Merry Christmas!

Yesterday I drove to Oshkosh and filmed a program for "It's Your Environment." I talked about my book and the Crandon mine. The program will be aired on Channel UPN 32(Green Bay) at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 29th. It will also be aired on Channel l0 (Oshkosh) at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 30th and again at 6:30 p.m. on Monday the 3lst.

The program will be aired on Pax 55 (Milwaukee) at 6:00 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 30th and again at 7:30 (not sure if it's a.m. or p.m.) on Wednesday Jan. 2nd.

This is not really spamming, since I have no ties to Lazarus:

• Name of CD: Crandon Mine
• Style: Light rock
• Availability: Send $12 to Lazarus, 248 E. Bank St., Fond du Lac, WI 54935
• Price of CD: $12
• For more Information: Call (920) 921-6575,
• Bio: Dan Gifford, who plays guitar,- bass and keyboards., was born in Winona. He is a speech pathologist working in northern Wisconsin. He is a singer-songwriter, who wrote a rock song about the Crandon Mine controversy from an American Indian perspective. Other songs contain timely lyrics about the current state of affairs in the world today.
  Tom Wilson
  Resenergy@mwt.net
  Wisconsin Stewardship Network

THE WOLF WATERSHED EDUCATIONAL PROJECT will meet SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8, in GREEN BAY, at the Bay Beach Park Wildlife Sanctuary, 10 am-3 pm. Take I-43 to the first exit east of the big bridge, go north on Webster Ave./East Shore Dr. From Hwy 29, turn left on Webster to the park. Thanks to Bob Schmitz!

UPCOMING FIGHT OVER CYANIDE BAN IN ASSEMBLY. The Assembly should vote on the bill to ban cyanide in mining in the January-March floor session. The mining company is still using "junk science," by claiming that cyanide at mines is no more dangerous than coffee (any massive fish kills from cappuccino spills lately?), that other Wisconsin companies use cyanide, and that its cyanide ore processing is 100% safe. The foreign-owned company also tried to exploit American patriotism by saying we need to find domestic sources of metals during this time of crisis (even though industries are moving toward plastics and fiber optics).

*The fact is that most cyanide disasters in mining have happened not during ore processing, but in the shipping of cyanide, and dumping of cyanide into waste dumps (as in recent spills in China and Ghana).

*The fact is that only a very small percentage of U.S. zinc or copper mines use cyanide, because they use alternatives to cyanide. The company says the Crandon mine needs cyanide to "economically" mine.

*The fact is that the Crandon mine would use up to 10 times as much cyanide than any other state industry has used in recent years. Mining is associated with cyanide spills much more than other industries.

*The fact is that cyanide is not currently being used in our Northwoods, where a spill could be catastrophic to fishing and tourism. We have enough concerns already about hazardous materials on our highways. (See the Washington Post article about security of chemical transportation at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12445-2001Nov11.html ) SB-160's aim is not to block the Crandon mine, but to keep new toxic chemical shipments out of our Northwoods.

AND NOW, SB-160 goes to the Assembly Environmental Committee, chaired by Neal Kedzie (R-Elkhorn). Ask anyone you know from Walworth Co. to contact him to hold hearings (State Capitol, Madison WI 53702; 888-534-0043 or Rep.Kedzie@legis.state.wi.us) It is more important than ever to generate letters to the editor, resolutions, petitions, and make calls, and especially letters and visits to your Assembly Representative. For contact info call 800-362-9472 or log on http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/wileg.html

To:
Members and Friends of Concerned Citizens of Newport
Members and Friends of Waterkeepers of Wisconsin
Media people
Citizens concerned about groundwater and our valuable natural environment

From:
Concerned Citizens of Newport (CCN)
Hiroshi Kanno (Hirok8@aol.com)

CCN is making plans for our BIG COURT DATE on Tuesday December 4, 2001

CCN & Ho-Chunk Nation
vs.
DNR / Perrier (David vs Goliath)

We hope that you and your friends & neighbors will join us at the Marquette County courthouse Montello, Wisconsin proceedings begin at 11:00 a.m.

We will assemble at 9:30 a.m. at the Cove on Route 23 in Briggsville and carpool. Parking near the courthouse is probably limited. We plan to be in front of the courthouse by 10:15. Media have been notified. Bring your signs, special t-shirts, hats, bumper stickers, buttons, Earth Day apparel, etc. Consider taking your child or grandchild on an educational (social studies) field trip to see how our government works!

