Roan
Plateau Settlement Talks Break
Down
Coloradans from all walks of
life have
long supported protecting the Roan Plateau. In spite of tremendous
community support for protecting the Roan Plateau, in August 2008 the
Bush Administration leased every acre of public land on and around the
Plateau for oil and gas development. Tens of thousands of
citizens filed protests, which were all cursorily dismissed.
Rock the Earth, along with nine other conservation and sportsmen
groups, filed
suit in federal court and entered into court-ordered
settlement talks in 2009.
The Roan Plateau is one of
Colorado’s top areas for
biological diversity due to its richness of species, rare plants, pure
strains of Colorado River cutthroat trout and unique ecosystems.
In late October, Magistrate Judge Kristen
Mix announced that settlement
talks aimed at protecting the Roan Plateau had ended. In the wake of
Judge Mix’s order the ten plaintiff conservation and
sportsmen’s organizations made the following statement:
It’s a shame the parties
couldn’t reach an
agreement to protect this unique landscape that is a haven for wildlife
and recreation.
We have worked tirelessly to ensure that the
Roan gets the protection
it deserves. We remain willing to keep talking to find a
reasonable solution.
It is still possible to safeguard this
tremendous natural resource, and
we continue to work to that end. We believe that our
challenge to the leasing decisions on the Roan remains on solid legal
ground, and urge the administration to develop a plan for the Roan
Plateau that awards these public lands the full protection they
warrant.
Since 2005, Rock the Earth has been
advocating for a sensible plan
for
the Roan. One that allows for both protection of this
magnificent
resource as well as allowing for extraction of its natural resources
without compromising environmental and ecosystem protection.
“While the end to the settlement discussions is unfortunate,
we are optimistic that the overwhelming public support for the Roan
will ultimately prevail in achieving a more balanced future for this
cherished landscape,” said Rock the Earth Executive Director
Marc Ross.
For more information about Rock the
Earth’s work to protect
the Roan Plateau, see the Rock the Earth Roan Plateau Project
page.
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Rockin’
Denver
On November 6, Rock the Earth
held a Staff
and Board Meet and Greet and
Fundraiser at the Flobots.org
Community Space in Denver. Over
60 friends, supporters, volunteers and Earth rockin’
activists turned out to celebrate Rock the Earth’s
accomplishments over the past six years and to bid on wonderful items
donated by a variety of businesses and artists. Thanks to the
generosity of New
Belgium Brewing Company, Organixx,
Illegal
Pete’s, and KIND,
there was complimentary beer and
food for
our guests and over $2,500 was raised in a very short period of
time. We’d like to thank everyone who attended, and
also to thank the following who donated items for the Silent Auction:
| AEG
Live |
Michael
Weintrob Photography |
| Alliance
for Sustainable Colorado |
Mountain
Sun Pubs and Breweries |
| Fox
Theater (Boulder) |
Patagonia |
| Comedy
Works |
Scramble
Campbell |
| Denver
Zoological Foundation, Inc. |
Seven
Cups Denver |
| Filmcartel.org |
Tattered
Cover Book Store |
| Fogo
de Chao |
The
Wildlife Experience |
| Fresh
Craft |
Topo
Ranch |
| Furthur
Frames |
Yvette
Chappuis/Urth Faces |
| Massage
Envy |
Wine
Off Of Wynkoop |
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Rock the Earth Elects New Board
Members
During the weekend of November 5-7, 2010,
the Staff and Board of Rock
the Earth converged in Denver for our Annual Retreat, strategically
planning the next twelve months and electing new Board
Members. It was
truly a busy and productive weekend. The weekend was capped
off with a fundraiser held at the Flobots.org Community Space in Denver
(see article above).
The
new Board of Directors are as follows:
Stacey
“Tree” Plant (Santa Cruz, CA) - President
James
Gooch (Alpharetta, GA) - Vice President
Brian
Lavin (Boulder, CO) - Treasurer
Sara
Pekar Walsh (Palatine, IL) - Secretary
Melissa
Adair (San Francisco, CA)
Jason
Bau (New York, NY)
Brian
Hayle (San Francisco, CA)
Wendy
McDermott (Ellensburg, WA)
Marc
Ross (Denver, CO)
Congratulations to our new Board of Directors! In addition,
Susan
Honig was elected to the Volunteer Staff.
