Climate Justice Forum: Fossil Fuels Resisters on Joye Braun, Atlanta Forest Defender Murder, Idaho Timber Sale & Silica Mine, Greta Thunberg Arrest, Fossil Fuels Treaty 1-25-23

Posted on by
Reply

The Wednesday, January 25, 2023, Climate Justice Forum radio program, produced by regional, climate activists collective Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT), features People versus Fossil Fuels coalition organizers talking about the legacy of indigenous water protector and pipeline opponent Joye Braun and supporting the day of action in her honor.  We also share news, music, and reflections on the raiding police murder of a protester defending an Atlanta forest from planned cop training center development, a proposed north Idaho lakeside timber sale around exploratory silica drilling, the arrest of climate advocate Greta Thunberg at a German coal mine protest and an international treaty protecting fossil fuels invasions, and the final live performance and death of rebellious musician David Crosby.  Broadcast for eleven years on progressive, volunteer, community station KRFP Radio Free Moscow, every Wednesday between 1:30 and 3 pm Pacific time, on-air at 90.3 FM and online, the show describes continent-wide, grassroots, frontline resistance to fossil fuel projects, the root causes of climate change, thanks to generous, anonymous listeners who adopted program host Helen Yost as their KRFP DJ. Continue reading →

Climate Justice Forum: Maig Tinnin on Oregon Wildfire Aftermaths & GTN Xpress Gas Pipeline Expansion Opposition, Idaho Collaborative Chloride Gold Lakeside Timber Sale 1-18-23

Posted on by
Reply

The Wednesday, January 18, 2023, Climate Justice Forum radio program, produced by regional, climate activist collective Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT), features Rogue Climate coordinator Maig Tinnin talking about southern Oregon wildfire aftermaths, the environmental and social impacts of GTN Xpress gas pipeline expansion, and the Northwest community campaign and upcoming People’s Hearing opposing it.  We also share news, music, and reflections on the massive, collaborative Chloride Gold timber sale proposed for the remote, mountainous, southeast side of Lake Pend Oreille in north Idaho.  Broadcast for eleven years on progressive, volunteer, community station KRFP Radio Free Moscow, every Wednesday between 1:30 and 3 pm Pacific time, on-air at 90.3 FM and online, the show describes continent-wide, grassroots, frontline resistance to fossil fuel projects, the root causes of climate change, thanks to generous, anonymous listeners who adopted program host Helen Yost as their KRFP DJ. Continue reading →

Oppose Collaborative Deforestation around Lake Pend Oreille!

Featured

Posted on by
2

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service (USFS) and compromised, north Idaho Big Greens involved in the Panhandle Forest “Collaborative” have agreed to massive deforestation of steep mountains on the remote, wilder, east side of Lake Pend Oreille, promoted as “restoration” projects to reduce wildfires and insect and disease outbreaks [1, 2].  Over the next few years, the Sandpoint Ranger District of the Idaho Panhandle National Forests (IPNF) and timber companies plan to excessively build roads and log over 175,000 acres of Lake Pend Oreille slopes, which would degrade water and air quality, wildlife habitat, protected areas, and recreational opportunities.  A complex of three contiguous logging projects, the 57,000-acre Buckskin Saddle, 43,000-acre Chloride Gold, and 43,500-acre Honey Badger, extends 45 miles from the Clark Fork River on the north, throughout eastern lake forests, and south to the Hayden Lake area.  Government proposals and decisions on these unnecessary forays into carbon-sequestering forests overlap temporally, while the middle Chloride Gold project also overlaps spatially with the area of the Kaniksu Winter Recreation environmental assessment (EA).  These USFS overlaps are called “stacking National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documents,” an illegal rush and overburden of public scrutiny.

Located to the south of federal agency-finalized Buckskin Saddle project destruction, currently stalled by Johnson Creek bridge replacement near the Clark Fork River delta between September 2022 and May 2023, and potential litigation by grassroots groups, the Chloride Gold (CG) project proposes to conduct “vegetation management,” “hazardous fuels reduction,” and other activities to “manage invasive plants, roads, trails, recreation, wildlife habitat, and improve fish passage under roads … [and] overall landscape resiliency to disturbances” [2-6].  Pre-scoping ideas suggested that the USFS planned to push approximately 23.8 miles of new, “temporary” road construction and over 12 square miles of forest “regeneration” cuts in the area, which would remove the vast majority of trees in over 17,000 acres (26.6 square miles), through logging, road building, and controlled burning, even in inventoried roadless areas (IRAs).  According to the December 1, 2022, Chloride Gold scoping notice signed by Sandpoint District ranger Jessie Berner, over 22,500 acres would undergo “vegetation treatments” including large clearcuts and prescribed burns.  The scoping letter requests public review and comments by Monday, January 16, 2023, for USFS consideration in drafting only an environmental assessment (EA), not the full environmental impact statement (EIS) required and necessary for the CG onslaught.

