ALABAMA

The mission of Black Warrior Riverkeeper is to protect and restore the Black Warrior River and its tributaries.  Black Warrior Riverkeeper is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization working hard to protect clean water for over a million people throughout seventeen counties in the heart of Alabama.  Due to the presence of the Warrior Coal Basin beneath most of the watershed, coal mining is a major part of this river’s past and present.  Abandoned mine lands, acid mine drainage, and over 100 coal mines discharge into the river and its tributaries every time it rains.  There are also tens of thousands of acres leased for coalbed methane drilling. They have three large coal fired power plants operated by Alabama Power (Southern Company) on the river: Miller Steam Plant, and Greene County Steam Plant. Black Warrior Riverkeeper is a proud member of the Waterkeeper Alliance.

The mission of Friends of Hurricane Creek/Hurricane Creekkeeper is to promote the protection and rehabilitation of Hurricane Creek and its watershed.  Hurricane Creek is the southernmost free flowing stream in the Appalachian Mountain chain and one of the most scenic natural areas in central Alabama.  Squeezed between two of the state’s fastest growing cities, Birmingham and Tuscaloosa, the creek has flowed free and clean for thousands of years. Yet threatened in recent times with coal waste and polluted runoff and urban sprawl, it may not survive the next decade.  That’s why the Friends of Hurricane Creek/Hurricane Creekkeeper, a growing group of citizens, canoeists, scientists, lawyers, neighbors, landowners, retirees, college students, business people and politicians, is dedicated to the resurrection of Hurricane Creek.  We are working with local partners to find creative solutions to the creek’s problems while diligently enforcing the laws in place to protect it.  In the process we are pioneering new ways to extract toxic metals from streams, revive fish populations, protect watersheds, minimize the negative impacts of development, and educate Alabamians about what clean water and free-flowing streams symbolize: quality of life.

COLORADO

The Western Slope Environmental Resource Council is a community-based citizens group dedicated to preserving the environment and quality of life in Delta County and western Colorado.  WSERC formed to combat the coal boom in 1977, and gradually expanded to cover a host of issues affecting the Lower Gunnison River Basin.  WSERC currently have 200 members, are one of the oldest grassroots groups in the state, and one of the very few based entirely in a rural, non-resort community.

ILLINOIS

Citizens Organizing Project was founded to help citizens reclaim their rights under SMCRA to protect their communities, their property tax bases, their health and safety, their farmland and water from mine permitting abuses and lax reclamation.  Citizens in Henry and Knox counties in Illinois founded COP in 1993 to work on land use issues.  Their primary concerns were abuses by coal mine owners (especially surface mines) and lax enforcement of SMCRA by the IL DNR.  They hoped to form an organization to coordinate grassroots Illinois groups to do locally what CCC was founded to do nationally.

The charter members had been active in Springfield, IL, and Washington DC, on coal mining issues since 1970s, making many trips to both seats of government to lobby for legislation to regulate strip mining. One, Jane Johnson, was in the Rose Garden in August 1977 when President Carter signed SMCRA into law.

KENTUCKY

KFTC is a statewide citizen’s organization working for a new balance of power and a just society.  As we work together we build our strength, individually and as a group, and we find solutions to real life problems.  We use direct action to challenge - and - change unfair political, economic and social systems.

NORTH CAROLINA

Appalachian Voices brings people together to solve environmental problems having the greatest impact on central and southern Appalachian Mountains.  Our mission is to empower people to defend our region’s rich natural and cultural heritage by providing them with tools and strategies for successful grassroots campaigns.

NORTH DAKOTA

Dakota Resource Council is a nonprofit, grassroots activist organization.  The mission of DRC is to form enduring, democratic local groups that empower people to influence decision-making processes that affect their lives.  DRC was formed in 1978 to protect North Dakota’s land, air, water, rural communities and agricultural economy.  DRC is working for preservation of family farms, enforcement of corporate farming laws, soil and water conservation, regulation of coal mining and oil and gas development, protection of groundwater and clean air, renewable energy, and sound management of solid and toxic wastes.

