August 8 thru 10 - Augusta Heritage Festival, Elkins. For info call (304) 637-1209.

Workshop presenters include: Beth Little, Forest Watch Coalition; Chris Haney, The Wilderness Society; Glen Besa, Southern Appalachian Ecoregion (Sierra Club); Liz Schuppert, Mon NF - Potomac District Ranger; Harold Spencer, WVDNR Conservation Officer; Matt Marcus, Blackwater Bikes; and Jim Sconyers, WV Sierra Club. All activities meet at Laneville Cabin (entrance to Dolly Sods Wilderness). Overnight accommodations (very limited) and meals are available there also, and camping is nearby. Directions: Take WV 32 from Harman or Canaan Valley. Turn at the Dolly Sods sign and follow the road to the end of pavement. Cross the bridge over Red Creek; the cabin is on your left. Friday, August 14: 3:00 PM Hike or Bike Outings. Saturday, August 15: 9:00 AM Hike or Bike Outings. Program -- Dolly Sods North Present and Future: 2:00 PM Presenters; 4:30 PM Panel Discussion; 6:30 PM Supper; 7:30 PM Discussions continued. Sunday, August 16: 9:00 AM Stakeholder Session; 10:00 AM Future Scenarios and Wrap-Up; 11:30 AM Lunch/Depart; 1:00 PM Outings.

Cost is $5 for registration, $5/night for cabin, meals - $15 (Fri thru Sun), $10 (Sat supper thru Sun). To register, or for more info, call 637-4082 or 789-6277.

August 14 thru 16 - OVEC hosts a Mountain Massacre Meeting of the Minds; location to be announced. This event will also include a site visit.

August 22 & 23 - Annual Mountain Music Festival. Enjoy the sounds of blues and swing on Friday evening. Saturday’s concert will feature old time and bluegrass music. Appalachian South Folklife Center, Pipestem, WV. $5admission/day; camping an additional $5/day. For more information, call 466-0626.

September 6 - Bike the Blackwater Canyon. We'll go the whole 9 yards (actually a bit more). Start in Thomas, a charming little West Virginia mountain town. From there we ride the entire Blackwater Canyon Rail Trail, passing through Thomas, Coketon, Douglas, Big Run, Lime Rock, and Hendricks, where we finish. Fourteen miles of level or downhill on a good trail surface - with lots to see along the way. Waterfalls, coke ovens, wildflowers, the wild Blackwater Canyon - come see what all the fuss has been about! Shuttle back to Thomas from Hendricks. Bring your bike, or rent one in Thomas or Davis. (Note: the rail trail guide rates the trail II on a difficulty scale of I - IV, because of some bumpiness due to the ballast stones left in the trail when the tracks were removed.) Call Jim Sconyers 789-6277.

September 7 - Bike the Blackwater Canyon. This is a repeat of the September 6 trip. See it for description.

September 11,12 - Summit on the Future of Appalachian Ministry, sponsored by CORA, at John 23^rd Center in Charleston, WV. For information call (423) 584-6133.

September 11 thru 13 - West Virginia Environmental Council Annual Fall Gathering,, Camp Pioneer, Beverly, WV. Yes, It’s true. Ten years have gone by since the first Environmental Council Convention. In honor of this prestigious event, we are planning for an annual convention that is the largest ever. Join us to reunite with old friends and energize new activists. Plan to bring a friend or neighbor. Start thinking about who in your area should be at this event and extend a personal invitation.

The program kicks off Friday evening with a review of recent environmental issues and planning on legislative initiatives. Saturday morning will include speakers and a brief "Dot" session to explain concerns in your area. Regional meetings at noon will allow new activists to meet their neighbors, develop local networking, and elect new regional members to the Board. Workshops on solid waste, water quality, electricity deregulation, forest issues, mountaintop mining and other topics are planned for afternoon. Saturday evening will culminate in a panel discussion on finding common ground on global warming issues. And, of course, the evening campfire is filled with music, song and good cheer.

