Valley Futures

More than 160 Vermonters threw down $50 per ticket Monday night to join hometown heroine Grace Potter at the Big Picture Theater in a musical benefit for the people of earthquake-ravaged Haiti. The Eames Brothers warmed up the lively audience with an hour of upbeat roots-y blues, accompanied by Nocturnals drummer Matt (a.k.a. Cado) Burr, before Grace took the stage at 9:30 in a rare solo (and I use the term loosely) performance for the standing-room-only crowd.

Big Picture owner Claudia Becker introduced Grace by thanking everyone for raising more than $10,000 for Haiti to be channeled through a local nonprofit called Amurtel. The fundraising included young Mad River Valley’ites who contributed their art to the Waitsfield Elementary School art auction currently on display in the Big Picture lobby. (Don’t miss it!)

Amurtel’s Joni Zweig, who was on the ground in Haiti assisting earthquake victims just two days after the January 12 disaster, spoke movingly about the tragedy, the resilience of the Haitian people, the importance of music and dance, and her hope that Vermonters would remember to support Haiti and the Haitian people in the weeks ahead.

With “Creature From The Black Lagoon” playing on the giant movie screen behind her, Grace kicked off the evening with a soulful acoustic guitar version of “Take Me Down To The Water,” followed by an acoustic version of “Ah Mary,” a thinly-veiled critique of the U.S. Empire and the first track of GPN’s most recent release “This Is Somewhere.”

Like so:

She’s the beat of my heart/
She’s the shot of a gun/
She’ll be the end of me and maybe everyone/
Ah Mary Ca…”

Grace then moved to the keyboard where she introduced “Colors,” a gorgeous song to be featured on her soon-to-be-released new album exploring Americans’ varied reactions to the Obama 2008 presidential election, written, she explained, when she was in St. Louis.

Here is a bit of the chorus:

This is the greatest time of day/
When all the clocks are spinning backward/
and all the ropes that bind begin to fray
And all the black and white turns in to colors.

Grace then led into another new Nocturnals collaboration, with Benny (GPN’s newest guitarist) and Matt Burr jumping up on stage to help sing about a woman who’s “got the medicine that everybody wants,” with a rousing instrumental finale that infused the Monday night crowd with renewed energy. They followed this up with an electric guitar screamer featuring both Grace and Benny on the six strings (times two), and an “Oo La La call and response” format that got the crowd going.

Explaining that a Nocturnals trio (Grace, Benny and Matt) was soon heading to London for a series of gigs during their official time off, the band then moved into “Ain’t No Time” from “This Is Somewhere,” playing it as a straight-ahead rocker with some tasty Hammond B organ licks for solo fodder. (Grace confided that the band hadn’t played that one in a year.)

The moment of transcendence, for me anyway, came late in the evening, when Grace performed both “Apologies” and “Big White Gate” solo with just the organ, lit by Big Picture lighting technician James Kinne’s deep green pinpoint laser light arrangement, before closing with a few classics, including a shimmying version of an old Otis Redding favorite – “Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay.”

All in all, a beautiful evening of music for a good cause. Mad River has much for which to be thankful, as our community reached out to the people of Haiti on a clear winter night.

Tags: Arts and Media, Uncategorized by Rob Williams
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For the Pleasure of Knowing our Neighbors: Community Potluck Suppers Begin this Month

Starting this month, valley residents are invited to join monthly community potluck suppers for the pleasure of enjoying each other’s company and getting to know neighbors.  “It’s just like the good old days!” says local farmer David Hartshorn.  The suppers will be held at the Waitsfield United Church on Sundays at 6 pm.  This month’s supper will take place on January 24th and subsequent suppers will be held the last Sunday of the month through May.  Bring your family, friends, visitors, and a dish to share.  (Also bring your own place setting to avoid extra trash.  Compostable tableware will be available as well.)  The suppers are sponsored by the Valley Futures Network, a grassroots, citizen effort focusing on building a healthy and sustainable 21st century future for Mad River Valley communities.  For more information contact Jill Arace at jarace@gmavt.net, 496-9974.

Free music will begin at 7:30 provided by the Mad River Valley Music Bank.

