Appalachia--Science in the Public Interest

Winter 1999 Number 58

Illegal Dumping Suit Continues. ASPI is one party in a legal action to force the state of Kentucky to enforce its regulations against illegal dumping and straight pipes and to require the state agencies to recycle basic materials. A challenge by the Commonwealth to dismiss the suit was refused by Judge Cletus Maricle in early December and ASPI is busy gathering materials through research by Casey Sterr, Jack Kieffer, Mary Davis and Carol Short. The ASPI & plaintiff's lawyers are Phyllis Robinson and Michael Dean, both of London, KY.

Appropriate Technology

Year-end Gardening. Some are tempted to oil and put away their gardening tools, then settle down to winter reading and stoking the stoves. We still are thinking of gardening, for humans don't hibernate. They need the produce year-round, though in winter more emphasis is generally on root crops and nuts. The thriving December garden included turnips, Swiss chard, endive, mustard, beets, carrots, onions, kale, Japanese radishes, Jerusalem artichokes, salisfy, bok chow, dill, and celery -- all sufficient, together with canned tomatoes and dried garlic and peppers, to make a sixteen component winter soup. The final yields have not been calculated from our raised bed gardens but they will almost equal last year's amounts when the tabulation is complete at year's end. We were hampered by the worst August and fifth worst September on record for rainfall. Autumn rains allowed November to be our 4th most productive month in 1998.

Nature Center. Ming Wei, our ASPI educational resources coordinator, and Mark Spencer are working on making the Nature Center ready for 1999 school student/teacher visits. Instead of handouts at the time of the visit, Ming Wei is putting introductory educational exercises on our Internet site to be accessed by the teacher and transformed into exercises for students prior to the visits. alike. Corn poppies, Evening Primrose, Cornflower, Perennial Lupine, Purple and Clasping Coneflower, Blanketflower,

Future Gardening. During 1999 we will launch our master gardening development project. The major hurdle is keeping personnel busy during the winter months. One possibility is the harvesting and extracting of Kudzu starch for commercial marketing (a traditionally winter operation). Kudzu is an exotic plant that has climbed over our trees and road banks and is truly invasive. But the foliage, vine and root are of some commercial value. The hope is that we can stop the areas of greatest concentration through proper mapping and extract the materials as part of winter work as is done in Japan which controls its Kudzu growth through a variety of harvesting techniques.

Forestry Issues

Appalachian Ginseng Foundation. The November 2nd planning meeting was successful in clarifying three immediate activities:

* research security mechanisms and marketing protection for growers as well as seeking lower priced analytical techniques for determining the quality of the ginseng growth;

* furnish information for people over the Internet at the ASPI Home Page connection. Much information has already been collected but many potential growers do not know how to access this information when needed;

* hold tutorial workshops for interested ginseng growers. Tutorials can focus on individual instruction, direct people to experts, save conference organizing time, and allow for some on-site demonstration.

Book Review. Bolgiano, Chris. The Appalachian Forest: A Search for Roots and Renewal. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1998.
Chris Bolgiano presents a vivid account of the Appalachian region -- its geography, its history, its culture today -- within the framework of her personal experiences of homesteading and traveling. She does not hesitate to express her opinions, and we see what are to an environmentalist the negative as well as the positive features of the area. On one hand, bear hunters dominating a hearing in Virginia on a bear management plan, "the crowds" on the Appalachian Trail, the trespassing of off-road vehicle users; on the other hand, the species richness of the Appalachian forests, the locally owned motels that offer quite comfortable accommodations at bargain rates, the efforts of locally-based environmentalists and environmental organizations to preserve their surroundings. The book may have a special appeal to readers of the newsletter because Bolgiano treats the work of ASPI at some length. - Mary Davis

ASPI Publications

An up-to-date publications list will be due in the spring with approximate times for upcoming publications.

The Simple Lifestyle Calendar - year 2000, is being started even before 1999 begins. There is special attention given to the hopes of the region for the future, a photographic searching of the past for expectations to what the future will bring. Suggestions are always welcome until the first of March when the text of the calendar will be finalized.