PENNSYLVANIA

The Center for Coalfield Justice coordinates a group of organizations and individuals dedicated to informing and educating the public about the impacts of mining on the environment and on the communities in the coalfields.  By working to improve laws, regulations, and enforcement, the Center seeks protection of the environment and justice for coalfield citizens.

The Mountain Watershed Association, Inc. is a nonprofit tax-exempt community-based Pennsylvania organization concerned with the preservation, protection, and conservation of the Indian Creek Watershed and surrounding areas.  MWA has been in existence since March of 1994.  It has approximately 450 members, and elected Board of Directors and an Executive committee.  In 2005 MWA also became home of the Youghiogheny Riverkeeper.

The major purposes of MWA are to bring about remediation of the numerous abandoned mine discharges resulting from over 125 years of mining in the Indian Creek Watershed, to develop community awareness, to promote cooperative community efforts for remediation, to encourage sound environmental practices, and to advocate for social justice and good quality of life for the community.

Ten Mile Protection Network is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to keeping the public better informed about their rights and the impact of longwall mining.  When subsidence due to longwall mining occurs, the result is often irreparable damage to water supplies, homes, lifestyles, and communities.

TENNESSEE

The mission of SOCM is to assist Tennessee residents to protect, defend and improve the quality of life in their communities and across the state. From organizational roots in rural coal counties of the Cumberland Mountains and Cumberland Plateau, SOCM is working toward environmental, economic and social justice for Tennessee residents.  This includes stopping the devastation caused by mining, addressing environmental problems encountered in other forms of development, working for fair taxation, overcoming social discrimination, and working on other local and statewide issues of concern to its members. SOCM is a member-run organization, which encourages civic involvement among Tennessee people so that they may have a greater voice in determining their future. With the work of activist members and the financial support of other interested individuals throughout the state of Tennessee and across the nation, SOCM works to protect the land and air by promoting responsible business practices in the areas of sustainable forestry, clear cutting, strip mining, deep mining, aerial spraying, air quality and water quality.  In our social justice work, areas we currently focus on include economic justice for all income levels, taxation issues, dismantling racism in all its forms, immigration reform and voter rights.

WEST VIRGINIA

The mission of Coal River Mountain Watch is to stop the destruction of our communities and environment by mountaintop removal mining, to improve the quality of life in our area and to help rebuild sustainable communities.  Coal River Mountain Watch (CRMW) is a grassroots organization begun in 1998 in response to the fear and frustration of people living near or downstream from huge mountaintop removal sites.  We began a small group of volunteers working to organize the residents of southern West Virginia to fight for social, economic, and environmental justice.

The Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, formed in 1987, is a nonprofit organization. Our mission is to organize and maintain a diverse grassroots organization dedicated to the improvement and preservation of the environment through education, grassroots organizing and coalition building, leadership development and media outreach.  Our work encompasses much of West Virginia.

The structure of OVEC is common one: volunteers / members, board of directors with officers, and staff members.  What is uncommon is the committed participation of many ordinary citizens in OVEC, united for the common purpose of protecting the environment in which we all live.  OVEC’s board of directors is active.

Mission/Purpose: Formed in 1967, the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy is the state’s oldest environmental advocacy organization.  For four decades the Conservancy has been a leader in citizen efforts on a variety of mining issues critical to protecting the environment and life in WV.  WVHC’s monthly publication, the Highlands Voice, documents many of these efforts - from administrative and legal attempts to defend in the original intent of the Surface Mine Act and Clean Water Act, to preventing acid mine drainage and insisting on adequate financial guarantees to cover the cost of reclamation at mined sites. Key to our work on mountaintop removal is our longtime effort to prohibit the dumping of mine waste in the headwater streams, a critical factor in minimizing the size and impact of large-scale mining.

WYOMING

Worried about what the coal mines would do to their land, ranchers in northeastern Wyoming gathered in a barn in 1973 to form the Powder River Basin Resource Council.  Their early efforts paid off four years later with the passage of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act - proving that citizens working together can achieve public policy goals that respect and protect Wyoming’s incomparable quality of life while allowing for efficient and profitable resource development.

Since then, Powder River has grown into an organization that continues to work for responsible development, a fair shake for ranchers, and protection of Wyoming’s clean air, open spaces, and agricultural heritage.