Summer 1997
Number 51
COME AND CELEBRATE ASPI AT TWENTY
This spring ASPI is twenty years old. We invite all our readers and friends
to come and help celebrate this anniversary on June 6th through the 8th. We
are grateful to you as volunteers, donors, visitors, and purchasers of our ASPI
products. We renew our commitmentment to making science and technology responsive
to the needs of lower income people of Central Appalachia. Over the years you
have noted through this quarterly how our projects have tried to achieve this
goal. All in all, we are satisfied with our modest undertakings, even though
we would prefer the success to be quicker and more far-ranging. Poor Earth and
poor people are still threatened as never before, but we are confident that
change for the better can be made. Your presence at our 20th birthday celebration
will be deeply appreciated, for there's much to share.
Appropriate Technology Demonstration Centers
Progress:
ASPI was spared the floods that ravaged the northern half of
Kentucky, even though we did have two days of high water. The mild winter and
early spring has allowed us to make considerable progress at our two Appropriate
Technology centers:
- Our grounds crew has completed
the widened wheelchair access to the Nature Center and is replacing all
railroad tie ramp walls and cordwood house retaining walls with native sandstone
rock facing.
- We are replacing all single
pane windows on our Mt. Vernon office building with well insulated double-paned
windows.
- Spring gardening is in
full swing. The herb/perennial garden will hopefully be completed and flourishing
by the June event. Almost half of the Small Town Demonstration Project plots
have been seeded and planted as of this writing in late March. Seven beds
of peas, onions, Swiss chard, broccoli and cabbage have been planted and
when the remaining beds are finished they will be filled with plants grown
in our Mt. Vernon solar greenhouse.
Nature Center Dedication:
Work and plans are progressing on the Nature Center that replaces our
old library space. Though not fully furnished the future plans will be displayed.
This building will be dedicated at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, June 6th. All are invited.
There will be refreshments afterwards. Refer to calendar
of events for more details and directions.
Appalachian Sustainable Forest Center
Trail System. Two of three nature trails
have now been completed and our hope is that the third will be ready by the
end of the year. The Michael Francis Zalla Trail will be dedicated at 2:00 p.m.
on June 8th. All are invited to see and walk on this beautiful trail of one
and a quarter miles starting on the ASPI land and proceeding westward through
the adjacent Sand Hill Community Land Trust property.
Policy Change. Due to the fragile nature of our forests ASPI requires
that trail hikers have explicit ASPI approval or guides. Contact Jack Kieffer
at (606) 453-2105 for visit details.
Educational Outreach. The second half of the
1996-7 school year found the continuation of the "Forest Treasure"
slide presentation in grade schools all over eastern Kentucky. The current emphasis
is on water quality issues and how they relate to forest health. This semester
about 6,000 students and teachers will see a presentation by Joshua Bills and
Dan Bond in about 60 schools. This major undertaking is supported through a
grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and from some matching money
from the school districts.
Meetings. ASPI hosted the Lucy Braun Association at its annual meeting
on March 21-22.
- An Educator's Day will
be held on April 19, 1997 at the Appalachian Sustainable Forest Center.
This will cover available materials and educational resources on water quality
and forest issues. Teachers, librarians, and other educators are invited.
- Al Fritsch speaks at Loyola
University of Chicago on April 11th on the "Threat to the Eastern American
Forest." He will give another talk at Centre College, Danville, Kentucky
on May 15th.
The Eastern Old Growth Clearinghouse is now operating
and is dedicated to preserving and restoring old-growth forests of the eastern
U.S. It is publishing news of interest on a quarterly basis in Wild Earth. Readers
may send questions and information on specific old-growth stands to
Mary Davis P.O. Box 131 Georgetown, KY 40324 or call her at (502) 868-9074.
Environmental Resource Assessments
During the first three months of 1997 our Assessment Service has performed
six assessments in January and one in March -- the 2,200 acre Belmead/Rock Castle
tract near Powhatan, Virginia. Due to the heavy demand on time and effort the
ASPI Board has directed us to concentrate our efforts on publishing pertinent
background materials related to our past environmental resource assessments.
Thus during this spring and summer, 1997 research period we are committed to
performing no new resource assessments. This ERA guidebook project is meant
to assist groups planning to perform resource assessments in their own region
of the nation. The research is under Al Fritsch's direction with cooperate assistance,
technical editing, and consulting advice from Mary Davis, David Cole, Ernie
Muhly, Joshua Bills, Phil Stern, Jack Kieffer, and Mark Spencer.The research
product will not contain site-specific materials from the 135 assessments that
are confidential -- only background materials. However, we plan to use examples
of success stories working in collaboration with assessed groups who wish to
share their achievements with others in the following areas: physical facilities
and indoor space, land use, gardens, woodlands, water resources and conservation,
wildlife management, energy alternatives and conservation, food, waste management,
indoor environment, transportation alternatives, and community relations.
ASPI Publications
- Eco-forestry Workbook.
ASFC co-director Paul Kalisz is teaming up with Richard Langdon of Indiana
Heartwood to develop a workbook to be used to help with grassroots forest
certification and restoration of damaged woodlands. When the product is
completed notification will be made in this Newsletter.
- Forest Commons now Available.
A 40-page comprehensive review of highlights and reflections on the Forest
Commons conference of 1995 is now available on AppalFor. This report
along with texts of the major talks at that Conference is obtained by sending
$12.00 to ASPI Publications.
- Book Available on Internet.
Al Fritsch's preliminary edition of his latest 250-page book entitled APOCALYPSE:
An Invitation to Help Save the Earth is now available to all readers
on AppalFor. Comments are most welcome.
