HERE. - Rock the Earth

President’s Message
“Out of all those millions and millions of planets floating around there in space, this
is our planet, this is our little one, so we just got to be aware of it and take care of it.”
– Paul McCartney
It’s often been said that “it’s darkest before the
dawn” and never has that age-old adage been more
appropriate to describe Rock the Earth’s road over the
past several years during a challenging economy. But
from the dawn of 2012, we knew that Rock the Earth had
not only survived the worst economy in a generation but
was well on the road to recovery and success. In fact,
2012 turned out to be one of our most successful years
in our short nine-year history. Whether viewed from the
standpoint of program accomplishments and progress in
environmental cases, concert dates worked in a year (our
2nd highest year ever), new and renewing members, or
partnerships with other organizations, 2012 was a year
of tremendous growth and success for the organization.
Nowhere was this organization’s success more evident
than in the June 22, 2012 Federal Court victory in
our long-standing litigation against the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) over a drilling plan for Colorado’s
Roan Plateau – one of the last remaining wildernessquality
lands in the state. As a primary basis for her
decision to remand the case back to BLM for further
study, Judge Marcia Krieger specifically cited to Rock
the Earth’s 2005 argument to BLM that a communityapproved
plan to restrict drilling to areas outside of the
areas in question was a viable and reasonable option
that BLM had improperly failed to consider. Although the
organization has chalked up several key environmental
victories and has been on the receiving end of favorable
outcomes over our brief lifetime, this decision marked
Rock the Earth’s first court victory!
In addition to the victory on the Roan, some of the other
highlights contained within this 2012 Annual Report are:
Rock the Earth brought the third lawsuit in
the organization’s history by joining with other
conservation organizations to sue the National
Park Service over the proposed Roseland to
Susquehanna Power Line. This project would
result in a massive power line super-structure
being constructed through what is collectively the
most utilized unit in the National Park System in
the Northeastern United States – the Delaware
Water Gap National Recreation Area and across the
Appalachian National Scenic Trail.
Rock the Earth announced our first formal
partnerships with national and regional
organizations in which our organization provided
public education, outreach, and citizen engagement
campaigns on behalf of other organizations. This
year, we addressed mountain top mining on behalf
of Earthjustice, and worked with Friends of
Browns Canyon/The Wilderness Society on
their campaign to have Browns Canyon declared a
new National Monument.
For the seventh consecutive year, Rock the Earth
created compelling environmental programming at the
Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, with a series
of artist interviews, panel discussions and musical
performances on the theme of Social Change
Through Music. In addition, for the third time in as
many years, we hosted Green Screens Presented
by Rock the Earth, a series of award-winning
environmental films, in Bonnaroo’s Cinema Tent.
Rock the Earth had a presence at 192 concert dates
throughout the United States in 2012, working with
such high-profile artists as My Morning Jacket,
The Dave Matthews Band, Wilco, Allman
Brothers Band and the Barenaked Ladies.
Rock the Earth’s volunteer legal and technical
staff reviewed and/or worked on 13 separate,
substantive issues and projects brought to our
attention by Rock the Earth supporters in the music
community.
As this report demonstrates, 2012 was a year of
tremendous progress, solidifying our place as a fixture in
the music and environmental communities. With strong
tailwinds at our back, I am enthusiastic about Rock the
Earth’s potential to grow in new ways in 2013. Through
our new programmatic partnerships with national
organizations such as Earthjustice and The Wilderness
Society, we can continue to leverage our volunteer
network and our brand in the music industry to raise