Western Mining Action Network (WMAN)
Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN)
Mini-Grant Recipients
October 2013
1. Alliance For Appalachia, Kentucky
The Alliance for Appalachia is a regional, Central Appalachian coalition that works to end destructive coal mining practices and build a brighter future for the region. The coalition was founded in 2006 and currently has 13 member groups and growing. The Alliance was formed out of a need to have coordinated strategy in the central Appalachian region to address social justice problems. Today they work together to build regional strategy and help ensure that grassroots groups are fully represented in federal policy initiatives.
The Alliance will use funds for their Clean Water Campaign. The Alliance will work with local communities to engage with federal policies initiatives that will lead to improved water quality across central Appalachia. Funds from this grant will be used to help support local residents to travel to the regional EPA offices in December to meet with and speak to decision makers to ensure a clean energy future for the US.
2. Asubpeeschoseewagong Oshkaadiziwag Kagobewat (AOK, or Grassy Narrows Youth Organization), Ontario
AOK is a new organization that formed at the 2014 Grassy Narrows Youth Gathering, specifically in response to a workshop on environmental impacts from mining. The purpose of the new organization is to empower a new generation of youth leaders in the community that will have the skills and supports needed to organize for the purpose of protecting land in GNFN traditional territory, while promoting and empowering traditional land use activities.
AOK will use funding for the Save Keys Lake campaign, with the goal of protecting a pristine lake on Grassy Narrows First Nation traditional territory from logging, mining and other threats. The campaign also includes a broader education component focused on land use activities and environmental threats to Grassy Narrows territory. The funding will be used for a strategic planning process and campaign launch.
3. Bad River Watershed Association, Wisconsin
A group consisting of Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa members, a local chapter of the League of Women Voters and Northland College faculty began meeting in 2001 to discuss the need for a watershed council in the Chequamegon Bay area of Lake Superior. The Bad River Watershed Association (BRWA) officially formed in 2002, and has sustained a watershed-wide volunteer watershed water quality monitoring program for over eight years.
BRWA will utilize funding to attend the outreach and educational events to inform the public about mining issues, recruit new membership, and promote its advocacy for the watershed, including the Wisconsin Wetlands Association conference and Canoecopia. BRWA will also use fuding to present a technical paper at the Wisconsin Wetlands Association conference in La Crosse, WI. This gathering of wetland ecologists, conservationists, and outdoor sports enthusiasts will be an excellent forum for bringing BRWA’s mission and programs—in particularly monitoring and public outreach response to proposed mining in the watershed—to a statewide audience.
4. Black Mesa Water Coalition, Arizona
Black Mesa Water Coalition (BWMC) is dedicated to preserving and protecting Mother Earth and the integrity of Indigenous Peoples' cultures, with the vision of building sustainable and healthy communities. BMWC was formed in 2001 by a group of young inter-tribal, inter- ethnic people dedicated to addressing issues of water depletion, natural resource exploitation, and health promotion within Navajo and Hopi communities.
Funds from the WMAN/IEN Grassroots Communities Mini-Grants Program will allow BMWC to pay for legal consult to perform an initial analysis and develop a memo to challenge the coal complex on Black Mesa. BMWC will also organize a meeting with attorneys and Navajo grassroots organizations to develop a strategy for dealing with the highly controversial legislation regarding the Navajo Generating Station (NGS) lease extension. The meeting will be used to present the legal analysis conducted and discuss options for moving forward with this legal strategy.
5. Comstock Residents Association, Nevada
Through both education and advocacy, CRA implements a set of goals focused on ensuring the legacy of the Comstock communities for generations to come:
· Protecting the cultural communities of Gold Hill and Silver City NV, the center of arts and culture in the Virginia City National Historic Landmark,
· Protecting the watersheds, biodiversity and wildlife, all integral to the lifeblood of these communities,
· Building strategic alliances,
· Recruiting an array of voices to promote core values,
· Securing unlimited public access to the unique recreational opportunities for families and outdoor enthusiasts,
· Making sound investments in educational and charitable programs.
Mini-grant funds will be used for a current project to build organizational capacity to defeat an active mining company’s application to amend the county’s master plan and change zoning. If approved, these changes would open the way for full-scale mining operations within the town limits of Silver City, Nevada. Monies will be used to supplement the cost of engaging consultant professional services, including land use legal counsel, an economist, an historic preservation expert, appraisers and environmental planners.
