On Monday, December 12, at 7 pm MST, representatives of the National Association of Forest Service Retirees (NAFSR) and Friends of the Palouse Ranger District (FPRD) are sponsoring and hosting an educational meeting in the Multipurpose Room of the Riggins High School in Riggins, Idaho.  NAFSR is a national organization that opposes the Upper Lochsa Land Exchange, while FPRD is a local group that has actively challenged the land swap since 2009.  These stalwart guardians of our public lands will provide relevant information and straight answers to all of your questions about this egregious federal acquiescence to land speculator greed.  They will share the inaccuracies and omissions of narratives forwarded by the Forest Service and exchange proponents, the administrative processes and evolution of the trade proposal, and the actions you can engage to oppose the exchange.  Please also visit Stop the Swap! for further insights.

(From WIRT Newsletter)

On Thursday, December 1, the Four Worlds International Institute, the Wilderness Committee, and Hereditary Chief of the Yankton Sioux Tribe and Chickasaw Nation Phil Lane, Jr. will host a public forum about Alberta tar sands pipelines and tankers in British Columbia at the Rio Theatre in Vancouver and via global internet.  The live streamed program will begin at 6:30 pm with the Oceanside Dakota Drum and a 7 pm welcome from Ruben George, the Sundance Chief of the Tsleil-Waututh First Nation, the indigenous peoples of Burrard Inlet who are opposing oil tanker traffic there.  Next, Chief Jackie Thomas of the Saik’uz First Nation, representing the Yinka Dene Alliance of five nations, will discuss the declaration and campaign to stop the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline.  Rex Weyler of Tanker Free BC and Greenpeace will talk about the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline to Vancouver and dredging to accommodate 300 tar sands super tankers per year in Burrard Inlet.  Melina Laboucon-Massimo, a Greenpeace tar sands campaigner from the Lubicon Cree First Nation will share her perspective on the Alberta tar sands.  Canadian author and activist Naomi Klein will explore how the Keystone XL pipeline victory impacts BC and the international climate justice movement.  Lastly, Hereditary Chief Phil Lane, Jr. will offer summary remarks.  Please engage this great opportunity to learn more about these important issues and the role we can play alongside indigenous people stopping these related tar sands developments.  Watch this historic event live on the homepage of Four Worlds International Institute at http://www.fwii.net/.

For more information, see The Tar Sands Stop Here!

Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) organizer Robb Briggs is hosting a strategy session for the national group Tar Sands Action (TSA) at his Pullman home on Wednesday, November 30, starting at 7 pm.  TSA was founded along with 350.org by Bill McKibben, the author of many excellent books, including The End of Nature, Deep Economy, and Eaarth, who visited the University of Idaho last spring and has emerged in recent years as our nation’s most prominent and effective climate activist.  In August and September 2011, TSA organized the civil disobedience demonstrations at the White House that led to the arrest of more than 1,200 protesters (including Rob).  On November 6, TSA led a rally that surrounded the White House and drew more than 10,000 participants.  These efforts are widely credited with causing President Obama to delay a final decision on the Keystone XL Pipeline permit until after the 2012 election.  WIRT extends this invitation and welcome to the newly formed Palouse Environmental Sustainability Coalition, WIRT members, and other interested local activists.  Please view the following web link to optionally RSVP and for a map of the meeting location and additional information.  A carpool to Pullman will leave the Tri-State parking lot after 6:30 pm.  Contact Rob with your questions about this event.

For more information, see: Tar Sands/Climate Movement Strategy Session