Cross Posted from WIRT
Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) and allied activists have invited hundreds of tribal and non-tribal friends, students, and supporters in north central Idaho, the Treasure Valley, and beyond to the following events. Please participate and contact WIRT at wild.idaho.rising.tide@gmail.com and/or 208-301-8039 to arrange carpools from the Moscow/Pullman area to Bellingham, Boise, Helena, and Lapwai.
Sign the Stop the Megaloads Petition (Ciarra Greene)
A third anti-megaload petition, addressed to Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest Supervisor Rick Brazell, the U.S. President and Congress, the Idaho governor and legislature, and four regional county commissioners, urges the Forest Service to enforce its jurisdiction over megaload shipments across the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest. Warning of the long-lasting effects of environmental and social injustices in the Highway 12 and Alberta tar sands regions, which cannot be repaired through financial settlements, the petition encourages Forest Service adherence to the scientific process and a complete assessment of the possible impacts of megaload transportation through the Wild and Scenic River corridor, before megaload transit authorization.
On behalf of WIRT’s 2000 members, our signature and comments on this petition added 5500 signatures, by incorporating the 3500 online and in-person signatures of the Petition to Deny Permits for Transport of Massively Oversized Equipment on U.S. Highway 12, submitted to the Idaho Transportation Department and Governor Otter, and the approximately 2000 online and in-person signatures of the currently circulatedPetition to Deny Permits for Massively-Oversized Transports in the Northwest and Northern Rockies, addressing elected and appointed officials in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington.
Please add your name and comments to the petition to Stop the Megaloads’ 700 signatures, and request that all of your associates do the same, via facebook, email, Twitter, and other social media.
Saturday, September 7: Human Rights Day at the Market (City of Moscow)
The annual Human Rights Day information booth near the Friendship Square fountain at the Saturday, September 7, Moscow Farmers Market will feature displays, brochures, children’s activities, and a gallery of pictures and information about Moscow women (including a core WIRT organizer) representing different areas of work, to depict this year’s theme, Women and Work: Supporting Progress toward Equality. Stop by this and the WIRT table between 8 am and 1 pm and take part in community discussions.
Sunday, September 8: Nimiipuu Against Megaloads Teach-In (Nimiipuu Activists)
Nimiipuu Nation community members who are concerned about the recent tar sands megaload protests that occurred on August 5 through 8, 2013, encourage and welcome youth, elders, and people of all ages to participate in a community discussion at the Lapwai City Park and the Pi-Nee-Waus Community Center in Lapwai, Idaho, from 4 to 6 pm on Sunday, September 8. The teach-in aims to provide the Nimiipuu Nation and community information and background about the megaloads and the history of Nimiipuu activism, including the perspectives of nation members who wish to share their knowledge on this topic. Along with dialog about why the Nimiipuu Nation wants to stop the megaloads and support other indigenous communities in their struggles against tar sands exploitation, facilitators will host a community forum on this issue. The teach-in will also offer updates on the federal court case and legalities, in preparation for the hearing on Monday, September 9, in Boise, Idaho. Please bring an open mind, positive attitude, and ideas for next steps. For further information, contact Ciarra Greene at 928-266-6527 or ciarrag@nezperce.org. Moscow/Pullman area carpools depart the WIRT Activist House at 3 pm.
Monday, September 9: Rally for Indigenous Environment (Nimiipuu Activists)
Nez Perce tribal activists and allies are gathering in solidarity on the West Jefferson Street steps of the Idaho Capitol in Boise between 1 and 4 pm Mountain time on Monday, September 9. Please join this anti-megaload rally before the associated federal court hearing, to send a clear, strong, unified message to elected Idaho officials that the Highway 12 corridor is not for sale to corporate America. Participants will protest Omega Morgan’s transport of General Electric megaloads to tar sands extraction sites in Alberta, Canada, to speak out against massive water contamination, environmental degradation, and the rape of Mother Earth. Bring your spirit of resistance, voice, signs, banners, and moccasins to stomp on Governor Butch Otter’s plan to stifle tribal sovereignty and treaty rights.
