chad Hanson will explore recent abuses of the "fire-oak hypothesis", a forest management paradigm promoting the notion that historical forests of the eastern US were characterized by open, low-density oak stands maintained by frequent, low-intensity surface fires. Proponents of this hypothesis assert that, due to a century of fire suppression, "fire-tolerant" oaks have declined, replaced with "fire-intolerant" species, and forests have grown unnaturally dense Land managers, especially the US Forest Service, have been using these assertions to implement widespread logging projects and hyper-frequent prescribed burning. Dr. Hanson will detail key ways in which scientific data have been manipulated and outright misrepresented to prop up the fire-oak hypothesis and carry out destructive logging and burning activities under the guise of "restoration".

9:30 Live music with Mojo Greene - porch

Campfire camaraderie late into the night


Sunday May 26

Early morning Birds, Tai chi or yoga,..

7:00-8:30 Breakfast

A. Hikes and Outings - Carpools meet at the Registration Table. 9:30 departure.

  1. 1. Lindy Roosenberg Preserve, and Solid Ground Farm.
    Lindy's Preserve is 71 acres of mature and old-growth forest recently acquired by the Athens Conservancy. After exploring the trails this tour will visit Solid Ground Farm, a 17-acre farm inspired by the permaculture principles of agroforestry and agroecology, and home of Rising Appalachia.
  2. 2. Wayne National Forest: Sunny Oaks site with Nathan Johnson, Ohio Environmental Council.
    Visit an area of the Wayne National Forest where the OEC recently won a lawsuit to stop the Sunny Oaks timber sale proposal, with the attorney who fought it.
  3. UpS trails, guided or solo hikes.
B. Workshops around camp:
10:00 - Noon Morning Sessions:
  1. Hemp for Victory! Isaac Weigmann, Next 7 Farms; Brad and Keely Lechler, Heartbeet Homestead.
    Ohio's growing hemp industry offers opportunities for carbon sequestration and more.
  2. Medicinal Herbs with Caty Crabb
  3. Double Feature with Dr. Randi Pokladnik. BA Chemistry, MA and Ph.D Environmental Studies.
    1. Real Solutions to Plastic Pollution - Dining tent
      We are drowning in single-use plastics but some of the techniques being proposed to address the millions of tons of plastics on the planet are false solutions. What can we do to turn the plastic tap off and can a shift to bioplastics offer an answer?
    2. Carbon Injection Wells and Hydrogen Hubs
      New industries are coming to the Upper Ohio River Valley region. New strategies and alliances will be required to fight them.

Noon? Lunch "Time is an illusion, lunchtime doubly so." - Douglas Adams

1:00 - 2:45 Afternoon Sessions

  1. False Solutions to Climate Change. Anne Petermann and Heather Lee, GJEP
  2. Hemp Handcrafts with Isaac John, artist in residence at the Ohio Hemp Museum.
  3. Additional topics or continuing conversations

3:00 - 4:30 Afternoon Sessions

  1. Ancient Forest Initiative. Steven Stewart, Indiana Forest Alliance.
    A discussion of the IFA's multi-state campaign to protect our Mature and Old Growth forests.
  2. Forests for the People: Protecting Urban/Community Forests. Dr. Rae Schnapp and Lori Perdue, Community Canopy Alliance.
    Building awareness of the benefits forests provide for cities and empowering communities to advocate for forest protection through grassroots initiatives and impactful case studies.
  3. Additional topics as identified by the group

5:00 - 6:00 Youth Performance

7:00 - 8:00 Dinner

Evening: Sunday Night Live Auction followed by the Heartwood Talent Show


Monday, May 27

7:30 - 9:00 Breakfast

9:30 Closing Circle, Tree Planting.





SCHEDULE HIGHLIGHTS

  • Friday Evening Welcome with Susan Leopold, UpS Director
  • Heartbeat of the World: African drums and global dance with Ugata
  • Sunday hikes and outings
  • Green Marketplace and Sunday Night Live Auction
  • Frack Fighters Forum
  • PetroPlastics Pushback
  • Climate Solution Strategy Sessions
  • Hydrogen Hub Huddle

YOUTH PROGRAM

This year, alongside our featured program we are proud to partner with Rising Appalachian Warriors to provide a full slate of kids and youth activities. This will be a time to teach the next generation real-life activist skills, from writing a press release or letter to public officials, to the basics or organizing a successful public demonstration, featuring a street-theater skit written by the youth in attendance at this event.


MEALS

The meals we share at Heartwood events are an expression of the values that we hold in common. Every effort is made to provide nutritious, wholesome, locally sourced, and lovingly prepared climate-friendly meals that are inclusive of all dietary types. Special thanks to Mountain Watershed Association for underwriting a fair wage for the kitchen expenses. Thank you to the local Athens food community that produce such an array of bounty from the earth we live upon.