Fellow activists and friends,

Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) and allied activists have invited hundreds of tribal and non-tribal friends, students, and supporters in north central Idaho, the Treasure Valley, and beyond to the following events.  Please participate and contact WIRT at wild.idaho.rising.tide@gmail.com and/or 208-301-8039 to arrange carpools from the Moscow/Pullman area to Bellingham, Boise, Helena, and Lapwai.

Sign the Stop the Megaloads Petition (Ciarra Greene)

A third anti-megaload petition, addressed to Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest Supervisor Rick Brazell, the U.S. President and Congress, the Idaho governor and legislature, and four regional county commissioners, urges the Forest Service to enforce its jurisdiction over megaload shipments across the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest.  Warning of the long-lasting effects of environmental and social injustices in the Highway 12 and Alberta tar sands regions, which cannot be repaired through financial settlements, the petition encourages Forest Service adherence to the scientific process and a complete assessment of the possible impacts of megaload transportation through the Wild and Scenic River corridor, before megaload transit authorization.

On behalf of WIRT’s 2000 members, our signature and comments on this petition added 5500 signatures, by incorporating the 3500 online and in-person signatures of the Petition to Deny Permits for Transport of Massively Oversized Equipment on U.S. Highway 12, submitted to the Idaho Transportation Department and Governor Otter, and the approximately 2000 online and in-person signatures of the currently circulated Petition to Deny Permits for Massively-Oversized Transports in the Northwest and Northern Rockies, addressing elected and appointed officials in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington.

Please add your name and comments to the petition to Stop the Megaloads’ 700 signatures, and request that all of your associates do the same, via facebook, email, Twitter, and other social media.

Saturday, September 7: Human Rights Day at the Market (City of Moscow)

The annual Human Rights Day information booth near the Friendship Square fountain at the Saturday, September 7, Moscow Farmers Market will feature displays, brochures, children’s activities, and a gallery of pictures and information about Moscow women (including a core WIRT organizer) representing different areas of work, to depict this year’s theme, Women and Work: Supporting Progress toward Equality.  Stop by this and the WIRT table between 8 am and 1 pm and take part in community discussions.

Sunday, September 8: Nimiipuu Against Megaloads Teach-In (Nimiipuu Activists)

Nimiipuu Nation community members who are concerned about the recent tar sands megaload protests that occurred on August 5 through 8, 2013, encourage and welcome youth, elders, and people of all ages to participate in a community discussion at the Lapwai City Park and the Pi-Nee-Waus Community Center in Lapwai, Idaho, from 4 to 6 pm on Sunday, September 8.  The teach-in aims to provide the Nimiipuu Nation and community information and background about the megaloads and the history of Nimiipuu activism, including the perspectives of nation members who wish to share their knowledge on this topic.  Along with dialogue about why the Nimiipuu Nation wants to stop the megaloads and support other indigenous communities in their struggles against tar sands exploitation, facilitators will host a community forum on this issue.  The teach-in will also offer updates on the federal court case and legalities, in preparation for the hearing on Monday, September 9, in Boise, Idaho.  Please bring an open mind, positive attitude, and ideas for next steps.  For further information, contact Ciarra Greene at 928-266-6527 or ciarrag@nezperce.org.  Moscow/Pullman area carpools depart the WIRT Activist House at 3 pm.

Monday, September 9: Rally for Indigenous Environment (Nimiipuu Activists)

Nez Perce tribal activists and allies are gathering in solidarity on the West Jefferson Street steps of the Idaho Capitol in Boise between 1 and 4 pm Mountain time on Monday, September 9.  Please join this anti-megaload rally before the associated federal court hearing, to send a clear, strong, unified message to elected Idaho officials that the Highway 12 corridor is not for sale to corporate America.  Participants will protest Omega Morgan’s transport of General Electric megaloads to tar sands extraction sites in Alberta, Canada, to speak out against massive water contamination, environmental degradation, and the rape of Mother Earth.  Bring your spirit of resistance, voice, signs, banners, and moccasins to stomp on Governor Butch Otter’s plan to stifle tribal sovereignty and treaty rights. Continue reading →

Hi all,

In lieu of a more extensive, late-August Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) newsletter with plenty of positive news and updates, here is another quick note about upcoming events over the next week.  Please check the WIRT Events Calendar frequently and join us!

Tribal Activists Meeting (Tuesday, September 3)

Nez Perce, Idle No More, WIRT, and allied activists are gratefully anticipating hearing and sharing tribal activists’ insights at a gathering at Lapwai City Park in Lapwai, Idaho.  The 6 pm meeting on Tuesday, September 3, may be moved indoors to the nearby Pi-Nee-Waus Community Center if it rains.  Listen to the following KRFP interview of tribal activist Julian Matthews by citizen journalist Brett Haverstick, describing the last (first) such convergence.

