The Wheeling Environmentalists, are organizing a tour of the Raven Rocks Community for Sunday, Sept 10, 9AM. The Raven Rocks Community, are a group of Ohioans, who have dedicated their lives to preserve approximately 1000 acres of forest and ravine land while living sustainably. They are strongly committed to walking lightly on the earth through growing and preserving much of their own food organically, making use of passive solar mechanisms, using composting toilets and eco-friendly products. You will also see solar and wind energy being produced, visit underground construction, and demonstrations of the most energy efficient appliances. As they are beginning a fuel cell project, you will get to observe some of the fuel cell principles and hear explanations of how these exciting technologies work. The Raven Rocks Community has been featured by Malcolm Wells in his book, Recovering America.

One final note of interest, their property is in the middle of a huge long wall mining permit application in Belmont County. While they are opposed to the damage of the current coal mining techniques, they are even more opposed to the use of fossil fuel and have spent their lives finding alternatives. They have an interesting point of view to share.

The tour will begin at 9 AM and end at noon for a bag lunch and discussion (please plan to bring your own bag lunch). Raven Rocks is located about 40 minutes from Wheeling, WV in Belmont County, Ohio very near Beallsville. Carpooling from Wheeling can be arranged. If you are interested in the tour, contact Dianne Burnham at BurnhamD@cs.com or 304-232-0590 (evening and weekend) for more information and directions. Maps will be sent upon request.