On September 27, 2022, in preparation for a public presentation and field trip refuting this logging project, provided by regional, climate activist collective Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) in spring or summer 2023, Northern Rockies wildlands and wildlife activist and GIS researcher Paul Sieracki and two WIRT board members visited the Chloride Gold logging project area [7].  With precise maps in hand while exploring CG forests, these citizen monitors found a highly impacted landscape, crossed by a spaghetti network of roads and all-terrain vehicle (ATV) and motorcycle trails, devastated by huge logged areas, and immersed in road dust and subsequent lake haze.  They documented and publicly offered their observations with photographs and descriptions, noting several situations in which further CG ravages could severely disturb flora, fauna, and roadless areas [7].  For the Wednesday, January 11, 2023, Climate Justice Forum, weekly radio program produced by WIRT and recorded and posted on the WIRT website, Paul graciously expounded on his knowledge of the probable damages of the lakeside Chloride Gold scheme [8].  WIRT shares a summary of these insights in the following sections intended to further inform and assist public input resisting this CG cause of regional climate chaos. Continue reading →

Climate Justice Forum: Paul Sieracki on Chloride Gold Idaho Lakeside Deforestation, Nevada Lithium Mine Resistance March, Hearing, & Contract, Manchin FERC Protest, Actions Honoring Joye Braun 1-11-23

Posted on by
1

The Wednesday, January 11, 2023, Climate Justice Forum radio program, produced by regional, climate activist collective Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT), features north Idaho wildlands and wildlife activist and GIS researcher Paul Sieracki talking about the massive Chloride Gold deforestation scheme planned for the remote and mountainous southeast side of Lake Pend Oreille.  We also share news, music, and reflections on an indigenous march and resistance, federal court hearing, and construction contract for the proposed Thacker Pass lithium mine in northern Nevada, a Washington D.C. protest of Senator Manchin control of the pipeline-permitting Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and a call to actions honoring fossil fuels opponent Joye Braun and the second anniversary of Keystone XL pipeline rejection by President Biden.  Broadcast for ten years on progressive, volunteer, community station KRFP Radio Free Moscow, every Wednesday between 1:30 and 3 pm Pacific time, on-air at 90.3 FM and online, the show describes continent-wide, grassroots, frontline resistance to fossil fuel projects, the root causes of climate change, thanks to generous, anonymous listeners who adopted program host Helen Yost as their KRFP DJ. Continue reading →

Climate Justice Forum: Max Wilbert on Nevada Lithium Mine Resistance, Idaho Highway Construction & Park Geese Hunt, Northwest Coal Trains & Wrecks, Pipeline Expansions, & Opposition 1-4-23

Posted on by
Reply

The Wednesday, January 4, 2023, Climate Justice Forum radio program, produced by regional, climate activist collective Wild Idaho Rising Tide, features Protect Thacker Pass activist Max Wilbert talking about ground resistance, three lawsuits, a federal hearing, and an indigenous march against a proposed northern Nevada lithium mine.  We also share news, music, and reflections on north Idaho court challenges of Highway 95 construction in wetlands, Northwest coal train decreases in late 2022 and another BNSF train wreck on New Year’s Day, a public Canada geese hunt at Sandpoint City Beach, Coastal GasLink pipeline construction and protester winter gear requests in British Columbia, and GTN Xpress Northwest gas pipeline expansion and opposition.  Broadcast for ten years on progressive, volunteer, community station KRFP Radio Free Moscow, every Wednesday between 1:30 and 3 pm Pacific time, on-air at 90.3 FM and online, the show describes continent-wide, grassroots, frontline resistance to fossil fuel projects, the root causes of climate change, thanks to generous, anonymous listeners who adopted program host Helen Yost as their KRFP DJ.