Nez Perce Hold Community Meeting in Lapwai City Park on Megaloads (August 21 KRFP Evening Report, between 11:41 and 3:14)

National Weather Service Forecast for Lapwai

IRAGE at The Liquid Forum (Wednesday, September 4)

At the next, first Wednesday of every month Liquid Forum, activists of our partner grassroots group, Idaho Residents Against Gas Extraction (IRAGE), will describe what is happening with and how citizens are fighting oil and gas drilling and looming fracking in Payette County.  Deserving much more public attention, these processes threaten land, water, residents, agriculture, dairies, and sustainability in Idaho.  Please join the discussion and enjoy music by Breakdown Boulevard (as experienced at the Community Progressive III), between 5:30 and 7:30 pm MDT on Wednesday, September 4, at the restaurant/bar Liquid, 405 South Eighth Street in Boise, Idaho.

Weekly WIRT Potluck Meeting (Thursday, September 5)

Wild Idaho Rising Tide is holding potluck gatherings at 7 pm on Thursdays at the WIRT Activist House in Moscow, setting organizational goals, brainstorming strategies, devising tactics, establishing roles, delegating tasks, and mobilizing our collective.  Please see the WIRT alert about the last meeting for further information about upcoming and ongoing projects. Continue reading →

Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) is holding potluck gatherings at 7 pm on Thursdays at the WIRT Activist House in Moscow, setting organizational goals, brainstorming strategies, devising tactics, establishing roles, delegating tasks, and mobilizing our collective!  Upcoming and ongoing projects include:

* Plans for initiating a regional canvass, filling the WIRT Activist House, and raising campaign funds

* Carpools to the Monday, September 9 Idaho Rivers United/Nez Perce federal court hearing about Highway 12 megaloads in Boise, Idaho, and to the Sunday and Monday, September 15-16 September Showdown organized by Coal Export Action in Helena, Montana

* Preparation for the Wednesday, September 18 Fourth Annual Tar Sands Healing Walk presentation co-hosted by Palouse Environmental Sustainability Coalition in Moscow, Idaho

* Organization of a Friday, September 20 co-sponsored benefit concert for arrested Nez Perce megaload blockaders, involving two to three invited bands at the Unitarian Church in Moscow, Idaho

* Tactics for protesting and monitoring the next (fifth) mid-late September launch of an Omega Morgan-hauled General Electric tar sands evaporator on Highway 12 in Idaho Continue reading →

Co-activists,

As a previous Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) newsletter noted, WIRT is holding potluck meetings every Thursday at 7 pm.  As we work on a megaload edition, topics of tonight’s strategizing/planning session at the WIRT Activist House in Moscow include:

* Carpools to Moccasins on the Ground direct action training camp (near Whitehall, Montana, on August 23 to 25) and the Nez Perce/Idaho Rivers United federal court case hearing (in Boise on August 27)

* Tactics for protesting and monitoring the next (fifth) Omega Morgan tar sands evaporator (on Highway 12 in late August/early September)

* Volunteers for college population outreach at initial academic year events like the University of Idaho Palousafest on August 24, Lewis-Clark State College Welcome Fair on August 26, and Washington State University Cougs Connect on August 28

* Organization of a co-sponsored benefit concert for arrested Nez Perce megaload blockaders, involving two to three invited, tentative bands (at the Unitarian Church in Moscow on September 6 or 13)

* Plans for Idaho and Montana actions in solidarity with a Highway 63 blockade (between Fort McMurray and Alberta tar sands operations on an unknown date)

* Arrangements for a regional Idaho Residents Against Gas Extraction/WIRT-led Keystone XL Pledge of Resistance direct action training session (on the Palouse, in the Clearwater Valley, and/or Boise in September or October)

* Logistics of upcoming events: Coal Export Action’s September Showdown in Helena, Montana, on September 15 and 16; Millennium Bulk Terminal (Longview coal port) scoping hearings in Spokane on September 25 and in Pasco on October 1; Global Frackdown  statewide or in Boise/Payette County on October 19 (Please check the WIRT website’s Events Calendar.)

* Other organizational goals, such as mobilizing our collective, establishing roles, delegating tasks, initiating a regional canvass, filling the WIRT Activist House, etc.

See you tonight!

Wild Idaho Rising Tide

P.O. Box 9817, Moscow, Idaho 83843

WildIdahoRisingTide.org & on facebook, Twitter

208-301-8039