Please phone all your friends who do not receive this e-mail !!! Those who cannot join us, please be with us in spirit (and send us a few bucks........ :-)

(CCN, H. Kanno, N9947 Thompson Drive, Wisconsin Dells 53965).

For further information contact:
Hiroshi Kanno hirok8@aol.com 608-253-7266
Arlene Kanno kanno8@aol.com
Rosemary Carlson rosemarycarlson@webtv.net

THE WOLF WATERSHED EDUCATIONAL PROJECT will have its next monthly meeting in WHITE LAKE on SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 10 am-3 pm at Buettner's Wild Wolf Inn, on Hwy. 55 and the Wolf River, just north of the Menominee-Langlade county line.

SENATE VOTE ON CYANIDE BAN IN ALL WISCONSIN MINES
The Senate vote on SB-160 should take place during this floor session, which goes to the end of the first week in November. We may have very little notice; stay tuned to the website, and the Hotline at 800-445-8615. The Senate may also be voting on SB-271 calling for "No Special Treatment" for mining companies in environmental laws. Contact your State Senator to vote for SB 160 that bans cyanide in all Wisconsin mines, and also against any amendments that allow exemptions to the ban, and also to vote for SB-271 for "No Special Treatment (.pdf)" for mines.

*** PLEASE GET AT LEAST TEN OTHERS TO CALL THEIR SENATOR THIS WEEK! *** Call toll-free 800-362-WISC (even if you don't know who your Senator is) especially if you live in an area of the state where mining is not a big issue.
For background: http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/cyanide.html

NATIVE VOICES FOR THE WOLF RIVER
Benefit for Town of Nashville legal fight against Crandon mine, in Madison, Tuesday, November 13 at Barrymore Theatre, 2090 Atwood Ave. 7:30 pm, with acclaimed Native American singer/songwriters Annie Humphrey ("Best Female Artist" at the 2001 Native American Music Awards), Mitch Walking Elk, and Wade Fernandez. Cost is $12 advance, $14 day of show. Tickets can be obtained via credit card from the Barrymore 608-241-8633. Directions: Take Hwy. 151/East Washington exit; left on Second; right on Winnebago; left on Atwood. Print off a beautiful Adobe Acrobat poster for the benefit at http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/nativevoices.pdf

The Madison Treaty Rights Support Group will meet next Tuesday, November 6, 7 pm in Catacombs, to help publicize the Nov. 13 Nashville benefit at the Barrymore, and to discuss cyanide bill strategy.

Annie Humphrey, one of the three Native performers at the Nov. 13 benefit, has won "Best Female Artist" at the 2001 Native American Music Awards.

Also, help is needed to leaflet the Robert Mirabel crowd at the Civic Center tonight (Mon.) with handbills on our Nov. 13 benefit. If you want to help out, meet at the State St. side at 6:45 pm.

Posters for the benefit are available at the Greens Infoshop doorway in University Square (open 24/7). They can also be printed at http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/nativevoices.pdf

Thanks!
Madison Treaty Rights Support Group

The State Senate floor on Senate Bill 160 to ban cyanide in all Wisconsin mines will be on Tuesday, November 6. There is no guarantee when the vote will be; the senators will caucus at 10 am, and probably not vote until early afternoon, so be there by 1 pm for the vote and expect a wait. (Please do not bring signs with sticks, and please do not disrupt or make noise in the chamber.) Constituents are strongly encouraged to come early to visit the office of your senator, and urge them or their aides to support SB-160, without any amendments or exemptions, and also to support SB-271 for "No Special Treatment" (.pdf) for mining companies in state environmental laws. Call toll-free 800-362-WISC to deliver the same message, even if you don't know who your senator is.

The Madison Treaty Rights Support Group will also meet this Tuesday at 7 pm in Catacombs (Pres House basement, 731 State St on Library Mall) to discuss the cyanide strategy and plan for the Nov. 13 Native Voices for the Wolf River Barrymore benefit for the Town of Nashville (Please Purchase Tickets Now at 608-241-8633). The Wolf Watershed Educational Project will meet Sat., Nov 10, 10 am at Wild Wolf Inn on Hwy 55 at the Langlade- Menominee county line. For updates call 800-445-8615. Benefit Poster

We strongly encourage you to make edits directly to our sample letter below, and put the alert talking points into your own words. An individualized letter is worth ten computer generated letters. Of course, hundreds of unedited letters will still create a large impact, so please reply even if you don't have time to personalize the letter.

