The weekend of October 11-12 saw the first gathering of youth leaders intent upon the creation of a statewide coalition of campus and youth environmental and social justice groups. Hosted at West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon by leaders of Wesleyan's Green Club, the conference was viewed as a tremendous success by all involved. In addition to Wesleyan Green Club members, also participating were representatives from Glenville State College's Student Action group, the Charleston Area Youth Environmental Network, the Student Environmental Action Coalition, and both Marshall and WVU chapters of the Sierra Student Coalition.

This mini-conference was scheduled after a number of social events, retreats, and gatherings over the past couple years prompted the realization that a functional network of like-minded groups across the state could greatly benefit each group's motivation, resources, and influence. After a beautifully colorful couple hours' drive from various parts of the state, representatives assembled for a quick agenda-setting meeting on Saturday evening, adjourning for the benefit of a night of social networking. A crisp Sunday morning began the meetings in earnest, and over the next few incredibly productive hours, leaders hammered out the foundations of the West Virginia Youth Action League's (WV-YAL) mission statement, decision making structures, communication structures, outreach plans, etc.

WV-YAL now stands as a coalition aiming to foster cooperation and communication among organizations "focused on building a sustainable and just economy with green jobs, clean air, land, and water, that transitions our society away from dirty energy as well as social and environmental injustice" (from WV-YAL mission statement). We are currently working on building our network, thus if you or a group you know may be interested in working with us, please contact myself (Trevor Swan) at trevor.swan@seac.org, or our outreach coordinator Justin Burns at justinburns7@gmail.com.