By Madison Hinshaw, Communications Editorial Intern in Spring 2012.

Do you love mountains? Ever have the urge to stand up for the end of mountaintop removal? Well now is the chance to make a difference and fight for the protection of our environment.

This February will bring many opportunities for you to get involved.

Beginning on Feb. 1 in Prestonsburg, Ky., Footprints for Peace will be hosting the Walk for a Sustainable Future. This will be a two-week walk leading up to Kentuckians For The Commonwealth’s annual I Love Mountains Day in Frankfurt, Ky.

Supporters march at I Love Mountains day 2010

The march will be on Tuesday, Feb. 14 and needs the help of all environmental enthusiasts to take an exciting march to the Capitol Building in Frankfurt, Ky., to stand up for clean water, clean air and a stop to mountaintop removal coal mining.

KFTC will be calling on Gov. Beshear and others in the state legislature to serve the public interest by ending mountaintop removal.

All ages are invited to come support this movement and share the same vision of protecting our land.

Signs are encouraged, but if you lack an artistic side don’t worry, many will be provided by KFTC. After all, what is a march without the pickets?

This year, participants are asked to bring small pinwheels for every person at the rally to deliver to Gov. Beshear. KFTC hopes to have 1,200 pinwheels – each representing 50 people living with cancer caused by strip mining.

But that isn’t the only message the pinwheels will be sending. The pinwheels will also represent the hope that wind turbines and clean energy solutions will become more prominent in the future.

The march begins at 12:30 p.m. Afterward, there will be a rally featuring a special guest speaker, Tar Sands Activist Melina Laboucan-Massimo.

So come out and join us for a day of fun – and a movement to better our environment.

For more information and to sign up for I Love Mountains Day, visit Kentuckians For The Commonwealth online at www.kftc.org.