6. Defenders of the Black Hills, South Dakota
Defenders of the Black Hills (DBH) was founded in August, 2002 and has remained a group of volunteers without racial or tribal boundaries with a mission to preserve, protect and restore the environment of the Fort Laramie Treaties. Current projects include the protection of the Black Hills from logging, restoration of the Black Hills for increased wildlife habitat, and the education of the public on the number of abandoned uranium mines.
Funding will be used for DBH to travel to the Black Hills Pow Wow, the largest in the region, attracting more than 10,000 people. DBH will do tabling at the Pow Wow, enabling the organization to pass out print material, sign petitions, and do fundraising.
7. Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness, Minnesota
The Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness (FBWW) was established in 1976 to bring full wilderness protection to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW). This culminated in the passing of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Act in 1978. The Friends has been protecting the wilderness character of the BWCAW and the Quetico-Superior ecosystem ever since through advocacy, education and research.
Friends of the Boundary Waters will use funding for their Comment Campaign to generate public responses to PolyMet Mining Corp’s project proposal for a sulfide mine in northeastern Minnesota. When the supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) is released in late November, FBWW will generate over 10,000 comments by hosting “comment parties,” distributing printed outreach materials, strengthening social media networks, and targeted outreach to key constituencies including tribal organizations, business communities, recreation groups and educational institutions.
8. Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment, New Mexico
The Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment (MASE) is a coalition of grassroots organizations that work to address the legacy of uranium contamination in northwestern New Mexico. MASE was formed in 2008 among communities who shared concerns over uranium-contaminated water, air, and soil and their impacts on the health of residents of our communities. MASE is a diverse coalition that represents the various cultures and ethnicities of our region, including Laguna Pueblo, Acoma Pueblo, Navajo Nation, and Anglo ranching communities who for more than 50 years have been adversely impacted by uranium mining.
MASE will use WMAN/IEN mini-grant funds to pay for technical assistance to have a health physicist work with the community surrounding Homestake Uranium Tailings Pile Superfund Site in identifying an alternate background level and location for temporary storage for contaminated soil. They will also use funds to hold community meetings to keep residents engaged, and for travel to these meetings in 2014.
9 . Native American Educational Technologies, Inc., Wisconsin
Native American Educational Technologies, Inc. (NAET) began during the Mole Lake verses Exxon battle over metallic sulfide mining in the Ceded Territory of northern Wisconsin. NAET is a 501(c)3 (since 2001) and has faced many tribal preservation struggles and have partnered with tribes and non-tribal environmental groups to help preserve the clean air, water, land, and traditional way of life needed for hunting/fishing and gathering.
NAET seeks funding to work with the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa tribe and Bad River Anishinaabe to set up a Harvest Camp in the Penokee Hills, on top of the proposed mine site where a West Virginia based strip mining company plans to develop the largest open pit, mountain top removal, iron mine in the world. Funds will be used for travel, printing of outreach material, and tech support.
10. Nizhoni Media KNIZ 90.1 FM, New Mexico
KNIZ 90.1 FM in Gallup, NM is a noncommercial, full-power, educational class radio station, licensed since 2006. Their mission is to be not just a radio station but an all inclusive healing agent that uses media as medicine. KNIZ’s goal is to heal the local community with dialogue addressing the many dilemmas by including all demographics.
Funding is requested to fund the Watchdog Project, formed to encourage youth to develop investigative citizen journalism skills by offering guidance and a legitimate, well-known media outlet to present concerns about resource extraction. The funding will provide technical training and equipment, allowing youth to generate mining-related programs that will be free and easy to access in rural and urban areas, with or without internet access.
11. Organized Village of Kasaan, Alaska
The Organized Village of Kasaan (OVK) is a federally recognized tribal government that was established on October 15, 1938. OVK is a federally recognized tribe and 501(c)3 non-profit corporation. The organization consists of a seven member tribal council that serves 100+ tribal memberships.
Funding will be used to help enable a Southeast Alaska (Tongass) Tribal Summit on Prince of Wales Island to discuss and implement specific actions to protect downstream water quality, fish and cultural values from massive mining development proposed for the Unuk River watershed in NW British Columbia. The goal is to create a joint resolution from all Tribes and Tribal communities. Monies will support review assistance of the project, and facilitate travel and lodging for the summit.