ASPI TV. Our weekly television show, Earth Healing, will have the following forty shows during 1999. These will be shown on WOBZ in London, KY and other public service TV stations through a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The introductory show is on January 1st and others will follow, but not necessarily in the order listed --

Introductory Tape: Making Appalachia Better through Pollution Prevention

1. Reduce Actual Pollutants a) Air pollutants
Radon Dangers & Testing Kits; Wood Efficient Stoves; Indoor Pollution Prevention & Chemical Sensitivity.
1b. Soil Pollutants
Uses of Kudzu - a Worrisome Exotic Species; Litter: How to Monitor & Report Abuse; Dry Composting Toilet Principles & Construction; Dry Compost Toilet Materials as Fertilizer; Artificial Wetlands: ASPI Appalachian Terraced Slope Design.
1c. Water Pollutants
Water Quality & Water Testing; Water Purification Techniques.

2. Resource Conservation a) Energy
Low Energy Food Preservation: Root Cellars; Quilted Insulated Window Shades; Fuel Wood Harvesting by Low-Impact & Sustainable Methods.
2b. Materials Resource Conservation
Composting Techniques; Masonry Stove Construction & Principles; Building Materials for Reuse; Using Wood Slabs & Other Wood Wastes.
2c. Water Resource Conservation
Concrete Cisterns in Rural Areas; Drip Irrigation Systems for Appalachia.
2d. Forest Conservation
Virtually Wild Ginseng as a Forest-Saving Technique; Forest Preservation Techniques; Non-Timber Forest Products.

3. Alternatives to Non-Renewable Resources
Solar Food Cookers; Solar Food Dryers; Solar Greenhouses; Solar Hot Water Systems; Solar Dry Composting Toilets; Solar Photovoltaic Applications; Solar Powered Automobile; Solar Space Heating; Low-Head Hydroelectric Production.

4. Other Alternatives
Year-Round Gardening & Cold Frames; Organic & Intensive Garden & Herb Practices; Organic Fruit- & Nut-Growing; Aquaculture (low-impact) using Ponds & Pools; Alternative Pest Controls; Home Ecological Materials for Indoors; Wood & Other Low-Cost Housing Materials; Pressed Earth Building Blocks from Native Materials.

Resource Assessment Service

During the past three months assessments have been performed for the Benedictine Sisters at Clyde and at St. Louis, MO; Tucson, AZ; Dayton, WY; and Sand Springs, OK as well as the Holy Cross Sisters at Notre Dame, IN. The southern and California regional groups also completed assessments during this period. Al Fritsch talked at the Ninth Annual Southern Appalachian Man & the Biosphere Conference in Tennessee on the RAS program.

Wish List

We ask again for Nature Center educational materials such as nature posters, books, and mineral, insect, butterfly, wildflower or other collections with instructional value. Also, a dehumidifier for the Solar House. Mary Davis needs assistance to help produce her Eastern Old-Growth Newsletter. She can be reached at (502) 868-9074.

1999 Events
River Day, Saturday, June 5th, 1999
Solar Home Tour-99 Saturday October 16th, 1999.
Nature Center Tours - Youth in spring & fall school year.
Others during work week from 8:00 to 4:00.
Please call ahead. (606) 453-2105
AT Library work week hours (606) 256-0077