Monday, September 9: Nez Perce Tribe & Idaho Rivers United Hearing (Advocates for the West)
Representing co-plaintiffs Idaho Rivers United (IRU) and the Nez Perce Tribe before federal Judge B. Lynn Winmill at 4:30 pm (originally scheduled at 4 pm) on Monday, September 9, Advocates for the West (AW) attorneys Laird Lucas and Bryan Hurlbutt and contract attorney Natalie Havlina will seek an injunction against megaloads traveling up the U.S. Highway 12 corridor. On August 8, AW filed the lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service, for its failure to uphold the same court’s February 6 order that the federal agency has the authority and legal responsibility to protect the public Wild and Scenic River corridor from megaloads. The Forest Service did not enforce its own formative rules, when it arbitrarily, capriciously, and with questionable discretion allowed a 255-foot long, 21-foot high, 644,000-pound Omega Morgan-hauled megaload to enter the river corridor on August 7. Everyone is invited to pack the McClure federal building court room at 550 West Fort Street in Boise. Please dress respectfully, arrive early, and continue to stand in support of the Nez Perce Tribe and IRU, for this historic hearing.
Idaho Rivers United and the Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee chair are conducting a press conference either at noon on the State Capitol steps and/or after the hearing on Monday, to maximize opportunities for public attendance. IRU has also reserved space for allies to converge at 6 pm on Monday evening, in the Boiler Room at the Bardenay Restaurant and Distillery, 610 Grove Street in Boise.
To travel to these events, Moscow/Pullman area carpools leaving the WIRT Activist House at 6 am on Monday morning can offer six round-trip rides and possible lodging in Boise, if each participant pitches in about $25 or more in gas funds, depending on the number of riders.
AW Files Suit to Stop Megaloads from Traveling up Highway 12 (Advocates for the West)
Thursday, September 12: Learn the WIRT Song (Jeanne McHale)
Core WIRT activist Jeanne McHale calls for your assistance: “Planet-loving musicians needed! Anyone who is interested in learning to sing and play with any instrument The Tide is Rising, written by Melanie Harby and Roy Zimmerman, we are gathering for a practice at the WIRT Activist House at 7 pm on Thursday evening, September 12. Send me a personal message for more info and an MP3 of the song. My goal is to get as many people as possible to join in performing this song at the fundraiser planned for September 20 at the Unitarian Church in Moscow. The concert will benefit Nez Perce tribal activists who were arrested during the recent blockades of Omega Morgan-hauled megaloads. I have the notes, chords, and lyrics of the song, if you want them. The upcoming group performance will be in another key than the original, recorded version. This is a powerful song and a very worthy cause. Peace Band members, WIRT activists, and random musical cohorts with whom I would love to work, I hope you will join me. All are welcome!” WIRT activists are eagerly anticipating this learning experience and benefit concert with all of you. Thanks, Jeanne! Please direct inquiries about the location of the WIRT Activist House through personal messages to WIRT.
The Tide is Rising (Melanie Harby & Roy Zimmerman)
Sunday & Monday, September 15 & 16: September Showdown Against Coal Exports (Coal Export Action)
Our Montana comrades sent us this email alert to invite interested activists to Helena. At least two WIRT members will participate in this great event. Sign up, contact WIRT about carpools, travel to Big Sky Country, and visit a rail line with Coal Export Action and us!
“This summer, the climate movement grew in unprecedented ways. In Maine, activists blocked a train carrying oil from the Bakken shale fields. In Idaho, members of the Nez Perce tribe blockaded a highway to stop the transport of drilling equipment to the Alberta tar sands. In Richmond, California, more than 200 protesters were arrested for trespassing at a Chevron oil refinery.
This month, it’s Montana’s turn. On September 15, people from across the region will converge in Helena, Montana, for a direct action to reclaim our future from the biggest carbon polluter of all: the coal industry.
Whether you’re ready to participate in civil disobedience, or want to support others doing so, you can help stop Big Coal in Montana. Sign up for the September Showdown Against Coal Exports!