Wish List ...
Two of our ASPI automobiles died during the winter. One has been generously
replaced by a timely donation-- but we still need a second used vehicle with
some time left for local driving. We also continue to need building materials.
Finally, we invite volunteers to assist in getting the Nature Center and grounds
ready for the Appalachian Fair/River Day/ Nature Center
and Trail Dedication.
Thanks ...
to Rachel Tomas Morgan and the twelve volunteers of the Center for Social
Concerns the University of Notre Dame University for spring break work as well
as to Kevin Steele and the other ten volunteers from the Newman Center at the
University of Kentucky, to Katie Yunker for the donation of a car, and to Christopher
& Carol Pierce, Robert & Rosemary Courboin, Diane Faircloth, Robert
Patton,Jr., Patricia Wolf, Dennis Gregg, Robert Cloud, Don & Mary Girton,
Sandy Hepler, Bob Hoover, Linda Dott, Anthony & Rebecca Czarnik, Jim &
Madeline O'Brien, Claire Nader, Gerald Hair & Maureen Gatt, Norbert Blum,
Ron & Nancy Leeseberg, William & Jane Frantz, Timothy Collins &
Shannon Price, Robert & Mary Davis, Charles Little, Alan & Brita Geronilla,
James Fournier & Karen Zeleznak, Anthony Vital, Gerald Carpenter, Nancy
Acara, Ron & Carol Preston, Marvin & Mary Miller, Chuck Hines, David
Kern & Babette Bright, Woody & Avia Plaut, Bill Carter, Michael Francis
Zalla Foundation, Kristin Shrader-Frechette, Jack Vetter, Richard & Barbara
Blewett, Wendell & Tanya Berry, Nancy Osborne, Ladies of Charity of St.
Mary's Church, Jerry McMahon & Judith Gale, James Weber, William & Barbara
Boeck, Jeanie Ringwelski, Thomas DeLaura, Barbara Blecka, Philip Williams, James
& Therese Mudd, Barry Horowitz, Greg Kepferle & Jean Blomquiest, Normand
Methot, James Zeller & Kathleen Ruane, Mariana D'Amico, Martin Albert, Mark
& Laurie Bacon, Woody & Carol Bartlett, Gil & Meg Switala, Veronica
Ries, Incogniti Trust, William & Doris Spencer, Richard & Rita Middendorf,
Andrew & Kathleen Weigert, Roger & Arleta Hommes, Albert & Jean
Cevasco, Phyllis Fitzgerald & William King, Dean Rivkin, Gary Watrous, Roberta
Shaw Reeves, Philip & Terrie Curd, Richard Langdon, Betsy & Garrett
Brauer, Carol Moore, George & Mary Lu Kuhl, Thomas & Rita Maurer, Pamela
Merritt, Jamie Douglass, Thomas & Carol Lamm, Wilhelm & Leslie Reindl,
Anne Gariazzo, William & Judy Lindstrom, Richard Murphy, Appalachian Office
Of Justice & Peace, Kathleen Thomsen Hall, Ann Magner, James & Loretta
Spotila, Joy Crosby, Buzz Williams/Chattanooga River Watershed Coalition, Ina
Smith, St.Paul Church, W.R. & Virginia Kingsolver, John & Dorothy Contini,
Allen Kreger, Colin Raitiere, Ben & Candace Kresse, Jane Spear, Rick Axtell,
Angela Cox, Johanna Vine, Robert Hammerslag, Joop Van Der Grinten, Lowell &
Diane Dodge, Newell Jones, Mary E. Clark, Hazel King, Bryan & Cecilia Bunch,
David & Ethyl Merrick, Barbara & Danny Turner, Marcy Frezza, Lee Barnes,
Srs of Charity of Nazareth, Paul Gade & Martha Moore, John Cleveland, Julie
Barnes, Gregory Karambellas, David & Becky Grandgeorge, George Schloemer,
June Allen, Marcia Dickinson, Richard & Jane Frank, Chris & Olga Ahrens,
Mary E. Fritsch, Frank & Mary M. Fritsch, William & Dorothy Harmeyer,
Walter Farrell, David Wheeler & Judith Hallock, Peggy Parente, Oswald Loidl,
Lynn White, Robert Nelson, Diane Roche, Barbara O'Donnell, Brian & Barbara
Bansenauer, Victor & Joyce Hannan, Rolland & Bernadette Smith, Jennifer
Van Alstine, Richard Edelen, Deborah Ann Light/Crones' Cradle Conserve, Louise
Hamel, Dave Sanders, Douglas & Laura Fortmeyer, Howard Martin, Delbert Shirley,
Hesperia Bevan, Rod Mondt, Joe & Patricia Edmisten, Marguerite Wendell,
Warren & Pat Brunner, Anna Marie Walton, Alan Rees, St. Mary's Church/James
Miller, JoAnne Meyers, Margaret Cruise, Joseph & Anne French, Arthur &
Deborah Purcell, Clark Buchner, Sisters of St. Dominic, Len WiWomack, Bruce
Carter, Gary Griffin & Stephanie Midkiff, Jesuit Community, St. Xavier High
School, Edward & Christina Fritsch, Hazel Robinson, Colleen Fogarty, Joe
& Nancy Scardo, Kasey Moulton, Patsy Hoover.
ASPI
Home Page
http://www.a-spi.org
Note: Currently ASPI
belongs to thirty-one coalitions or associations with cooperating groups.
MAIN
OFFICE
50 Lair Street, Mt. Vernon, KY 40456
Telephone 606-256-0077
Fax 606-256-2779
e-mail: aspi@a-spi.org