Tags: Uncategorized by Joshua Schwartz
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It is probably safe to say that Cormac McCarthy’s 2006 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “The Road” is one of the bleakest stories ever written by an American author. Crafted in McCarthy’s immediately recognizable prose – lean, taut, spare, and devoid of anything but the barest description – “The Road” recounts the tale of a Father and Son’s harrowing journey across a post-apocalyptic U.S. landscape rendered dead by a mysterious nuclear blast. Menaced by cannibalistic bands of nuked-out nomads, plagued by desperate attempts to find edible food and drinkable water, the duo’s deepest challenge is, oddly enough, a spiritual one – how to find meaning in a world in which meaning itself has completely been obliterated?

“The Road’s” readers seem to fall into two camps, either rejecting the novel as “too dark” (“black” it undeniably is), or embracing McCarthy’s desire to “go there,” exploring the deepest and darkest places in human civilization’s collective soul. (I fall into the latter category, finding the book absolutely mesmerizing.) At one point in the novel, the two post-armageddon travelers stumble into a clearing where they find, horrifically, a human baby impaled on a spit post-grilling, and the reader realizes that, indeed, Dorothy, we are not in Kansas any more.

And yet, in some oddly compelling way, “The Road” finds its power and promise in the redemptive relationship between father and son. The love they nurture for one another – they are “carrying the fire” – propels them onward toward the safety of the coast, with each new challenge strengthening the emotional bond between them. “I’ll take care of you. I’ll kill anyone who tries to hurt you,” says the Man to the Boy at one point. “’Cause that’s my job.”

Turning McCarthy’s horrific yet strangely hopeful novel into a compelling film is director John Hillcoat’s challenge, and fortunately, he has some potent tools with which to work. His two protagonists are near-perfectly cast: the reliably understated Viggo Mortensen as the Man, and young acting sensation Kodi Smit-McPhee as the Boy. Despite its bleak theme, too, the story possesses a natural made-for-Hollywood mojo – Jack Kerouac meets Mad Max. The toughest part of Hillcoat’s job is capturing the nuanced development of the father/son relationship while, at the same time, painting the post-apocalyptic backdrop in a manner that is realistic but doesn’t either distract or overwhelm the viewer.

No easy task, and many of the film’s critics have already charged Hillcoat with “exercising too much caution” with McCarthy’s no-holds-barred story “Why didn’t he show the ‘baby on a spit’ scene?” groused one critic in one national newspaper of record.

Maybe because the terrifying nature of the story speaks for itself without resorting to visual shock. Hillcoat’s film is full of scenes of desolation and long stretches of relative silence, and while the mournful musical score is a bit schmaltzy at moments, Hillcoat wisely uses sound to his advantage. The duo’s journey is punctuated by horrifying adventures and small ironies: they travel with a shopping cart, the uber-symbol of 20th century consumer civilization, and discover remnants of the way things were – a dusty Coke can here, an abandoned cellar full of canned goods (Vitamin Water and Cheetos – product placement has never tasted so good) there.

We’re the good guys, right?” The Boy asks at one point. “Always will be,” the Man replies.

And always, looming over them, the possibility of suicide by the one bullet left in their pistol – a much better option than being captured, cooked, and eaten.

I was almost as mesmerized by the movie as the book. “The Road” provides me with a strange sort of hope, as human civilization confronts a series of converging crises – financial, energetic, environmental. The world can’t possibly get as bad as McCarthy’s novel suggests, as long as 21st century communities can organize and re-localize, and we manage to stave off nuclear armageddon. Perhaps McCarthy has done us a favor by painting a ‘worst-case scenario” by which we may measure the success of our own re-localization efforts.

Here’s hoping.

Tags: Uncategorized by Rob Williams
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This fall marks the beginning of a new relationship between the Mad River Valley and the University of Vermont’s Department of Community Development Applied Economics. An undergraduate service learning course, titled “Local Community Initiatives,” will analyze and participate in a handful of the Valley’s community organizations.

The 14 UVM students in the course will partner with the Valley Futures Network and Mad River Valley Planning District to take an active role in local projects in the Mad River Valley. Through local project work, case studies, course texts, student research and class discussions, the students will learn about the different ways that community-members work together to identify challenges, resources and solutions and how they envision their future.