Your letter will be addressed and sent to your senator.

Please support SB 160, the bill to ban cyanide in ALL Wisconsin mines, without weakening amendments. The proposed Crandon mine would use up to 200 tons or more of cyanide every year, endangering communities along highways, and threatening groundwater, lakes, and the Wolf River downstream from the mine.

Mining companies are not subject to hazardous waste regulations, even if their wastes contain cyanide. No other industry in Wisconsin is exempt from these laws, including the few that use cyanide (which use it in very small quantities compared to the Crandon proposal).

The mining industry's track record on cyanide transportation and waste disposal is horrible. Transportation accidents can and will happen and mining wastes laden with cyanide have spilled or leaked into groundwater and rivers, causing massive fish kills. Montana suffered from dozens of spills and leaks before voters enacted a ban on cyanide use in mining (as in Vilas and Oneida counties). We don't have to learn the hard way like Montana.

Please respond to my letter with your stance on this important legislation.

UW-Stevens Point to host Environmental Unity Festival
OCTOBER 13th & 14th

Contact Person:
Deanna Erickson Deanna.M.Erickson@uwsp.edu
715-295-0592
on behalf of UWSP Environmental Council

As we move into the beginning of the 21st century, students across the state are beginning to act on their concern for the environment.

Can you imagine what would happen if they all got together? Exactly that will be occurring October 12th and 13th at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

A vision of the UWSP group Environmental Council, the Environmental Unity Festival aims to bring together those with environmental concerns across the state in order to meet each other and organize together on such statewide issues as the proposed Crandon Mine, the Arrowhead Weston Transmission Line, or the drilling of our fresh water by multinational corporations such as Perrier.

Registration begins on Friday October 12th at 6pm with a potluck dinner until 7pm, when state representative Spencer Black will be addressing the gathering. Lodging for the night will be available at the Central Wisconsin Environmental Station and an evening of live music will be provided by folksinger Skip Jones.

Saturday October 13th will offer information sessions from 10am until 4pm on a large variety of issues with representatives from WisPIRG, Clean Water Action Council, Concerned Citizens of Newport, Wisconsin's Environmental Decade and many more.

A closing session is planned to solidify a statewide student environmental network. The evening will feature a concert by internationally known folksinger Dar Williams (tickets extra, contact UWSP Information for details at 715-346-4242).

If you plan to stay the night or need more information, please pre-register or contact Deanna Erickson at envcncl@uwsp.edu envcncl@uwsp.edu.

Invitation to this event is being extended across the state to tech schools, tribal colleges and private and public universities. This event's success depends on the students that come to it and all interested are encouraged to attend.

The Wisconsin Rally for a Cyanide Ban in Mining will be on Saturday, October 13, on the State Capitol State Street steps at 1:00-2:30 pm (after Farmers' Market).
TO PRINT OFF A POSTER to copy, log on to http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/cyanide_rally_poster.html

The monthly meeting of the Wolf Watershed Educational Project will be held at 2:30-5:00 pm at 122 State Street, including a potluck meal.

(MADISON PEOPLE: PLEASE BRING A DISH TO PASS at the 2:30 potluck feast after the rally, at 122 State St., 4th floor conference room. Please let Debi know what you bringing: dkmcnutt@hotmail.com. You can drop off a dish there before the rally; contact Claire for drop-off info decade@itis.com 251-7020 If you want to help set up food, please be there at 12 noon.

Also please come to the rally planning meeting on Tues., Oct. 9, 7 pm, Catacombs (Pres House basement). We also need people to sit at the Farmers' Market table each Saturday, and pass out leaflets the morning of Oct. 13.)

We could also use help staffing our Farmers' Market table and passing out leaflets at King St. (statue) side of the Capitol, anytime from 9:00 to 11:30 am. (You may notice a pontoon boat circling around the market with our signs.) If you want to help set up the stage, please be at the State St. entrance at 12 noon; the Mole Lake Drum will be there at 12:30.

There are still some posters in the Greens doorway in University Square; please help poster State St./Campus.

