On Tuesday, October 23, registered, Idaho, non-profit Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) launched the live, 90-day, crowdfunding campaign No Second Railroad Bridge over Idaho’s Largest Lake! on CrowdJustice [1].  We urgently need your help raising funds and organizing support for our petition for judicial review of the June 21, 2018, Idaho Department of Lands (IDL) permit for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway’s (BNSF) proposed construction and operation of two permanent and two temporary, parallel, railroad bridges adjacent to the present rail route across Sand Creek and almost a mile over Lake Pend Oreille, near Sandpoint.

Numerous citizens, groups, and government officials have offered written comments, hearing testimonies, public protests, and media articles during the last few years, expressing our concerns over BNSF’s Sandpoint Junction Connector project.  Dismissing this broad input, the state of Idaho approved BNSF’s encroachment permit.  So we are requesting that the Idaho First District Court in Bonner County conduct a rigorous, judicial review of the IDL record, and remand this agency decision for further IDL consideration.  And we are asking for your financial and outreach assistance of grassroots, volunteer, WIRT activists directly engaged in this legal effort.

WIRT greatly appreciates your physical and fiscal support of our extensive, fossil fuels resistance work over the last eight years.  Your essential participation has contributed to a continent-wide movement that is confronting the root causes of climate change, water degradation, and air pollution, through frontline resistance and solidarity and community solutions.  Among our many successful campaigns, WIRT has never faced such enormous, current, and upcoming expenses needed to access the courts and proceed with this case, including attorney, administrative record, bond, filing, and printing fees.

Please pursue these easy actions that will help us win this crucial litigation aimed at protecting our regional water, environment, and economy from the ongoing and potentially increased traffic, noise, pollution, derailment and collision risks, and catastrophic spills of coal, oil, tar sands, hazardous materials, and other “pipeline-on-wheels” trains in north Idaho and throughout the Northwest:

1. Pledge $25 to $500, or any amount that you can, toward our CrowdJustice campaign at No Second Railroad Bridge over Idaho’s Largest Lake!

2. Share our CrowdJustice link on your personal Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram page or feed, asking your network to donate to our campaign and/or share the link.

3. Email your friends, family, colleagues, and contacts, asking them to contribute and share our CrowdJustice page through their social media and blog sites.

4. Spread the word about our campaign in any other possible way.

Visit the WIRT facebook and website pages for litigation updates [2-5], and contact WIRT for further information about this appeal of a state permit that would adversely impact many aspects of our lives and livelihoods.  Give generously to our legal fund through this crowdfunding platform, the “Donate to WIRT” buttons on our website, or our Sandpoint and Moscow, Idaho, mail boxes.  Also sign our online petition to deny and revoke project permits, which supports our lawsuit claims and issue concerns [6].

Thank you for protecting Lake Pend Oreille and local, community values!

[1] No Second Railroad Bridge over Idaho’s Largest Lake! October 23, 2018 CrowdJustice

[2] WIRT Lawsuit and Petition Against State Railroad Bridges Permit, September 30, 2018 Wild Idaho Rising Tide

[3] Request for Amended Notice of Appeal Filing Extension in Response to Proposed Case Dismissal, August 11, 2018 Wild Idaho Rising Tide

[4] Kalispel Canoe Journey, Sandpoint Festival Spotlight, #No2ndBridge Appeal Participation, July 30, 2018 Wild Idaho Rising Tide

[5] Activists Appeal State Permit for Lake Railroad Expansion, July 26, 2018 Wild Idaho Rising Tide

[6] Petition to Deny and Revoke Permits for the BNSF Sandpoint Junction Connector Project, October 1, 2018 MoveOn Civic Action