Climate Justice Forum: Audrey Leonard on Northwest Pipeline Opposition, Idaho Highway & Rail Bridge Expansion & Resistance, Nevada Lithium Mine Damages, Hearing, & Protest 12-28-22

Posted on by
Reply

The Wednesday, December 28, 2022, Climate Justice Forum radio program, produced by regional, climate activist collective Wild Idaho Rising Tide, features Columbia Riverkeeper attorney Audrey Leonard talking about TC Energy’s proposed GTN Xpress fracked gas pipeline expansion and Northwest opposition actions and opportunities.  We also share news, music, and reflections on litigation and crowdfunding to protect Palouse Prairie wetlands from rerouted Idaho highway construction paused for winter, railroad completion of a second north Idaho lake bridge, and an upcoming federal court hearing and indigenous ceremony denouncing sacred site damages at a proposed Nevada lithium mine site.  Broadcast for ten years on progressive, volunteer, community station KRFP Radio Free Moscow, every Wednesday between 1:30 and 3 pm Pacific time, on-air at 90.3 FM and online, the show describes continent-wide, grassroots, frontline resistance to fossil fuel projects, the root causes of climate change, thanks to generous, anonymous listeners who adopted program host Helen Yost as their KRFP DJ.

Climate Justice Forum: Winter Solstice, New Idaho Rail Bridge & Spill Training, Suppressed Rail Workers Strike, Coal Train Lawsuit, COP27 Greenwash, Northwest Pipeline Support & Opposition 12-21-22

Posted on by
Reply

The Wednesday, December 21, 2022, Climate Justice Forum radio program, produced by regional, climate activist collective Wild Idaho Rising Tide, features news, songs, and reflections on Winter Solstice, a Minnesota talk about Idaho campaigns against tar sands megaloads and oil and gas development, a second Idaho lake bridge opening and first responders train spill training, a rail workers strike on unresolved quality-of-life concerns suppressed by Congress and fossil fuels companies, a Navajo Northwest coal company lawsuit over reduced BNSF Railway shipments, indigenous and allied actions against the Coastal GasLink pipeline and United Nations COP27 greenwashing, an Idaho Congressional and governor letter supporting Northwest gas pipeline expansion written by pipeline company TC Energy, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Oregon senators comments against the same GTN Xpress project.  Broadcast for ten years on progressive, volunteer, community station KRFP Radio Free Moscow, every Wednesday between 1:30 and 3 pm Pacific time, on-air at 90.3 FM and online, the show describes continent-wide, grassroots, frontline resistance to fossil fuel projects, the root causes of climate change, thanks to generous, anonymous listeners who adopted program host Helen Yost as their KRFP DJ.

Climate Justice Forum: Audrey Leonard on Northwest Gas Pipeline Expansion, Largest Keystone Tar Sands Flows & Kansas Spill, Idaho Riverside Gas Well Hearing & Utah Oil Trains Solidarity Protest 12-14-22

Posted on by
Reply

The Wednesday, December 14, 2022, Climate Justice Forum radio program, produced by regional, climate activist collective Wild Idaho Rising Tide, features Columbia Riverkeeper attorney Audrey Leonard talking about the dangers of TC Energy’s proposed GTN Xpress gas pipeline expansion and Northwest opposition actions and opportunities.  We also share news, interviews, and reflections on the largest TC Energy Keystone tar sands pipeline spill in Kansas and increased flows causing larger leaks, a southern Idaho federal court hearing on a permitted riverside gas well, and a north Idaho solidarity action protesting new Uinta Basin Railway and ongoing Lake Pend Oreille oil trains and fossil fuels infrastructure.  Broadcast for ten years on progressive, volunteer, community station KRFP Radio Free Moscow, every Wednesday between 1:30 and 3 pm Pacific time, on-air at 90.3 FM and online, the show describes continent-wide, grassroots, frontline resistance to fossil fuel projects, the root causes of climate change, thanks to generous, anonymous listeners who adopted program host Helen Yost as their KRFP DJ.

