By Kara Kukovich, Outings & Events Chair and Conservation Co-Chair, Allegheny Group and Matt Peters, Executive Coordinator, Heartwood Forest Council; Editor of Heartbeat, Heartwood's biannual newspaper
The Allegheny Group and the Pennsylvania Chapter of the Sierra Club are proud to co-sponsor this year’s 33rd Annual Heartwood Forest Council. This four-day event will bring together environmental activists from across the eastern United States, from Maryland to Indiana, to inform, inspire, network, and celebrate all the work we have been doing (and will be doing) on an array of environmental issues. This year’s event takes place over Memorial Day weekend in Slippery Rock, PA at Camp Crestfield, with more than 100 acres of lush forests featuring an oxbow wetland of Slippery Rock Creek. These habitats provide a diverse array of opportunities for hands-on learning from nature, which is why this year, with Sierra Club’s support, Heartwood is expanding its youth education programming to serve up to forty children and teens.
The Heartwood Forest Council is the yearly gathering of the “healing-edge” forest defense movement, where we strategize for the year ahead. The event is open to everyone with an interest in forest protection and restoration. We have invited speakers from the grassroots community to lead presentations, discussions, and workshops on various issues that affect our communities and forests. The overarching goal of the event is to strengthen and expand the networks that form the grassroots environmental community in the region where we gather.
Each year, Heartwood offers some sort of supervised youth activities, if for no other reason than to allow their parents to give their attention to the workshops. This year, Heartwood is expanding the youth activities into a full-fledged program designed to teach youth about the forests around them, the importance of caring for the natural world, and how to work together to put their passions into artistic action. Additionally, with Sierra Club’s funding, Heartwood is partnering with Pittsburgh-based community group Art’s Excursions Unlimited to bring urban youth and their families to the event. Not only will these “city kids” be able to connect more deeply with nature, but they will also share their own experiences and perspectives with youth unfamiliar with urban-based issues. By forming these connections, the younger generation will be bridging the gap between traditional American environmentalism and the growing environmental justice movement.
We welcome donations to the scholarship fund that make this partnership possible. Visit the Heartwood site here for updated information about the schedule, our online registration form, and more information about the event. Contact Matt Peters at info@heartwood.org with any questions.
This blog was included as part of the April 2025 Sylvanian newsletter. Please click here to check out more articles from this edition!