"Bimaaji Nibi: Save the Life of the Water"; sulfide mine updates

From SaveTheWildUP.org

MARQUETTE -- Save The Wild UP has posted a selection from the video "Bimaaji Nibi: Save the Life of the Water," which contains footage of three waterfalls in the Yellow Dog Watershed, highlighting the need to protect our freshwater resources from sulfide mining. The video, produced by Keepers of the Water, a coalition partner, was directed by Barb Bradley and filmed and edited by Amy Parlette with assistance from waterfall guide Kora Mills. In the Ojibwe culture (the first people of the Great Lakes Region) the men are the keepers of the fire and the women are the keepers of the water, "nibi." The project was funded through a grant from the Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) and the Western Mining Action Network (WMAN). The video recently aired on WLUC TV6. Visit Save the Wild UP to view a scene from the video and several other video clips on the sulfide mining issue.

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality recently asked the Kennecott Eagle Minerals Company for a 30-day extension before making a decision on whether to grant the permits for the proposed nickel and copper mine on the Yellow Dog Plains. DEQ Director Steven Chester said since the Department of Natural Resources recently received new information on the mining reclamation plan, the two state agencies will be taking more time for their decision --
until Dec. 14. Read the Nov. 13 article in the Mining Journal.

Comments to the DEQ in opposition to the mining, air use and groundwater discharge permits -- made by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), the Huron Mountain Club (HMC) and the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC) respectively -- are now posted for public access with links from Save the Wild UP. You can also read NWF's "Comments Opposing the Leasing of State Lands to Kennecott Eagle Minerals Company" submitted to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Click here to read the article and to access the links to these documents.

Singer-songwriter Daisy May has made a CD with her new song, "A Letter from Downstream," which she has donated to Save the Wild UP for the cause of stopping the sulfide mine. You can listen to the song or give a donation to download it at Save the Wild UP.

Students Against Sulfide Mining (SASM) will hold a concert from 7 p.m. until midnight on Friday, Nov. 30, at the Ramada Inn of Marquette. Entertainment will include a raffle ( a canoe that retails at $1200, Crescent Moon snowshoes, and an Eagle Nest lounge chair), a presentation by Cynthia Pryor and music by the following bands: Blue Superiors, GrassMonkey, Superior Beats, and Lost Creek. For more information contact SASM at sasm@nmu.edu.

Save The Wild UP will hold a fundraiser at 7 p.m. on Dec. 12, 2007, at the UpFront and Co. banquet room. This event will feature an auction of both items and adventures that showcase life in the UP, for example, guided cross country skiing on North Country Trails with lunch, a pick-up truck load of birch firewood, a massage and an ice-climbing lesson, among others. There will also be a presentation by local historian Fred Rydholm and a slide show of historical photographs of the way of life in the wild UP by Jack Deo of Superior View. Tickets are $20 per person.

This includes a free drink, hors d’œuvres and admission to the presentation and the auction. Read more on Save the Wild UP.