Climate Justice Forum: Uinta Basin Railway Public Hearing & Upcoming Solidarity Protests of Proposed Utah Oil Trains & Idaho Second Lake Rail Bridge Completion 12-7-22

Posted on by
Reply

The Wednesday, December 7, 2022, Climate Justice Forum radio program, produced by regional, climate activist collective Wild Idaho Rising Tide, features a December 2020 public hearing hosted by the federal Surface Transportation Board, for commenters concerned about proposed Uinta Basin Railway construction and its oil trains and impacts in Utah and beyond.  We also share news, music, and reflections on an upcoming day of solidarity actions protesting this new railroad and the completion of a second fossil fuels pipeline-on-rails bridge over Idaho’s largest, deepest lake.  Broadcast for ten years on progressive, volunteer, community station KRFP Radio Free Moscow, every Wednesday between 1:30 and 3 pm Pacific time, on-air at 90.3 FM and online, the show describes continent-wide, grassroots, frontline resistance to fossil fuel projects, the root causes of climate change, thanks to generous, anonymous listeners who adopted program host Helen Yost as their KRFP DJ.

Stop Uinta Basin Railway Solidarity Action

Featured

Posted on by
2

Stop Uinta Basin Railway Solidarity Action FlyerWild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) and climate activists throughout the West are organizing solidarity protests of oil trains and infrastructure, for a day of action against the Uinta Basin Railway (UBR), supporting campaigns against the Utah oil-by-rail scheme and in north Idaho, denouncing completion of BNSF Railway’s second, almost mile-long, rail bridge across the state’s largest, deepest lake: mountainous Lake Pend Oreille.  Utah and Colorado comrades are calling for community-led actions on Saturday, December 10, 2022, to show that concerned citizens object to the devastating UBR project, and to pressure federal lawmakers, state representatives, and local governments to prevent building of the Uinta Basin Railway.  They ask everyone to explore the #StopUintaBasinRailway action toolkit with information about the UBR and action coordination, sign a letter to Agriculture Department Secretary Tom Vilsack, demanding that he revoke the U.S. Forest Service permit for the railway, participate in actions happening in a dozen locations, register to join a remote phone bank on Tuesday, December 13, at 10 am Pacific time, and tell UBR opponents that you are interested in assisting this campaign [1-2].

To involve local communities across the United States in advocating against UBR permits and their potential disasters for climate and environmental justice, Colorado groups held a public, online, action training on November 10 [3].  Organizers with years of experience shared ideas about planning effective actions and helped participants learn about the UBR oil trains that would threaten lives and livelihoods along rail routes from Utah to Oklahoma, Texas, and Louisiana, and around the southern Northwest, Union Pacific Railroad (UP) line across southern Idaho and eastern Oregon to western Washington.

Most of WIRT and allied resistance to behemoth oil and coal train shipments has successfully focused on dozens of BNSF Railway fossil fuels pipeline-on-rails routes from the Great Plains to the West Coast.  We rarely demonstrate against Union Pacific, except while decrying its few weekly, Northwest, tar sands trains and myriad derailments, including the Mosier, Oregon, oil train spill and fire in June 2016.  Based on our experiences of BNSF’s ongoing malfeasance, WIRT encouraged and sent extensive comments on the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) in 2021, opposing the Uinta Basin Railway, and talked about the issue during recent years on our weekly, Climate Justice Forum, radio program [4].  WIRT remains steadfast in our thorough monitoring, reporting, and protesting of daily, BNSF, Bakken crude oil trains across north Idaho, as we gratefully accept dedicated co-workers’ invitations to alert our regional neighbors to the impending dangers and direct action opportunities of Utah oil transport across the Northwest.

Uinta Basin & BNSF Railways Protest

As part of countless demonstrations against the fossil fuel causes of the climate crisis and their insidious pollution, risks, and impacts on north Idaho and Northwest rail line communities, we plan to protest both the proposed Uinta Basin Railway oil trains and tracks and the BNSF Railway expansion of its industrial infrastructure into Lake Pend Oreille and Sandpoint, with three second rail bridges and two miles of doubled main line.  Please dress for warmth and dryness, bring your signs and banners, voices and drums, friends and family, and joy and courage, and join WIRT and inland Northwest activists for the Stop Uinta Basin Railway Solidarity Action at 12 noon on Saturday, December 10, at the Serenity Lee trailhead near the East Superior Street and Highway 95 intersection and/or on the public, pedestrian, and bike path to Dog Beach Park in Sandpoint, Idaho.  WIRT will provide on-site action advice and chants and pizza for appreciated participants after the gathering.  Respond in advance with your questions and suggestions, share this event information and flyer among your associates and contacts, and see previous and upcoming, website- and facebook-posted, WIRT newsletters and alerts, for further updates on these issues.

Uinta Basin Railway Opposition Continue reading →