New Report: Honoring the River

A new National Wildlife Federation report, Honoring the River: How Hardrock Mining Impacts Tribal Communities, tells the story of hardrock mining and America’s Native communities, from the checkered history of federal legislation allowing mining companies to lease minerals on tribal lands—often without tribal consent—to the many new mines being proposed near tribal communities.

DATE: April 25, 2013

TIME: 1:30 p.m. EDT/12:30 p.m. CDT/11:30 a.m. MDT/10:30 a.m. PDT

DIAL-IN: (800) 791-2345, 28134#

SPEAKERS:

• Mike Wiggins, chairman of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians, whose land is threatened by Gogebic Taconite’s proposed open-pit iron mine

• Rich Janssen, head of the Department of Natural Resources at the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in northern Montana. These tribes’ lands are still affected by 100-year old mining operations and the tribes are now fighting two proposed silver mines

• Jessica Koski, mining technical assistant of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, which has been affected by Rio Tinto’s Eagle Mine’s nickel and copper mining operation

• Tracy King, president of the Fort Belknap Indian Community, which was affected by the Zortman-Landusky gold mine

• Tony Turrini, senior attorney for National Wildlife Federation

• Garrit Voggesser, national director of Tribal Partnerships for National Wildlife Federation

The report was endorsed by the following tribes and tribal organizations impacted by hardrock mining: Alaska Inter-Tribal Council, Bad River Band of Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, and the Sokaogon Chippewa Community.

National Wildlife Federation is America’s largest conservation organization inspiring Americans to protect wildlife for future generations.