The students will break into groups to focus on three projects throughout the semester: a research-based analysis of the organizational structure of the Valley Futures Network, a similar analysis of the Mad River Path Association focusing on membership, and an inventory of renewable energy projects in the Valley. 

A dessert potluck kick-off event is schedule for Wednesday, 9/16, 6:45-9 PM at the Center for Whole Communities’ Knoll Farm. This is designed as an opportunity for the students to familiarize themselves with the Valley, meet members of the community, and initiate their student projects. All residents and visitors are encouraged to come and learn more about the work of the Valley Futures Network and the student projects.

The timing of the kick-off event is such to accommodate those that will be participating in the MRV Chamber’s Annual Meeting (5:30-7 PM on 9/16 at the Warren Town Hall). For more information contact the Mad River Valley Planning District’s Joshua Schwartz at 496-7173.

Tags: Announcements, Energy, Transportation, Uncategorized by Joshua Schwartz
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Here’s the trailer for “State of Play.”

(Video disabled by request.)

First, a confession and a digression.

I confess that I hated the ending to this film, an utterly unsatisfying conclusion that gives the phrase “cop out” a new and pathetic yardstick. If I weren’t committed to nonviolent secession, I’d suggest that the scriptwriter be water boarded by the same U.S. government officials who seem to continually advocate the practice for the “evil doers” here in what we call “real life.”

That said (and I now digress), you know a new Hollywood movie exploring the unfolding train wreck that is 21st century U.S. mainstream journalism (against a backdrop of government and corporate corruption, no less!) may turn out to be reasonably engaging when said film’s opening sequence features a tune by Newfoundland party boy band “Great Big Sea” – and not just any tune, but their iconic “Paddy Murphy,” one of the best drinking songs ever penned and performed.

No surprise, perhaps, as GBS front man Alan Doyle and actor Russell Crowe are, in fact, drinking buddies. And Crowe is the front man in “State of Play,” acting as Cal McAffrey, a “Washington Globe” newsman as disheveled and unkempt as the 21st century news business itself. McAffrey represents Hollywood’s mythologizing of the prototypical “courageous and enterprising journalist” – think Woodward and Bernstein meet Edward R. Murrow without the tie and smokes. McAffrey seems principled, meticulous, and driven, working out of a tiny office cubicle surrounded by faded newspaper articles – code for the anachronistic print-driven media and a dying (so the pundits moan) 21th century industry. Oh, and he also has a sign on his desk that reads “Never trust an editor.”

McAffrey’s desperate publisher, Cameron Lynne, (a sneeringly capable Helen Mirren) has newspapers to peddle, and new headlines in the form of a breaking story involving the murder of senator’s “aide” Sonia Baker that may be the next salacious (and saleworthy) crisis de jour. Senator Stephen Collins (a wooden Ben Affleck) is the politician in question. Turns out, he’s an old friend of Crowe’s investigating the “Defense” Department’s outsourcing practices to private corporations doing business in Iraq and Afghanistan. (This would never happen in real life, of course.). The mysterious death of Collins’ assistant, and his very public emotional reaction to the news, raises immediate red flags for those paying close attention, including an enterprising young “Capital Hill” blogger named Della Frye (actress Rachel McAdams, and true to stereotypical form, she is young, perky and easily excited.) The crusty McAffrey does not think highly of Internet-driven journalism, we soon learn. “Was Collins sleeping with Baker?” Frye asks McAffrey early on in the investigation. “I’d have to read a couple of blogs before I form an opinion,” McAffrey snaps in response.

Collins, his staffers, and his estranged wife fire up damage control by making a public statement and engaging in desperate acts of P.R. (“padding, platitudes, and fluff,” McAffrey grumbles at one point). McAffrey, meanwhile, is on the case, doing what good investigative journalists are supposed to do: asking questions, following leads, making calls – “All the President’s Men” stuff. His conclusion? Corporate conspiracy. His skeptical publisher buys him some time – and suddenly McAffrey and Frye are working together on the murder. “This is a real story,” McAffrey says to her before they part ways. “It doesn’t require an opinion.”

