Not to sound like a broken record, but unless there is some means of attracting the young people into folk music, unless there is a means for young people to hear folk music and fall in love with it as we all have then .. clubs will continue to close, the music will continue to become silent.

At the risk of sounding harse (and I am not), we all, all of us, have treated Folk music as our own special club. I really think we are all guilty to some extent .. unless the music is opened up, it won't be played where young people can hear it. As I mentioned before there are no young people that I know who have ever heard of a Utah Phillips.   
I don't pretend to have the answer, only that getting the music on areas that young people visit, the youtubes, myspace etc .. maybe just maybe that will help.