People’s Hearing on GTN Xpress

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GTN Xpress People's Hearing Flyer

Starting at 5 pm Pacific time and 6 pm Mountain time on Monday evening, February 13, a Northwest coalition of nonprofit organizations, including 350 Deschutes, 350 PDX, Columbia Riverkeeper, Rogue Climate, Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, and Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT), will host a People’s Hearing on Canadian company TC Energy’s proposal to expand fracked “natural” gas exported through the aging Gas Transmission Northwest (GTN) pipeline and compressor stations that span north Idaho, eastern Washington, and central Oregon.  This hybrid town hall, convened online and in-person at the Gardenia Center (400 Church Street in Sandpoint, Idaho) and at the Rogue Climate office (205 North Phoenix Road, Suite G, Phoenix, Oregon), offers participants opportunities to learn about the potential impacts of the GTN Xpress expansion project and to provide testimony recorded and sent to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for the project docket.

Among concerned, regional community members and environmental and climate advocates sharing their insights and stories, the People’s Hearing on GTN Xpress will feature these key speakers:

* U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon

* Audrey Leonard, staff attorney of Columbia Riverkeeper

* Peter McCartney, climate campaigner of Wilderness Committee

* Dr. Annemarie Dooley, physician and board member of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility

* Naghmana Sherazi, activist and board member of Earth Ministry/Washington Interfaith Power and Light

Please RSVP and register to join this virtual conference at bit.ly/peopleshearing_gtn and/or gather at the Gardenia Center or Rogue Climate office and contact WIRT for further information [1].  Timely input from citizens and local elected officials to FERC before its possible decision on this project on Thursday, March 16, is crucial to halting the GTN Xpress fossil fuels onslaught [2].  Along with commenting and/or testifying to FERC, help support this resistance by amplifying a new video recently launched by the grassroots coalition, through social media posts email messages, and other methods [3].  Also reach out to any of the partner groups, if your organization is interested in joining the fight to #StopGTNXpress.  Within the next few days, WIRT will add to this post and send further descriptions of pipeline expansion impacts and issue updates, to assist involvement in this campaign. Continue reading →

Climate Justice Forum: Maig Tinnin on Northwest Pipeline Expansion & Hearing, Idaho Highway Wetlands, Logging Collaboratives, Nevada Lithium Mine Ruling, Pipeline & Railroad Protests 2-8-23

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The Wednesday, February 8, 2023, Climate Justice Forum radio program, produced by regional, climate activists collective Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT), features Rogue Climate coordinator Maig Tinnin talking about southern Oregon wildfire aftermaths and the environmental and social impacts and Northwest community opposition to GTN Xpress fracked gas pipeline expansion.  We also share news, music, and reflections on a north Idaho wetland analysis along a Highway 95 reroute, failed Forest Service logging collaborative processes, responses to a federal court decision favoring northern Nevada lithium mining, comments against Mountain Valley pipeline destruction of national forests, an upcoming online action demanding Uinta Basin Railway rejection, and a February 13 People’s Hearing to stop increased Northwest pipeline gas.  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.

(Links to program material forthcoming)

Climate Justice Forum: Idaho Riverside Gas Lease & Urban Coyotes, Logging Collaboratives, GTN Xpress Pipeline Hearing, Keystone & Mountain Valley Pipeline Permits, Asteroid Approach 2-1-23

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The Wednesday, February 1, 2023, Climate Justice Forum radio program, produced by regional, climate activists collective Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT), features news, music, and reflections on the lunar new year and traditional early spring celebrations, a close asteroid approach to Earth, proposed Idaho oil and gas laws and city leases of riverside well gas, U.S. Forest Service collaborative collusion of environmental groups for logging projects, north Idaho urban coyotes chasing and biting skiers, planned GTN Xpress fracked gas pipeline expansion, its Northwest opposition, and upcoming people’s hearing, a U.S. Senate committee request for increased oversight of Keystone pipeline pressure and spills, and a petition against national forest permits for the Mountain Valley pipeline in Appalachia.  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: Fossil Fuels Resisters on Joye Braun, Atlanta Forest Defender Murder, Idaho Timber Sale & Silica Mine, Greta Thunberg Arrest, Fossil Fuels Treaty 1-25-23

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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

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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!

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.