Letters

Greetings:

My name is Larry McNeely II. I grew up in Buckhannon, and am currently a public administration graduate student at WVU.

I want to personally invite the Highlands Conservancy to join in a very promising organizing effort. In Seattle last November, despite the actions of a few extreme protestors and the excesses of the Seattle police, an incredible thing happened. Labor and environmental groups found common ground.

This April 8-17, activism centered around the negative aspects of corporate globalization will once again make headlines, this time in DC. (SEE <www.a16.org>, <www.aflcio.org> and <www.j2000usa.org>) I, along with representatives of student groups here including the Student Sierras, the Independent Steel Workers Union, and community members are starting to organize a very loose network of folks interested in participating in the April events.

We had our first meeting Thursday,

March 9, and we are generating an email list planning events, on which labor, students, and environmentalists can collaborate. I invite you to participate in these efforts, or at least to join our email list to keep aware of our efforts.

If you are interested, you may certainly contact me at <larry_mcneely@hotmail.com> or call me at (304) 685-5283.

Thank you.

Larry C. McNeely II

This from an e-mail message to Julian Martin. The message has been edited for grammar, spelling and punctuation. Ed.

Hi Julian,

Here is a letter I sent to the Mon.Nat.Forest supervisor -- thought you would like to see his response!

Dear Mr.Myers,

I am writing to express my disapproval of the way trails and roads have been closed to the public to let an individual like John Crites run his timbering operation! AWP [Allegheny Wood Products] owns land they can fly over to move their logs instead of shutting down public land. We are frequent visitors to this area. Can you tell me when this land will be reopened (not just on Sundays)?

I just wonder if Crites wasn`t a friend of the Governor’s, would this have ever happened? If other WV residents wanted land like this closed, I don`t think it would happen, do you?

Thank You,

Barb & John M. Haynes 119 Crescent Circle

Spencer,WV 25276 (304)927-2279

From E-mail

Just a note to say "Bravo!" to Betsy Reeder’s poem, "Appalachia," in the March

issue of The Highlands Voice. It has been a long time since a poem left me as breathless as this one did. Thank you, Betsy Reeder. And thank you, WVHC.

All best,

Patty Marsh March 29, 2000