Companies like Arch Coal want to open vast new areas in Montana to mining, so they can export coal overseas. Rail towns like Bozeman, Helena, and Missoula would see increased coal dust, diesel fumes, and noise pollution from uncovered coal trains headed to the West Coast. When it’s burned overseas, coal from Montana could become one of the largest new sources of carbon pollution on the planet.
The Coal Export Action network is coordinating a direct action to take back our rail lines from the coal industry. Rail should be used to transport agricultural goods and clean energy equipment, and we’ll drive this point home with a peaceful, disciplined civil disobedience on September 15.
If you’re not quite ready to risk arrest, there are other ways to get involved. At noon on September 15, before the direct action, we’ll hold a family-friendly rally in Helena’s Hill Park. The next morning, on September 16, we’ll take our message directly to state officials in the State Capitol building. These are both opportunities to support those risking arrest.
You can help make this action a success, as we take back the future of our health, climate, and railways from the coal industry. Sign up to join the September Showdown Against Coal Exports!”
Join September’s Showdown Against Coal Exports (Coal Export Action)
Wednesday & Tuesday, September 25 & October 1: Spokane and Tri-Cities Anti-Coal Rallies
Occupy Spokane and WIRT are co-coordinating demonstrations of public outrage at the Millennium Bulk (coal export) Terminals Longview public scoping hearings. We will send testimony talking points and carpool transportation schedules soon. Meanwhile, please see the Columbia Riverkeeper guide to providing oral and written testimony about Longview’s proposed coal export project and the pertinent Washington Department of Ecology website pages for more information and comment submission.
9/17: Cowlitz Expo Center in Longview, 9/25: Spokane Convention Center in Spokane,
10/1: The Trac Center in Pasco, 10/9: Clark County Fairgrounds in Vancouver,
10/17: Tacoma Convention Center in Tacoma
What Can We Do to Stop Coal Exports in Longview? (Columbia Riverkeeper)
Millennium Bulk Terminals Longview Proposal (Washington Department of Ecology)
Thursday & Friday, September 26 & 27: Carbon Exports Forum & Rising Tide Regional Summit (Northwest Rising Tide Groups)
Although Portland Rising Tide in Oregon comprises a very large and established chapter of Rising Tide North America, nascent Cascadia groups have only recently emerged or re-started in Bellingham, Olympia, Seattle, and possibly Vancouver, Washington, and in Victoria and Vancouver, British Columbia. At the University of Washington in Seattle, various Rising Tide colleagues from Moscow, Olympia, Portland, and Vancouver are converging on Thursday, September 26, to host the Carbon Exports Forum, a panel presentation and discussion about 20 proposed Northwest fossil fuel projects and radical resistance to them throughout the region. After this event, a dozen or more co-workers and friends will gather for a celebration at an activist’s house and possibly stay for the night, before heading together on Friday morning to a private farm setting near Bellingham.
On that last September Friday, Rising Tide groups are holding a regional summit in Bellingham, to meet each other and expand our relationships and to build and coordinate coherent strategies in our local campaigns and as a regional network. Maximizing the summit’s focus on strategy, a facilitator will lead conversations, and participants will not engage in skill shares or workshops. Because many of the fossil fuel export projects on the coast connect to Alaska, Idaho, and Montana (as through coal and Bakken shale oil trains from inland mines to ocean ports), we need to develop a unified strategy that supports each other in escalating the fight against climate chaos. After the Mount Vernon, Washington, Interstate 5 bridge collapse caused by a megaload, our comrades on the West Coast feel a connection and affinity with WIRT, and have been asking how they can help with our work against the tar sands invasion, besides actually coming to Idaho, which some folks are considering. As one of the earlier Northwest chapters, we would be more than welcome at the summit, despite the distance of the trip to it. WIRT has promised to do our best to bring a few activists to participate in the panel and the strategy session, which will cover both incoming and outgoing tar sands and other fossil fuel infrastructure resistance. Please call WIRT (or expect a call, core activists!) for more information.
Wild Idaho Rising Tide
P.O. Box 9817, Moscow, Idaho 83843
WildIdahoRisingTide.org
Facebook.com/WildIdaho.RisingTide
Twitter.com/WildIdahoRT
208-301-8039