Please check
the Rock
the Earth Staff Directory in the coming weeks for complete
bios of our new Staff.
Meanwhile, in the area of departures, co-founder, long-time Volunteer
Staffer and Board Member Steve Tighe departs the organization after
serving the organization in a variety of capacities for over 7
years. Ira Steinberg departs our Board after serving the
organization for one year as the organization’s Treasurer. In
addition, after serving the organization in a variety of capacities
over the past three years, we bid farewell to RtE Volunteer Staffer Rob
Hillard. We thank them for their years of service in helping
us to Defend the Planet
One Beat at a Time!
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Turn Your Holiday Shopping
& Surfing into Dollars for RtE!
Rock the Earth is excited to
partner with
internet search engine GoodSearch
and on-line superstore GoodShop
for a
new way to help raise much-needed funds for the organization.
GoodSearch works just like any other search engine, with the exception
that each search you conduct will directly benefit Rock the Earth. At
one cent per search, it's remarkable how quickly the dollars add up.
Our partner site GoodShop
lets you do your holiday shopping at over 30
different on-line stores such as Staples, Apple, Best Buy, Circuit City
and Barnes & Noble, with a portion of each purchase being
donated to RtE!
To get started, visit GoodSearch or GoodShop
and type in "Rock the
Earth" under the "Who do you Goodsearch for?" button. With that, every
search and purchase you conduct will directly benefit Rock the Earth.
You can even check the progress being made by Rock the Earth members.
If only 1000 friends of Rock the Earth utilize the GoodSearch engine,
we would raise nearly $8,000 in a year.
Remember to
set your home page or search engine to GoodSearch and
raise
money for Rock the Earth more easily than ever!
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Give a Gift That Defends the
Planet!
Why not avoid the long lines
this holiday season and give your
friends
and family a holiday
membership package from Rock
the Earth! Each
package includes appealing and environmentally friendly RtE
merchandise, as well as the satisfaction of supporting a non-profit
organization that is working hard to protect the environment for you
and future generations. Our work would not be possible without the help
of members and supporters like you.
Give a great gift and help support our efforts to protect beautiful and
unique places, like Colorado’s Roan Plateau and the Hetch
Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park, by sending RtE membership
gifts this holiday season! Packages
include our 100% organic cotton
t-shirts, baseball caps, refillable water bottles, CDs, DVDs, tote
bags, digital download cards and one-of-a-kind posters.
As a special limited-time only, our limited
edition posters by noted
concert poster artists Justin Hampton, Jeff Wood, Jim Pollock, and Gary
Houston are now available as gifts with all new and
renewing members at
the $65 level or as part of our holiday packages.
Every gift package, new membership or renewal will receive a bonus Live
Download card redeemable for any MP3 live full-concert recording from
the Nugs.net
catalog, including shows from Dave Matthews, Smashing
Pumpkins, Black Crowes, Phish, Grateful Dead, String Cheese Incident,
moe., Widespread Panic, Counting Crows, Umphrey’s McGee and
many others, for every $25 spent!
Go here to
order your RtE
Gift Package, to Join
Rock the Earth, or to
Renew your Membership! Place your order by December 15th
to ensure
delivery before the holidays.
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Rockin’ Thanks to
Bonnaroo…
Thanks to the generosity of Superfly
Presents and AC
Entertainment,
Rock the Earth was one of five beneficiaries of the annual silent
charity auction at Bonnaroo
2010. This past month, Rock the Earth
received a check for over $3,200! A rockin’ thank you to
Superfly, AC Entertainment and all of you who participated in the
silent auction at Bonnaroo! You are truly helping us to Defend the
Planet One Beat at Time!
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Volunteer Jam
Volunteer Jam provides an outlet to thank
non-staff volunteers and
supporters who have rocked it big time during the past month, and who
have gone above and beyond in generous support of the Rock the Earth
cause.
We want to sincerely thank each of you for
giving so generously of
their time, and applaud you for your contributions: Melissa and Gregory
Hans, Tara Mulvaney, Kevin O'Donohue, Cally Thalman, Heather Nelson,
Barb Meyer, Brandi Honeycutt, Andrea Browne, Danny Rosen, Amanda Brown,
Justin Marinoff.