Got it?

The film, directed by Kevin Macdonald, gives us plenty of twists and turns, just enough “through the newsroom looking glass” shots of suspense, and a much-needed “conflict of interest” critique involving war profiteering, mercenaries-for-hire, and private defense contractors, a story not enough real U.S. daily newspapers of record have found the time and wherewithal to cover. (A second digression – read independent journalist Jeremy Scahill’s book on “defense” contractor Blackwater-turned-Xe if you are looking for a primer.) “State of Play” also raises larger questions about the state of 21st century U.S. journalism’s ability to serve as a “watchdog,” given what is at stake.

And what is at stake?

In the film, our actors of conscience speak of $30-40 billion annually – the so-called “Muslim Terror Gold Rush” involving the for-profit privatization of Homeland Security in the name of prosecuting the
“war on terror” – the war, remember, that Mr. Cheney told us would not end in our lifetimes.

In real life?

Well, I guess we’ll have to wait for the New York Times to tell us, eh?

Or seek out the dozens of independent researchers (and yes, many of them are well-researched bloggers with, brace yourself: facts) who are already telling this story, the gist of which involves the life and death of the U.S. republic itself.

But sadly, this gets lost with the film’s surprise ending.

I left the theater with my head in my hands.

Tags: Uncategorized by Rob Williams
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Valley Walk n’ Roll Festival
Meeting Notes
(Hereby abbreviated to “VWn’RF”)
March 12, 2009 at the Big Picture

In attendance:
Liz Weller
Bobbi Rood
Laura Brines
Dara Torre
Sue Frechette
Dave Cain
Coffee, scones, and oatmeal!

Planning and discussion about events to happen over the course of VWn’RF:
Bike swap (now confirmed) will be on 9th in support of the Health Center. Byways events will be later the same day.
Bike safety training will take place in Barre April 16. Dara asked if Dave would like to represent Valley Moves and be trained. Dave said sure.
Laura is going to check when May Day in Waitsfield is happening.
Dave Cain & Jeremy Gully are going to present a Bicycling Commuter workshop on Tuesday May 12.
Audrey Huffman is going to redo our poster for this year.
Dave will look into doing a Facebook event for the VWn’RF
Bobbi is going to be in touch with Steve Gladchuzk (Way to Go) and Lisa Loomis (Valley Reporter) regarding opportunities to cross promote with Way to Go.
Question about another MOB ride. Can it happen Thursday 14th?

Related meetings coming up:
Mad Bikes- March 19th, 8:15 Three Mtn. Café
Bike Swap-March 27th, 8:00 Three Mtn. Café

Next VWn’RF meeting:
March 26th, 8:15 Three Mtn. Cafe

Tags: Uncategorized by Dave Cain
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NOTE: “Valley Futures Network is a grassroots citizen network working to make the Mad River Valley watershed a more sustainable 21st century community. We hold public meetings every second Friday of the month from 7:45 to 9:00 am – locations vary. Find out how to get involved at www.valleyfutures.net.

Q. How long have you lived in the Valley?

 A. I moved to the Valley in 1979 to take a job as teacher/dorm parent at GMVS, then known as Mad River Ski Academy and located in Moretown.  I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have been able to carve out a professional career in the Valley as a teacher, coach and education program administrator and equally as important, raise a family here. So, as of 2008, I’ve lived in the Valley for thirty years.

Q. What do you most love about the Valley?

 A. I grew up on the “other side” of the Green Mountains, on a dairy farm in the small village of Pittsford, located between the towns of Rutland and Brandon.  I didn’t know the Mad River Valley existed; how’s that for small world perspective?  In my youth, my world evolved around my uncle’s farm, school, local ski areas in the winter and ball fields in the summer.  So, it’s been endlessly fascinating and enjoyable to get to know the history of the people and the geography of the Mad River Valley.  For example, I took a hike up Slide Brook Road the other day and discovered house cellar/barn foundation holes

and rock walls for a farmstead that existed there 100 years ago.   And, as a Fayston Selectboard member, I get a history lesson almost every meeting from our Board Chair, Bob Vasseur, about some interesting aspect of Valley life past and present. Here, I experience the continuity of a rich and rugged past to the interesting challenges of the present day. ”

Q. How did you get involved in the Valley Futures Network?

A. I was a participant in the Valley Vision Community Meeting back in 2005 and experienced both the pitfalls and potential of “one time event” gatherings.   Members of the Mad River Planning District Steering Committee, the Chamber of Commerce, and several community citizens in conjunction with the Center for Whole Communities decided to develop a different approach to engaging Valley citizens in community projects and collaboration – outside of the existing institutional bodies and organizations.

