Anne Markham Bailey, producer and host of Present Tense is joined by Janice Barrett of Wild South, in interviews with 13 of the key warriors who joined together to form a movement to stop the toxic management practices of the US Forest Service that were prevalent through the early 1990’s in the Bankhead National Forest. We hear how each of the warriors played a key role in the process of changing hearts and minds, including grassroots resistance and spiritual practice. Each interview is an episode. We’ll release several per week over a four week period.

Episode One features Lamar Marshall, citizen eco-warrior, founder of the Bankhead Monitor and Wild Alabama that became Wild South. Lamar mapped over 200 miles of the Trail Of Tears across Alabama and has been in the process of mapping Cherokee trails across the Carolinas.

Lamar Marshall and Present Tense Producer Anne Markham Bailey in the Moulton office of Wild South, in Lawrence County, Alabama. Lamar browses an early edition of the Bankhead Monitor.

Lamar Marshall and Present Tense Producer Anne Markham Bailey in the Moulton office of Wild South, in Lawrence County, Alabama. Lamar browses an early edition of the Bankhead Monitor.

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Janice Barrett, Alabama Outreach and Education Coordinator for Wild South, offers the historic context for The Fight For Alabama’s Last Wild Places series. Janice first volunteered as an artist and writer at the Bankhead Monitor in 1992, continuing when it became Wild Alabama in 1994, and Wild South in 2004. 

EPISODES

Lamar Marshall/Butch Walker/Ruth Manasco/Charles Borden/Bob Crow/Chief Grey Fox/Greg Preston/Charles Siefried/Vince Meleski/Larry Smith/Janice Barrett/Rob Cox/Terra Manasco/The Power of the Wild

ABOUT THE WHITE HORSE SINGERS

They attended and performed at the Declaration of Wilderness Areas for the Sipsey River and the Dugger Mountain ceremonies. Says Faron Weeks of the White Horse Singers, “A memory of note, while we were playing a prayer song at the Dugger Mountain ceremony a Red Tail Hawk flew over our drum.  It was a good day.” They currently host pow wows in Alabama and Tenneessee and  will be at the Oakville Indian Mounds in Lawrence County, Alabama on the 3rd weekend of May.

CREDITS

Present Tense Theme Music by Cellist and Composer Craig Hultgren.

Episode Music by The White Horse Singers, a southern style American Indian Drum group.

Thanks to Janice Barrett of Wild South Mouton Office for her endless support in the recording of this series.