Please organize your community to come to the Oct. 13 rally, not just members of your group, but members of fishing clubs, media, unions, students, etc. The rally will be critical to show the media and lawmakers that a majority of Wisconsinities support the ban, before the Senate takes up SB-160 in the last week of October. Contact your two lawmakers to meet with them on Friday, October 12. Please spread the word through letters to the editor, radio call-in shows, newsletters, phone calls, etc. For information see http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/cyanide.html

Thanks!
See you Saturday!

The Senate hearing date for Senator Hansen's "equal treatment for mining" bill (no special exemptions from environmental laws for mining) is Thursday, Oct. 11 at 1:30 p.m. in MILWAUKEE. at the DNR's Southeastern Wisconsin headquarters , 2300 North Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, in Room 140. The bill is now LRB 3503/1, Relating to environmental regulation of mining.

The primary impact will be to require that mining waste facilities (the mine itself and the Tailings Management Area) must meet groundwater standards at 300' away instead of 1200'. In other words, the design of the management area would be the same as for a landfill.

The bill will be authored by Sen. Hansen, a Democrat. Rep. McCormick, a Republican, has a nearly identical bill. This is an effective and important bill with a chance of passing BOTH houses. The concept was supported 90% to 5% in the statewide poll. http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/poll.html

Resolution supporting a separate Senate Bill 160, banning cyanide in all Wisconsin mines, coming to the floor in the last week of October (subject of our Oct. 13 Capitol rally):

LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF WISCONSIN
Statement in Support of SB 160 Relating to Banning the Use of Cyanide in Mining in Wisconsin

September 26, 2001

The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin supports and urges the passage of SBl60 to ban the use of cyanide in mining in the state.

The dangers of using sodium cyanide have been thoroughly demonstrated in mines in the United States and worldwide. Cyanide spills associated with mining in Colorado, Montana, South Dakota, South Carolina and other states have resulted in wildlife deaths and contamination of surface and groundwater. In Colorado, the Alamosa River, near an abandoned mine, is now a Superfund site; the cyanide used there has polluted and killed seventeen miles of the river. The Aurul gold mine spill in January 2000 dumped huge amounts of cyanide-contaminated wastes in the Tisza River. The resulting toxic plume killed more than 1000 tons of fish downstream into Yugoslavia and Hungary. Cows, mammals, and birds along the rivers were killed after drinking the water or eating contaminated fish.

A fraction of a teaspoon of sodium cyanide can kill a human being. Hundreds of tons of sodium cyanide would be used annually in the proposed Crandon mine, for up to 28 years of operations. Even with the most meticulous cleanups, small amounts will remain.

It defies common sense to believe that, even with the best of intentions and most up-to-date techniques, the mining company can safely transport, use, and completely clean up thousands of tons of cyanide without leaving a trace. Since there is no compelling reason to mine this metal now, it is not worth the dangerous risk to humans and wildlife to do so.

In 1998 Montana voters prohibited cyanide for mining; in 2000 the Czech Republic and our own Vilas and Oneida Counties banned cyanide in mining; and numerous local governments and many thousands of citizens in Wisconsin have supported the petition to ban this use of cyanide in our state. According to a recent poll by the Chamberlain Research Consultants, a majority of people polled throughout Wisconsin (60 percent) are opposed to opening new metallic sulfide mines and the use of cyanide in these mines.

The metals will be there when safe, proven methods have been developed and used with no resulting harm.

So again, the League urges you to pass SBl60 with no weakening amendments.

Wisconsin Campaign to Ban Cyanide in Mining http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/cyanide.html

The Madison Treaty Rights Support Group will meet on Tuesday, Oct. 9 in Catacombs (Pres House basement) at 7 pm. The meeting is open to all who want to help plan the Sat. Oct. 13 cyanide rally, 1 pm at the Capitol. (Anyone have a good sound system? Can people help leaflet Farmers' Market that day?)

There will be a short Madison planning meeting on TUESDAY, Oct. 9, 7 pm Catacombs. for the Saturday Capitol rally to ban cyanide in mining. Please come by to help out. We also need people to help with...

PLEASE HELP POSTER in Madison; posters are now in the Greens office doorway in University Square (open 24/7) . Posters can also be printed off from http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/cyanide_rally_poster.html

Madisonians please bring a dish to pass at the potluck and Wolf Watershed meeting after the Oct. 13 rally at 2:30 pm, 122 State St., 4th floor. Contact Claire decade@itis.com Please RSVP what you are bringing.