Q. What do you see as the Valley’s biggest challenges as a community looking ahead over the next several years?

 A. Replacing the Valley floor’s woefully inadequate water and sewer infrastructure.  I realize this is a tough challenge but its one that I’m sure we have the capacity and resourcefulness to resolve.

Q. You’ve been instrumental in starting up the “Valley Habitat” working group. How has your experience with this group been for you?

 A. I’ve been impressed with the habitat inventory and planning work that local planning commissions, conservation/natural resource committees have done with the support of various state agencies and not-for-profit groups.  Our habitat working group has been able to provide a forum for the four towns of the Mad River Watershed to coordinate  habitat research, citizen outreach and engagement.  Under the auspices of the Mad River Valley Planning District we are engaged with the Vermont Agency of Forest and Parks, Vermont Natural Resources Council, Vermont Audubon, Northern Forest Alliance to provide a series of public information and discussion forums that have and will continue to move the Mad River Valley Watershed towns toward a more coordinated, informed and cohesive set of habitat values and priorities that will lead to enhanced natural resource protection and appreciation.  See our updates on the VFN website.

Q. For anyone interested in the Valley Futures Network, do you have any advice?

A. First of all, this a “come one, come all” community network.  It’s intent is to enhance and build upon current community efforts as well as inspire new, worthy community endeavors.  So, do what you can, when you can – see the VFN website for updates on current and future initiatives!

Tags: Uncategorized by Rob Williams
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I heard a news story the other day that they were about to replace the Lincoln Memorial pennies with something new.  (Hey, wait a minute, didn’t they just do that?)  I remember clearly Kenny in my first grade class bringing in a roll of the new pennies and passing them out to everyone in class.  Kenny’s father owned the Flying “A” gas station with the red Pegasus logo at the new shopping center near the railroad tracks and he was the first in town to get the new currency. 

That was the gas station where I did my first fill-up and waited in line during gas rationing in the 1970s.  And that was the station where my father and younger sister adopted a scrawny yellow Labrador mix that we eventually called Teeny.  My dad grumbled about the new dog but eventually ended up bragging about the dog’s nose and retrieving ability.   Many of my friends had part-time work at that station and it was a big part of our community.

The nearby train tracks led to the big city.  I remember riding the double-decker train cars on our annual shopping pilgrimages to the City of Paris in December.  I think I even have a dog-eared photo of me on Santa’s lap at a time before personal computers, polyesters, and ATMs.   

OK, I know the anchor of this tale happened 50 years ago, but I have a point.

Part of my point is that Flying “A” was gobbled up by Mobil and then eaten again in the Exxon-Mobil merger—no room in that mix for community, dogs, or part-time employment for neighborhood kids.  Gone also are the City of Paris and the railroad tracks where trains sailed freely into the City.  They were torn up to put in an expressway that is constantly bumper-to-bumper.  This latter action was a monumental piece of poor judgment.

I and others lost much when we allowed all of this happen.  So the rest of my point is that maybe instead of charging forward with a new penny or merger or project that we do a better job of considering all the consequences.  We are at a point where the Planet, our economy, and social fabric can no longer absorb our whimsical and ill-formulated decisions.  We have also finally reached a point where we understand that all growth is not always best, bigger is not always better, and ignorance does not always lead to bliss.  Perhaps the economic turmoil, global warming, peak oil, and loss of community are forcing us to grow up and be responsible.  Perhaps in our maturity we will now have the fortitude and moral compass that will allow us to keep the good pennies we need and abandon the bad pennies regardless of how shiny they may be.  We can only hope.

