Friday, June 14, 2013

Utah Tar Sands Roadshow at WRFF 2013!



COMING TO WILD ROOTS FERAL FUTURES 2013!

The Utah Tar Sands Roadshow is a listening project and educational presentation about the impact of tar sands extraction on people, water, and the land.  Tar sands development is one of the most destructive industries on earth--and a Canadian company is bringing it to Utah unless we rise up to stop it before it starts. 

Tar sands are geological deposits containing bitumen. In order recover oil, bitumen must be strip-mined, pulverized, chemically separated, and then extensively refined. This process requires enormous amounts of energy input and requires 1.5 - 3 barrels of water for every barrel of oil created. Utah is the second most arid state in the nation and tar sands extraction would tap already stressed watersheds.  The proposed mine lies in the Colorado River watershed, which 30 million people downstream rely on for agriculture and drinking water.

Tar sands mining also requires extensive refinery expansions in Salt Lake City, which will add to the already record level air pollution along the Wasatch Front.

An extractive project of this scale will irreversibly impact the remote and pristine Tavaputs Plateau in Eastern Utah.  Some claim there are 800 billion barrels of recoverable oil contained in this large formation. This would mean disaster for the climate as tar sands extraction releases roughly three times more greenhouse gases per barrel than conventional oil. 

The Utah Tar Sands Roadshow will journey around the region weaving together stories of resistance and resilience in the face of tar sands and other forms of extreme energy extraction. Our collection of interviews and conversations will be constantly updated on our website and compiled into a production to help educate people on the impacts of tar sands mining in the United States and the world.

More information:
http://canyoncountryactioncamp.org/
http://www.beforeitstarts.org/
http://canyoncountryrisingtide.org/

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

WRFF 2012 POC Fish-Bowl Report-Back

Thoughts in Race, Identity & Solidarity

By Sabitaj Mahal, Earth First! Journal

Wild Roots Feral Futures (WRFF) is a re-wilding, skill-share, and eco-defense camp annually held in the woods of Colorado. WRFF calls for folks who can share basic skills to survive in the wild— fire making, shelter building, plant identification—but also people oriented to anarchist praxis, unpacking privilege, and decolonization. When I went to WRFF last summer, I found that the camp more focused in hands-on skills—exactly what I was looking for. As for anarchist theory and unpacking privilege, discussions were difficult, and as a woman of color, I found myself facilitating one of the most tense discussions of race with white people that I’ve ever experienced.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Updates, final call for workshops, etc.

Once again, the time for Wild Roots Feral Futures is almost here! We just wanted to throw out a few updates & reminders, so here goes...

Important posts:

Ride share!
Street Medic/ine Training
Street Medic/ine Training Registration
Decolonizing Wild Roots Feral Futures
Initial WRFF 2013 call/announcement

Site location, seed camp, etc.

The site location for Wild Roots Feral Futures will be announced on the coming New Moon, on Saturday June 8th at the latest, so stay tuned! At that point, seed camp (set-up) technically begins, and folks are welcome to head out to the site and start setting up. Wanna dig latrines? There's lots of work to be done! Local organizers will be on site to help facilitate. There is minimal support housing in Durango, as well as many local camping spots, so please email us if you are arriving early and need assistance.

Accessibility

The WRFF organizers' collective recognizes the dynamics of accessibility and ableism as a form of societal oppression in our culture, and strive to select sites with maximum accessibility, considering the context of an event located in forest and wilderness areas. Due to natural circumstances and the lay of the land (rocky trails on steep hills, etc.), ableism and “disability” may hinder accessibility for some to the inner reaches of the gathering. This is a reality of the natural world that is beyond our ability or desire to alter or control. We will, however, make very effort to help folks of differing abilities get their gear and themselves into the woods. Please contact us or ask an event organizers if you or someone in your group needs assistance hauling gear, etc. Together as a community we're able to do anything!


Workshops, skill shares, activities, etc.

We would like to issue one final call for workshops, skill shares, presentations, discussions, etc. If you have a workshop you would like listed ahead of time, please email us or post on our forums. We are particularly requesting trainings in direct action, blockades, etc. Other planned activities include tree climb trainings, discussions on patriarchy & consent, blacksmithing, plant walks, wild food & medicine foraging, tactical war games (capture the flag, etc.) star gazing, direct action trainings, earth skills trainings, a street/action medic/ine training, a reading group on critiques of anarchist accountability processes, writing letters to political prisoners, a radical puppet show, hiking, swimming, yoga, and much more!

Musicians, bands, etc.

WRFF 2013 is seeking acoustic musicians, performing artists, storytellers, etc., to join us and share your muse! If you have an act, band, or musical performance you would like listed ahead of time, please email us or post on our forums.

Kitchen

Once again, Durango Food Not Bombs will be facilitating WRFF's free communal kitchen. We are requesting support from other FNB chapters & revolutionary food networks, and are asking WRFF participants to bring any donations of food, herbs, spices, coffee, tea, sweeteners, etc., as well as kitchen gear (large pots & pans, spatulas, ladles, etc.). Got something you'd like to see served at the kitchen in the woods? Let's make it happen! We'll be collecting monetary donations throughout the event for food runs to town. Please dumpster on your way here, and contact us for local dumpster diving tips! Also, please let the kitchen know about any food restrictions, allergies, etc.

Medical

We have an amazing medic team forming, and are requesting WRFF participants bring first aid supplies, to be donated to the medic clinic/team. Please also check in with the medic team about any medical conditions we should be aware of.

Welcoming & Guard/Security 

For everyone's safety, we will be forming stationary and roving voluntary guard details, working in 3 or 4 hour shifts (which we'll decide together on the ground, in the woods), 24 hours a day. The entrance guard/security station near the parking area will also serve as a welcoming center for incoming participants. Please bring radios, scanners, batteries, flashlights, etc. to be utilized by the security team.

Distro Center, Really Really Free Market, etc.

Although WRFF is completely free and non-commercial, we encourage folks to bring along their distros, as a means of internal movement fundraising and mutual aid. We will also be creating a zine library (stuff to take) and lending library (stuff to borrow & return), so please bring along relevant literature & books (and be sure to mark lending library items for later reclaiming). In addition, we will be creating a Really Really Free Market ("free box" or "free store" area) with extra clothing, gear, and other items for free exchange. These will likely be located in close proximity of one another, near the entrance welcoming center.

Gear & Supplies

Other than first aid & kitchen supplies, we're seeking donations of infrastructural supplies such as extra ropes, tarps, tents, easy-ups, water jugs, water filtration systems, stoves, etc. For an expanded supplies list, see this year's initial announcement.

More information regarding safer space & accountability, conflict resolution and management, consent, security culture, etc. can be found in the initial call-out.

Well, that's it for now. We don't know about you, but we're getting really excited! It's time to get off the computer, and into the wildwood!

If you have any other questions or suggestions, please feel free to contact us or post on our forums. We can also be found on fedbook.

May the Forest Bewitch You,

The Wild Roots Feral Futures organizers' collective

(PS - Don't forget the post-WRFF caravan to the Earth First! Round River Rendezvous!)