Shawnee Showdown: Keep the Forest Standing – documentary film
Date/Time
Date(s) - 11/18/2021
6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Location
Varsity Center
Categories
SHAWNEE SHOWDOWN: KEEP THE FOREST STANDING A documentary film by Cade Bursell
FREE screening at Varsity Center, 418 S. Illinois Ave, Carbondale, IL on Thursday Nov 18 at 6:30 p.m. Doors and Varsity Bar open at 5:30 p.m.
Masks Required for Entry
During the late 1980s and the1990s, a small, dedicated group of activists fought on the ground and in the courts to stop clear-cutting, oil and gas drilling, and ATV use in the Shawnee National Forest In Southern Illinois. They won the support of their community and the struggle in a landmark court case. Seventeen years later, the court lifted the injunction, and the Forest Service resumed logging.
“Shawnee Showdown: Keep the Forest Standing” portrays through interviews, photographs and news footage the struggle to protect the forest. The film examines the ways the past struggle can serve to inform the public and activists today in responding to current Forest Service management projects.
These activists are once again asking hard questions about public land use. Should our public land be degraded to generate commercial profit for a few? With the effects of climate change intensifying and the knowledge that mature forests sequester more carbon, why not keep the Shawnee National Forest standing as a regional carbon sink? How can the forest remain a healthy habitat for struggling forest species like forest interior and migratory songbirds? Will our Illinois treasure be despoiled? How do we keep the forest standing?
The documentary includes interviews with local activists Deb Bouton, Rene Cook, Mark Donham, Sam Stearns, John Wallace, and Jan Wilder, and Tom Buchele, managing attorney and clinical professor for the Earthrise Institute.
The screening will be followed by a Q & A answer session with the filmmaker and activists.
Watch a trailer of the movie at: https://www.shawneeforestdefense.info/