Just some musings….Bob

Tags: Uncategorized by Bob Ferris
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Valley Moves Meeting Minutes   January 8, 2009, Wait House, 6pm
Present:  Sue Frechette, Stan Ward, Liz Weller, Bobbi Rood, James Foreman, Erin Russell Story, Dave Cain, Joshua Schwartz, Laura Brines, Brian Fleischer
Agenda:
Working Group Reports:
*  Shared Transportation: James Foreman and Erin Russell Story, Co-Chairs
The State “Go VT” organization has had a staffing shake up, their website will not be up & running until March ’09 (many months later than expected);  James is developing a website, Madriverforum.com, which he hopes to introduce at the “Hopeful Inauguration” celebration for feedback.  One of the features of this forum will be that folks can post info re. carpooling or vanpooling  possibilities…
James will submit an article about the new website, etc. to the VR in February.

*   Valley Walk and Roll Festival- Dave Cain, Chair
The Festival will be May 11-15, which coincides with the National Bike to Work Week; The State “Way to Go” week, which encourages businesses to support alternative transportation ideas will be, May 5-8.  Dave has been in touch with Steve Gladzuck, of “Way to Go”, and some joint PR will take place.
The Festival will be the same as last year’s, with some new ideas under consideration:
•    A Bike Clinic-  folks would learn how to maintain their bikes by working on the fleet of Mad Bikes (helping the Mad Bikes get serviced while learning new skills)
•    A bike swap (similar to the Ski & Skate Sale)
•    A Women’s Bike Clinic, sponsored by Sugarbush
•    A raffle for a new bike  (fundraiser for the Mad Bikes)
•    2-3 hour bike education courses
•    Other?
Next meeting of the Valley Walk & Roll Festival Working Group:  Feb. 2, 7:30 a.m. at the Three Mtn. Café.  All are welcome!

*  Mad Bikes of Waitsfield- a Town of Waitsfield Committee:  Bobbi Rood, Laura Brines, Liz Weller, Kari Dolan, Peter Lazorchak, Sue Frechette and Troy Kingsbury
The fleet of bikes and all the new bike racks are being stored in James Foreman’s barn;  Laura will write a report for the Waitsfield Town Report;  Hopefully some of the bikes will be worked on by Steve Skilton’s shop class at Harwood Union High School over the winter (Troy will contact Steve);  $2000 grant was received to support this project by the Mad River Valley Rec District.

2.  Valley Moves structure
Working Group Chair functions:  Each working group of Valley Moves has a Chair or Co-Chair.  The Chair(s) will keep in touch via email, and call meetings when needed.  Info regarding these meetings will be posted on the VFN website, via email to the list, and on the new Madriverforum.com
If anyone has a new idea for transportation related project, either share it at the monthly VFN meetings, the quarterly Valley Moves meetings, or communicate via email to create a new working group.

Set 2009 quarterly meeting dates for Valley Moves:
Acting Chairs will: publicize the meeting, create an agenda, take minutes,
bring snacks ☺, etc.
April 9:  Dave, acting Chair
July 9:  Erin, acting Chair
October 8:  Bobbi, acting Chair

VFN Monthly meeting attendance:  we decided not to structure this, 1 or more Valley Moves members will try to attend monthly.

3.  Other ideas:
*  Wind Powered  Electric Cars /Batteries – Dave Sellers:  Bobbi described Dave’s exciting       idea!
•     Brian Fleischer told us about a petition to get businesses in the Ag District (Am. Flatbread, for ex.) to have more flexible zoning possibilities.
•    MRPA survey-  Laura encouraged everyone to do the survey.  The MRPA is in the midst of Strategic Planning.
•    Central VT Rec Trail Group:  Joshua talked about this new initiative, they are working on developing a Central VT Trail Website, similar to Localmotion’s (Burl.)  Hopefully the MRPA will collaborate with this initiative.

Tags: Uncategorized by Bobbi Rood
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This survey will help improve understanding of fuel wood use in the Mad River Valley and provide information useful toward achieving the goal of energy independence.

Please click on this link to open a .pdf of the survey. Print it, fill it out and then send it in to the address included on the survey. Thanks. (And please pass it on!)

MRV Wood Use Survey

Tags: Uncategorized by Tara Hamilton
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