PEOPLE. Please tell your friends about the 1 pm rally after Farmers Market. We are all following the war, and many are working for some sort of resolution of the crisis. Please also remember that Native people in the U.S. have been the victims of resource wars for many years, and as we work for peace and justice abroad, we can also work for it at home. The tiny besieged community of Mole Lake /Nashville really needs our support now.

Thanks!

PASSED RESOLUTIONS FOR A BAN ON CYANIDE IN MINING From http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/cyanide.html

Public Hearings on the Impact of the U.S. Navy's Project ELF Transmitter
Sept. 18, 20, 25, 27, Oct 3, 2001

Nukewatch, P.O. Box 649, Luck, WI 54853
Phone (715) 472-4185, Fax (715) 472-4184
Web http://www.nukewatch.com

NORTHERN WISCONSIN - The Wisconsin Sierra Club, Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute, and the Great Lakes Intertribal Council will sponsor five public hearings this month regarding the health and environmental impacts of the Navy's Project ELF submarine transmitter system near Clam Lake.

The Lac Courte Oreilles Project ELF Public Participation Project, as the panels are dubbed, seeks to inform the public about the effects of electromagnetic pollution on human health and the environment from the Navy's Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) antennae.

The hearings are free and statements by concerned citizens are encouraged. The hearings will be recorded and scientific experts will be available to answer questions about electromagnetic pollution. The first and last hearings will be broadcast live on WOJB-FM, (88.9).

The World Health Organization has listed ELF (extremely low frequency) electromagnetic radiation as a "possible human carcinogen." More than forty peer-reviewed medical studies now point to a link between electromagnetic pollution and human cancers.

The Lac Courte Oreilles Tribe has worked since May of 1998 toward reaching an agreement with the Navy to study the impact of Project ELF, including studies of breast cancer incidence, stray voltage, and the impact of electromagnetic pollution on fish and wetlands.

Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold and Representative Tammy Baldwin have repeatedly introduced legislation in congress to close the Navy antennae, starting with the ELF Termination Act bill in 1995. The current ELF Termination Act amendments are S. 112 and HR 1160.

Sponsored by the Lac Courtes Oreilles Chippewa Health Department, Hayward, Wisconsin

Area residents are urged to attend, question the experts and to testify about their experiences with the effects of the Navy's Project ELF submarine communications transmitter which operates near Clam Lake, Wisconsin. Two experts will present information and be available at the hearings to answer questions about Project ELF (Extremely Low Frequency) and electromagnetic pollution.

A bill in front of the State Senate next month would ban the use of cyanide in all Wisconsin mines. The proposed Crandon mine near the Wolf River would use up to 200 tons a year of cyanide in ore processing. A statewide speaking tour on cyanide in mining will be in Madison Wednesday, September 26th, at 7 pm, in Memorial Union (800 Langdon Street, in Roundtable room, or check "Today In The Union").

UW-LaCrosse Professor Al Gedicks will discuss his new South End Press book Resource Rebels: Native Challenges to Mining and Oil Corporations, which covers not only the Crandon mine in Wisconsin, but also Colombia, Nigeria, Ecuador, Indonesia, etc. (books will be available for purchase). Mining Impact Coalition director Dave Blouin will also show a video on cyanide in mining, in preparation for an October 13th Capitol rally for a cyanide ban in mining.

The free and open event is sponsored by the Madison Treaty Rights Support Group. For more information, call 249-2390, or log on http://www.treatyland.com The group is also having a local planning meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 25, 7 pm in Catacombs (Pres House basement).

PLEASE HELP POSTER for the Wednesday event. Posters are inside the front door of the UW Greens office in University Square (open 24/7). Wisconsin's Environmental Decade also has some posters.

For more information on SB-160, to ban cyanide use in all Wisconsin mines, see http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/cyanide.html

To print off a poster for the 1 pm Capitol rally on Oct. 13:
http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/cyanide_rally_poster.html

The Wolf Watershed Educational Project meets SEPTEMBER 22 IN MOLE LAKE (Saturday, 10 am-3 pm). The meeting will be at the Nii Win House. Turn off Hwy. 55 on Sand Lake Road; go one block and take a left, the house is about a mile on the right (within the mine site).

