Our Work
BCNP and its coalition members regularly advocate in multiple forums to stop the construction of a new federal prison in Letcher County, Kentucky. You can review our work below.
May 27, 2026
The following organizations have submitted a demand letter to the Bureau of Prisons: the Abolitionist Law Center (“ALC”) , Concerned Letcher Countians (“CLC”), Dream.org, Forward Justice (“FJ”), Kentucky Resource Council, Inc. (“KRC”), the Institute to End Mass Incarceration (“IEMI”), Voice of the Experienced (“VOTE”), and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma (“UKB”). The demands are:
01
Rescind the Record of Decision
02
Reopen the Environmental Review Process
03
Conduct a New Round of Public Hearings and Comment Periods
Threatened and Endangered Bat Acoustic Survey Report at a Proposed Federal Correctional Institution in Roxana Kentucky
Prepared for: USFWS KENTUCKY ECOLOGICAL SERVICES FIELD OFFICE
Jan 30, 2026
Congressional Advocacy
1. Letter to Appropriations Committee - Stop 219, Organizational Sign-on Letter
Sept 19, 2023
2. Letter to Rules Committee - Amendment 124, Organizational Sign-on Letter
Nov 14, 2023
3. Letter to Appropriations Committee
July 8, 2024
4. Written Testimony Before the House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies
May 10, 2024
1) Emily H. Posner | General Counsel, Voice of The Experienced
2) Ashley Wilkes | Executive Director, Kentucky Resources Center, INC.
3) Hugh J. Hurwitz | Former BOP Director
4) Dr. Artie Ann Bates | Secretary, Concerned Letcher Countians
5. Testimony Submitted to Senate Appropriations Committee
June 13, 2025
2) Casey D. Swecker, Professional Malacologist/Endangered Species Consultant
3) Concerned Letcher Countians
4) Dr. Judah Schept | Professor of Justice Studies, Eastern Kentucky University
5) Dr. Lydia Pelot-Hobbs | Assistant Professor of Geography, University of Kentucky
6) Hugh Hurwitz | Former BOP Director
7) Institute to End Mass Incarceration
8) Jessie Cage | Voice of the Experienced
9) Jonathan Hootman | borealis Biological
Bureau of Prisons Advocacy
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Comments
Dr. Artie Ann Bates | Mental Health Comment
Jonathan Hootman | Endangered Bat Biologist Comment
Hugh Hurwitz | Former BOP Director Comment
Institute to End Mass Incarceration Comments
Kentucky Resource Center Comments
Dr. Beverly May | Radon Comment
Dr. Beverly May | Silica Comment
Dr. Beverly May | Subsidence Comment
NLG Chicago | Public Comment Opposing FCI Letcher
Dr. David Pellow et al | Environmental Justice Comment
Dr. David Simonton | Engineering and Computer Science Comment
Casey Swecker | Malacologist Comment
Carlton Williams | Assistant Clinic Professor Cornell Comment
This excerpt from the EIS reveals what many had suspected: the Bureau of Prisons only expects to produce “minor benefits” for employment and income.