A 900-acre forest popular with trail runners and mountain bikers in Carrboro, N.C. may soon be bulldozed by the University of North Carolina. UNC Chapel Hill is planning to build a 250-acre satellite campus on the Horace Williams Tract, where thousands of outdoor enthusiasts run, hike, and bike. A group of local trail users, the Trailheads, are petitioning UNC’s board of trustees to restrict development to only 250 acres and preserve the remaining forest permanently. It’s a forward-thinking proposal that allows for the university’s need for growth without sacrificing the integrity of the community’s forest. Thus far, however, the proposal has been completely ignored by the university. Check out www.trailheads.org for more info and an opportunity to sign the forest preservation petition.

No Such Thing as Clean Coal

Dominion Energy is proposing a so-called "clean coal" power plant in southwest Virginia. Even with new emissions controls, it will still emit thousands of tons of toxic chemicals into the air and accelerate mountaintop removal mining. If the new plant is approved it will be built less than five miles from another coal-fired lant operated by American Electric Power in nearby Carbo-a facility that has been ranked among the top 10 polluters in the country.

In June members of the Southwest Virginia-based Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards held a protest outside of Dominion’s downtown Richmond office, calling for the company to abandon plans for the new plant and instead invest the money needed to build the facility in clean energy.

Everyday the plant would consume up to 800,000 gallons of fresh water from the Clinch River, which already loses exponentially more water as a result of the Carbo plants and holds several endangered species of mussels.

Voices Crying Out for the Wilderness

To convince Congress to designate more acres as Wilderness in the Monongahela National Forest, the West Virginia Wilderness Coalition has teamed up with a number of faith-based organizations who see preservation as a spiritual responsibility. Read the “Declaration of Spiritual Values for the Mon” at www.christiansforthemountains.org

Singlespeed Outlaws

You know you have the right attitude when the number of kegs at your campsite outnumbers the ratio of gears on your bike. The Maryland-based e-zine “Singlespeed Outlaw” recently launched a grassroots mountain biking team for the ‘07 season. They ride with one gear, show up with an entourage, and they always seem to have at least one keg on tap. Brilliant. www.singlespeedoutlaw.com.

Clean Air Bill Gets Dirty

North Carolina’s major power companies have successfully added “dirty energy” provisions to the State Senate’s renewable energy legislation. The provisions-written by Progress Energy and Duke Energy-actually encourage the construction of more coal and nuclear power plants and expands the natural gas pipeline for the state. The provisions also reduce the percentages of renewable energy requirements to a mere 0.2% of all energy produced. Environmental groups are opposing this hijacked legislation-and supporting the Energy Future Resolution bill (HR 1825), which provides economic incentives for energy conservation for both utilities and rate payers. More info: www.canarycoalition.org.

Pedal for Peace

Looking to ride for a reason? Want to combine your activism with your athleticism? Join the Asheville-to-Oak Ridge Ride for Peace-a three-day bike ride through the Blue Ridge August 1-4 that finishes at the world’s largest nuclear weapons plant-the Y-12 facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn. At the conclusion of the ride, a peace rally and march will take place in Oak Ridge to protest another proposed nuclear weapons facility at Oak Ridge. More info: www.stopthebombs.org.

Logging In Your Neck of the Woods

Rough Ridge, Cherokee National Forest, Tenn.: In the Cherokee National Forest, the U.S. Forest Service is proposing to log more than 350 acres near the Appalachian Trail and the Pond Mountain Wilderness Area. In the pristine Laurel Fork watershed. More info: www.southernenvironment.org.

Shope Creek, Pisgah National Forest, N.C.: The Forest Service is proposing to log 68 acres and reconstruct five miles of forest roads in a pristine 1,500 acre old-growth forest just five miles outside of Asheville. In addition, the agency wants to reconstruct nearly five miles of roads, most of which currently exist as footpaths. Outdoor groups have drafted an alternative proposal based on public input that achieves Forest Service goals while minimizing disturbance to the forest. More info: www.sabp.net.

OUTDOOR DICTIONARY

MOUNTAIN MONEY: Toilet paper. Just as cigarettes are the currency of prisons, toilet paper can get you anything you want on a long thru-hike.

VITAMIN I: Ibuprofren, a standard for thru-hikers and endurance athletes.