THANKS(From 9/9/98 to 12/7/98) Heartfelt thanks are due for the book shipments from Elly Buren and for the following special and Thanksgiving donor contributions .... Kentucky Jesuit Mission, Mary E. Fritsch, Paul & Monique Winther, Mark & Joni Morgan, Sr. Leanne Herda, Walt Bado/Newman Center, Paul & Elizabeth Oberst, June Fritsch, Ed & Tricia Cortas, Greg Schuler, Stephen & Julie Thorn, Frank M. Oppenheim, SJ., Seth Husted, Daniel Shine, Sarah Moore, James & Carol Lichtenberg, Sr. Carol Stiefvater/Peace Place, Danny McKinney, Andy Ries & Deb Baird, Charles & Helen Fox, Maggie Brandt, Gerald Grace, SJ., Patricia Kipps, Larry & Pat Darcey, Burton Barnes, Nancy Jackson, Charles & Margaret Hollowell, Janet Seeds, Joan Davison, John & Judith Hawes, Marjorie Williams, Carl Callenbach, Kent & Mary Ann McDonald, Ron & Mary Nahser, Margaret Wendell, Mary M. Morgan, Linda Ewald, Arnold & Kathleen Simonse, Paula Seiple, Judson Cramer, John & Barbara Holt, Martha Moore & Paul Gade, Rhonda Coleman, Ronald & Sidney Baker, Audrey Sorrento, Barbara Withum, Margaret Gorey, William Shallenberger, Jeanne Staas & Jerry Ropp, Hilda Graves, William Andrews, Irving & Grace Borowitz, John Rogers, Phil & Linda Pfeiffer, John & Joan Stoeckinger, Tom & Jo Ann Marsh, Eric & Janet Fout, John & Sharon Price, Wayne & Imogen Margison, Henrietta Gabel, Betty Shelton, SCN, Chris Schimmoeller/KY Heartwood, Kurt & Svetlana Waldhuetter, Edward & Sharon Perraut, Wood Plaut, Chris & Della Oberst, Richard & Betty Willson, Greg Reineke, Darrel Griffin, Kathy Wynne/Kaly,L.L.C., Kathy Wallace, Ted & Betty Linden, Jack Vetter, Rachelle & Charles Hollander, Thomas Campbell, Eugene Kieffer, Barry Howard, Jenny Holmes, Robert & Anna Harris, Russ Tucker, Delbert & Ruth Shirley, Jo Anne Meyers, Leona Drennen, Joy Crosby, John Capillo/KEF, John & Joan Houk, Joseph T. Netherland, George & Rita Watkins, Sr. Loretto Drissoll, Richard & Anne Leibig Austin, Frank & Mary Fritsch, Paul O'Brian, John & Sandra Freda, Richard & Holly Grant, Bill & Val Wolff, Donna Hanley, Ed & Nancy Schumacher, Linda & Tom Green, Denise Peterson, Leith Patton, Potomac Vegetable Farms, Marcus & Glenda Keys, James & Helen Murphy, Marilyn Cleveland, Steele & Ava Hinton, Allene Long, LaDene King, Chuck Hines, Carl Todd, John White, Maura Ubinger, Stephen & Judith Petersen, Mary Kelly, Mark Heffernan, Tom Bruns, David Wheeler, Marjory Donn, Richard Katterman, Ruben Angel, Jane Adele Spear, Thomas Watkins, Pat Tompkins, Thomas & Kathryn Anderson, Sr. Mary Pat Rives, Michael Sylva Sledjeski, Patti Staton, Lewis & Kimberly Baker, Kenneth Herren, Sandra & Timothy Maxa, Carrie Allison, Jane Schaefer, Greg & Kathleen Harmeyer, Margaret Thielke, Doug & Laura Fortmeyer, Michael Jackson, Margaret & Richard LaMartina, Myrtle Hendrickson, James & Therese Mudd, Richard Murphy, David & Ethyl Merrick, Kristy Higgs, Jane Nowakowski & Kevin Mulcahy, Michael Brophy, Emil & Wendy Posavac, Thomas, Ivo & Thrasilla Bauman, Barbara Wetula, Mary White Goodwyn, Steve Rall, David Holt, Suzanne Comtois, Dennis & Maureen Darcey, Brack & Laura Hazen, Mary Grisco, Anne & John Horstman, Diane McCallum & Robert Scroggins, Lucy Mahaffey Brian & Sue Eick, Colin Raitiere, Dominican Sisters of Springfield, IL, Gertrude Jaggie, Gilbert & Margaret Switala, William & Dorothy Harmeyer, Mike & Judy & Mikala Shremshock, Janice DiMario, Evelyn Kressler, Sam & Margaret Lynd, Anne Romance, Clarice Kumlien, Donald & Marianne Kaple, Rick Axtell, Orie & Elinor Loucks, Lilian Lawrence, Milada & Svato Schutzner, Elaine Potts, Brian & Susan Bobka, Diane Faircloth, Glenn & Joan Gallenstein, Allen & Kathleen Feibelman, David & Christine Nadler, Keith & Mary Lemons, Elizabeth Long, Phyllis Robinson, Wanda Copeland, Pat Gallimore/Great Smokies Lab, Dr. & Mrs. A.E.T. Thomsen, Belden & Louise Paulson, David Sheley, Genesis Farm, Inc., Frank & Carol Schmidt, Larry Osborne, James & Karen Phillips, Therese Hildebrand, Renate Craine, Roger & Patricia Frisch, John & Eileen Yago, Katherine Christensen, Helen Latour, Karen & David Smallwood, Temia Keel, Cathy & Ihor Hlohowskyj, Deepak & Abeer Desai, Dixie Sefchek, Christina & Ralph Bolgiano, Sr. Fran Bartos, Richard & Susan Pozdol, Richard & Michelle Harr, Donald & Rosemary Thielke, Edward Lammert/Franciscan Friars, Leslie & Wilhelm Reindl, Thomas & Rebecca Conry, John & Dorothy Tohill, Leonard & Donna Wrona, Anna Auteri & Joe Herrington, Buzz Williams, Jim & Heather Bartos, Stuart Butler, Barbara O'Donnell, HM, Eric Matchette, Gene & Sonya Hirschberg, Gerald Carpenter, Ruth Fort, John Brazner, Russell & Elizabeth Ebelhar, James Wilson, Helen Mullins, Patricia Kenschaft, Carol Lisi, Sarah Peterson, Jim & Candace Storm, Barbara Spicer, Louise Hamel, Elizabeth Seely, Francie Link, R.J. Hoar, SJ, Martin Ogle, Leslie Ann Smith, Richard & Jane Frank, Jane Thomas, Michele Handelman, Glenn Ihrig, Sarah L. Crain Heilemann, Margaret Kiekhefer, Harold Heckman, Henry Atkins, Fred Schwerer, Willanne McNamara, David & Betty Lollis, Leah Aasen, Patricia Emmerson, Robert Thompson, Ann Magner, Jane Schildge, Leslie Sparkman, Meg Bowerman, Bob Suter, Carl Todd, Saundra Schatz, Tom & Carie Carter, William & Jana Faith, Lucille Farrar, Daniela Handelman, LouAnn Rank, Brigid Pollock, Jill Shade Fowler, Andrew & Janet Ingraham Dwyer, David Cockley, Margaret Stallmeyer, R. Ryan, Kathleen Kennedy, John Spurlock, Barbara Warner, Paul Hollenbach, Beth Grendahl, Paula Hays, Julie Schnitzer, James & Madeline O'Brien, C.L. Offerdahl, Jean Dorton, Shirley Reynolds, Ed Fritsch, John Patterson, Laurie Webb, Phillip & June Allen, Paul Waltz, Tony Martin, Tom & Carol French-Corbett, Thomas Brudenell, Lucinda Mareck, Arlene Hoffer, Karen Smallwood, Chris Couling, Jane Spear, Fred Weckenmann, Paul Butterbaugh, David & Karen Hinchen, Anna Belle Day, Marion Mitchell, Doris Magan, Charlotte Pyle, Liz Swinfen, Donna Goebeler, Ed Newman, Kris Peterson, Karen Tillou, Carlene Triplett, Sr. Lesley Block, Sara Mahy, Mary Ann Kokenge, Priscilla Zoworski, Sr. Alice Casey, Susanne Fountain, Beach Craigmyle, Dale Holmes, Dana Wildsmith, Beth Wallace, Lois Smith, Marianne Maloney, Julia Bathon, Louis Venuto, Celeste & Darwin Jirles, Ted Harris, Pauline Reeser, Nancy Ross, David Grandgeorge Betty Graham, Linda Kato, Nancy Troxler, Andrew & Elizabeth Elmlinger, John Florian, Steve Swanback, Ben Eissen, Lynne Moody, Jason McGaughey, Mary Sweda, Tricia Gehl, Dan & Lauren Chapman, Ellen O'Bryan, Karen Bakita, Ann Oliver, Philip Williams, Dawn Marie Day, Glenna Altizer, Susan Ludwig, Dorothy Shields, Stewart Peebles, Mark & Monica Dimuzio, Mimi S. Leonard, Martha Lammers, Charlene McAndrews, Fowler Camp Retreat, Gena Krueger, Lee Amundsen, Julie Rudolph, Loralie Higgins, Ann Rapien, Julie Sutton, Anita Ung, Robin Cochran, Joan Grey, Sheryl Elston, Pamela MacPherson, Sr. Therese Tackett, Rebecca Glasscock, Herb Petitjean, Catherine Troxler, Mary Templeton, Beverly Bunnell, Trish Pielnik, Corrinne Keefe, Keiron O'Connell, Kim Reynolds, Dougalas Bartlett, Martha Cremer, Julie Barnes, & Ray Graves.

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