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Rock the Earth Members Only Benefit
Starting this month, our
Members can take advantage of a NEW Members
Only benefit: special discounts each month from particular
musical artists. Each month, our members will be entitled to
20% off merchandise from select Rock the Earth artist
friends. This month, we are pleased to feature RtE partner
Jackson
Browne! Jackson Browne has championed
environmental
causes throughout his entire career: from opposing nuclear
power with Musicians United for Safe Energy to political protest songs
about U.S. foreign policy in Central America, to his latest work with
Rock the Earth and the Plastics
Pollution Coalition to educate the
public about the serious environmental threat posed by single-use
plastics.
Now
though December 16 save 20% on everything at the Jackson
Browne
Official Store! For information as to how to take
advantage
of this discount or for information about any of our member
benefits,
please write to
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
.
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What Rocks Your Earth: Gregory
Alan Isakov
Colorado based singer/songwriter Gregory Alan Isakov
was born in South
Africa. His family immigrated to the US in opposition to apartheid.
Isakov played jazz saxophone at school, but eventually gravitated to
his older brother's electric guitar. As a teen he attended folk
festivals and was impressed by songsmiths Greg Brown and Dar Williams,
but it was Bruce Springsteen's The
Ghost of Tom Joad that proverbially
changed his life.
Moving to Colorado in 1999 to study
horticulture, Isokov simultaneously
embarked on a career as an acoustic singer-songwriter. He debuted with
the gentle Rust Colored
Stones in 2003 and followed with the haunting
Songs
for October (2005) and the Celtic-influenced That Sea, The
Gambler (2007). This Empty Northern Hemisphere
is Isakov's
latest collection of songs composed following his relocation from the
Colorado wilds to the town of Boulder. The period also marked the
beginning of a new creative cycle for the 28-year-old
singer-songwriter, who combines his personal past with poetry to create
a musically visceral present.
Isakov has shared the stage with touring
artists such as Calexico, Ani
Difranco, Brandi Carlile, Indigo Girls, Richie Havens, and Fiona Apple.
He has performed throughout the United States and Europe and appeared
at numerous music festivals such as South By Southwest, Telluride
Bluegrass Festival and Rocky Mountain Folks Fest. Gregory has toured
solo and with his band “The Freight.”
What environmental issue(s) do you consider
to be the most critical at
this time?
It can be overwhelming. There are so many
issues out there right now,
but I seem to always come back to the death of the American small
farmer. It can be hard to fathom all of the different routes to be
active in the environmental movement, but for me it comes back to the
relationship to our food, to our relationship to the ground, and how we
are fueling ourselves. Perhaps it’s because I was a
horticulture major, but to me, there is so much that an individual can
do to affect this issue. It is, for lack of a better phrase,
“close to home.” I always have a
vegetable garden at home, even if it is just a small plot.
It’s the one place I know for sure exactly what is going into
the ground, and consequentially what is going into my body. Supporting
local farms has always been a passion of mine, not necessarily because
its “environmental,” but because it just feels good
– it feels right.
What has
inspired you to combine environmental activism with your music?
It wasn't a choice really. I am blessed with
having two passions, one
being music, and the other, growing food. Sometimes they conflict with
each other because of touring schedules, but I think I'm figuring out a
good balance. I have always been an avid gardener.
I suppose I come from the camp of believing that a healthier lifestyle
is inevitably an environmental lifestyle. It should feel good. It
should feel fun. It shouldn't be a burden or a job. I get
excited flipping through seed catalogues in the early spring, or
checking out a local farmers’ market while on tour. We are a
part of this planet, even though we can feel separate at times with our
bustling lifestyles. That's what I try to remember. We belong here.
Where is your
favorite place in nature to go to find solace or
inspiration?
I hang out at this farm near where I live in
Boulder,
Colorado. It's not a fully “natural”
setting. It's a good marriage of nature and culture. There are big
empty fields and a river that weaves through it. There are tons of
vegetables, insects, animals and people. I feel at home there
and can't ignore my connection to the natural world. It’s
like nature is having a big party.
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