12. Rivers Without Borders, British Columbia and Alaska
Rivers Without Borders (RWB) is a U.S. and Canadian nonprofit conservation organization dedicated to sustaining the ecological and cultural values of the northwest British Columbia - southeast Alaska transboundary watersheds. These watersheds are mostly unprotected but as yet amazingly intact. RWB was formed in 1999, rooted in successful international efforts to stop the Windy Craggy mine proposal in the Alsek-Tatshenshini watershed.
A proposal to develop one of the largest open pit mines in North America threatens one of the continent’s wildest and most important salmon rivers. RWB seeks funds to help address an unanticipated and immediate need to generate strong comments and get them submitted as part of an Environmental Assessment review process. Funds will be used to:
· Help pay for Ketchikan campaigner contracted services at a critical time;
· Pay for the services of a technical expert to review the EA and assist with the preparation of comments;
· Pay for a community outreach meeting planned in Juneau and for outreach materials.
13. Ross River Dene Traditional Knowledge Program, Yukon
Ross River Dene Traditional Knowledge Program (RRDTKP) has been active for 8 years. Their goals are (1) to collect and protect ancestral knowledge (traditional knowledge); (2) to apply this knowledge toward land planning and management; and (3) to provide programs to educate youth in environmental management and cultural awareness.
With funding from the mini-grant program, RRDTKP will participate in the development of a new mining exploration regime in the Yukon. This opportunity is an outcome of a recent Supreme Court ruling that requires that prior to a mining claim being recorded or worked, that the prospector must consult and accommodate the concerns of the First Nation. Funding will be used for travel to technical workshops with Government employees, as well as meetings to seek feedback from industry representatives.
14. Save Our Sky Blue Waters, Minnesota
Save Our Sky Blue Waters (SOS) is concerned about the risks associated with potential metallic sulfide mining proposals in Minnesota, and across the Great Lakes Region. SOS is headquartered in Duluth, MN since 2005 and consists of residents of northeast Minnesota who oppose the opening of a sulfide mining district in what is now Superior National Forest, and who live downstream of existing and proposed mining projects.
Grant funds will be used to hire an expert in mercury groundwater transport to help ensure that mercury a local mine does not contribute to water quality violations and to unsafe mercury levels in fish, which already impact downstream residents. Currently, the Environmental Impact Statement and wastewater discharge permit application for this proposed mine includes no analysis of the mercury that would leach into the Partridge River from mine pits and waste rock stockpiles.
15. Save the Scenic Santa Ritas, AZ
Save the Scenic Santa Ritas (SSSR) formed in 1996 to protect the scenic, aesthetic, recreational and wildlife values of the Santa Rita Mountains through education and outreach, including protection of the Santa Ritas from degradation due to mining activities. Their main focus was stopping the ASARCO/Forest Service land exchange in the Rosemont Valley of the Santa Ritas, and preventing an open pit copper mine there.
Save the Scenic Santa Ritas seeks grant funding to complete phase two of their outreach project Lens on the Land – Rosemont: What’s at Stake. They will use funds to print images for the project and send the exhibit on tour around Tucson and beyond. Lens on the Land is a collaborative project initiated by volunteer photographers, Save the Scenic Santa Ritas, Sky Island Alliance, the Sonoran Institute, and other key partners in Southern Arizona to shed light on what is at stake with the proposed Rosemont Mine through a series of photographic exhibitions and outreach efforts.
16. Secwepemc Nation Youth Network, British Columbia
Secwepemc Nation Youth Network (SNYN) is a network of Indigenous youth, Elders and families committed to protecting/defending Secwepemc Territories for the future of culture, land and languages. SNYN formed in 2002 in response to the need for a youth-inspired organization to speak for the protection of land and water.
Secwepemc Nation Youth Network will use funds for ongoing organizing, education, and mobilization against the Imperial Metals Ruddock Creek project. Their goal in 2014 is to gain majority support in surrounding communities against this lead and zinc mine that threatens one of the largest sockeye salmon runs in the world and their Sacred Headwaters. Funds will cover travel for meetings and printing of outreach materials.