The real work of the Convention happens Sunday morning when those present develop a consensus on WV environmental priorities for the upcoming year. The goal of providing a unified voice for the environmental community in West Virginia has long been achieved, but must be renewed annually. Some of the faces have changed, but many of the issues remain. Come and be a part of the action and planning which has sustained the E-Council for a decade. The annual convention is your chance to meet the top players in the environmental debates, to learn about the issues and to build bridges with others around the state who are facing similar concerns. This Tenth Anniversary is also a good time to gauge how far we have come, to recognize those who have helped make it possible, and to renew our commitments to be a part of that grand effort to make West Virginia’s environment a better one for our families and our future. See you there! For more information, early registration, call (304) 346-5891.

[Tradition continues as we look forward to this years Auction! So here's your official first reminder....or plea if you will.....about the popular, interesting, fun, Annual Silent Auction coming up at the popular, interesting, fun Fall WVEC Gathering. Clean out that attic, basement, garage or closet! Make something special! Get creative, and bring wonderful, fun offerings to donate to WVEC and share with your friends. Bring your own great treasures, and come bid on other super "finds." Help keep our tradition alive! Be prepared to join in all the fun.... yes, outbid your best friend for that special item you can't live without. Get ruthless. Don't let the auction end without getting something you really want. Don't leave home without bringing your donations.]

September 12 - 2^nd Annual Ironweed Festival of the Appalachian Women’s Alliance. Highlander Center, Newmarket TN. For information call the Alliance at (540) 763-3004.

September 18 thru 20 - Annual Meeting of the West Virginia Native Plant Society. DNR cabin at Laneville in Canaan Valley. Friday 7:00 PM social and slide program on invasive plants. Workshops, one of which will be plant identification by PJ Harmon, and hikes on Saturday. Possible botanizing trip to Dolly Sods. Evening program by Rodney Bartgis who will speak on some exciting discoveries in the Smokehole/Northfork/Cave Mountain Bioreserve. Tent spaces available. Cost for registration, social and Saturday lunch, $4.00. All other meals on your own. For info or to register, contact Bill & Emily Grafton, 456 West Virginia Ave, Morgantown, WV 26505, or call 292-0229.

September 19 & 20 - Gaia Connection Eco-Feminism Conference, Kerens, WV. For info call Ruth Blackwell Rogers at (304) 636-2662.

September 26 - Blackwater Canyon Walk-Through. Be in the front row as fall foliage tunes up for its riot of color. We will take a leisurely pace as we walk the entire Blackwater Canyon Rail Trail - the way to really SEE the Canyon! Catch the last of the fall wildflowers, and the middle of foliage season. Downhill all the way with a shuttle back from the trail terminus in Hendricks. Call Jim Sconyers 789-6277.

October 1 thru 3 - Nonpoint Source (water quality) Conference, WV-DEP & US EPA, Charleston, WV. Call 1-800-682-7866 for info.

October 4 - Fall Spectacle. We move from overlook to overlook for one spectacular fall foliage scene after another. Some are popular lookouts, others are less familiar. The Canyon puts on its finery for us! Meet at Blackwater Falls State Park Lodge at 9:30 AM. Bring camera(!), lunch, walking shoes, etc. Call Jim Sconyers 789-6277.

October 9 thru 11 (mark your calendars) - Mountain Top Fall Review. Plan to attend a cooperative forum on Mountain Top Removal as the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy teams up with the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition (OVEC) to expose the truth about this earth shattering, community destroying method of resource

extraction. This year’s Fall Review will be 3 days of first hand exposure to the valley filling, blasting and leveling of West Virginia's mountains. Join us as we explore the southern coalfields and visit disparaged towns. Take a flight, for a birds eye view, or canoe the Coal River, for an enjoyable experience, reminding us why it is important to protect West Virginia’s natural and cultural heritage. We’ll see the peaks, see the plateaus, we'll visit the mines and the remains, we’ll hear the tales and the lore, we’ll look at the facts and the science, we’ll discuss the law and its enforcement. We’ll find out what other organizations are currently doing and figure out ways to work better together--to galvanize this movement. Most of all, we’ll seek justice. Justice for the people, and justice for our state, justice for the streams and justice for the mountains. The Conservancy is proud to seek the cooperation of our southern brothers and sisters and join with them in their efforts to preserve their way of life and their back yards. Look for more details as they are developed.

October 15 thru 17 - CORA Assembly at Cedar Lakes Conference Center,Ripley,WV. For info call (423) 584-6133.

November 20, 21 - Appalachian’s Women’s Alliance Sister Gathering. Southern Oho. Call the Alliance at (540) 763-3004 for info.