Camp Blanton rejects environmental groups

Last week the board of directors at Camp Blanton in Harlan County canceled the reservations of two environmental groups, Kentucky Heartwood and Mountain Justice, who had been planning to hold  meetings at the camp over the Memorial Day weekend.  A spokesman for the board explained the action saying, "board members didn't want to get the camp involved in the kind of controversies that they're involved in."  This move will likely cost Harlan County more than $10,000 dollars in lost revenue and does nothing to help the community.

Today the Lexington Herald-Leader published an editorial on the issue entitled, "Wrong way to promote tourism."

A member of the Camp Blanton board would say only that the board had pulled the reservations because it didn't want to involve the camp "in the kind of controversies" in which the environmental groups are involved, an apparent reference to opposition to mountaintop removal mining.

Well, here's a news flash: The kinds of tourists who drive for hours to walk in the woods, watch birds, sleep in a tent or cast a fly probably aren't going to be big fans of blowing up mountains and burying streams.

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