On THURSDAY Sept. 13 at 7 pm, the Madison Treaty Rights Support Group will meet in Catacombs(Pres House basement) to discuss mining events this semester. Other groups and individuals working on mining issues are welcome to attend! We have an exciting series of events already planned for the Fall, partly revolving around the speaking tour to ban cyanide in mining-- hopefully a silver stake through the heart of the Crandon mine. http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/cyanide.html

Ho-Chunk Day at Governor Nelson State Park

For more information, contact:
Donna Schmitz, WDNR (608) 831-3005
Susette LaMere, Ho-Chunk Cultural Preservation Department (800) 561-9918

WAUNAKEE -- The sound of Ho-Chunk drums will greet visitors to Governor Nelson State Park next Saturday, September 8. The day-long event, featuring traditional feasting, story telling, games, and craft workshops, is a joint effort between the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the Ho-Chunk Nation Heritage Preservation Department of Cultural Resources.

Ho-Chunk Heritage Day will provide the public with the opportunity to experience Ho-Chunk Culture and to gain a better understanding and appreciation for the mounds located in the De Jope (Four Lakes) area. More than 165 years ago, the Ho-Chunk people made summer camps on the shores of Lake Mendota in an area now known as Madison, Wisconsin. A thriving village, the Ho-Chunk people fished, hunted, gathered, and socialized.

Opening ceremonies will begin at 8 a.m. with an invocation by Ho-Chunk Elder Douglas Long. The schedule of events, which will continue until 9 p.m., will include morning and afternoon presentations on Ho-Chunk history, traditional planting and food preparation, and dancing. A dance troupe in full traditional dress will demonstrate drumming and singing at 10:30 a.m. and again at 2:45 p.m.

Mid-day, Ho-Chunk leaders will join State Park staff in a guided hike to Governor Nelson's five conical mounds and its 389-foot long Panther mound. Following the hike at 3:30 p.m. the public is invited to participate in traditional games like the Moccasin Game, Indian Dice, and LaCrosse.

At 6 p.m. a traditional meal will be served that will include venison, smoked bison and salmon, squash, corn soup, fry bread, dried berries, and wintergreen tea. Contemporary foods will be blanket dogs and Indian tacos.

The closing ceremony will feature traditional campfire storytelling by Merlin Red Cloud. Storytelling is an important way of life that passes history, morals, and creates a connection from one generation to the next.

Ho-Chunk Heritage Day will take place on Saturday, September 8 at Governor Nelson State Park located between the towns of Waunakee and Middleton on Highway M, on the northwest shores of Lake Mendota. There is no charge for any of the events. All vehicles will require a state park admission sticker.

For more information, contact Donna Schmitz at Governor Nelson State Park at (608) 831-3005 or email schmid@dnr.state.wi.us.

For more information on the Ho-Chunk Nation see: content.html#ho-chunk

First of 2 events (2nd)

Esgenoôpetitj - CPT non-violent intervention
08/19-28/01

At the invitation of the community, Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) has maintained a violence-reduction team at the fishery since April 2000. You are invited to participate in a CPT delegation to Esgenoôpetitj August 18-28 2001.

Assembly Bill 483 was introduced yesterday, August 22, 2001 by Rep. Gary Sherman (D-Port Wing) to give the name "Walter Bresette Memorial Highway" to Highway 122--the KKK's "Adopt-a-Highway" in Iron County, Wisconsin. The Assembly Transportation Committee has already (!) scheduled the bill for its public hearing TODAY, August 23. The hearing begins at 9 am, but AB 483 will be near the end of the agenda, so will not come up before 10 am, according to Chairman Jeff Stone's office. If anyone can make it down, please come to Room 417 North (GAR Room). Please come even if you don't want to testify; you can briefly register in support of AB 483.

AB-483 renames the stretch of Highway 122 "in recognition and appreciation of the life of Walt Bresette, a member of the Red Cliff band of Lake Superior Chippewa who worked passionately on issues concerning social justice, the environment, and tribal sovereignty." The bill can be accessed from http://www.legis.state.wi.us/2001/data/AB-483.pdf (FREE .pdf Reader Adobe Acrobat ). The sponsors are Representatives Sherman, Stone, Plouff, Staskunas, Ryba, Young, Turner, Williams, Bies, Berceau, Coggs, Black, Miller, J. Lehman, Boyle, Lippert, La Fave, Musser, Pocan, Richards, Sykora and Bock; cosponsored by Senators Jauch, Moore, Burke and Baumgart. Bill history at http://www.legis.state.wi.us/2001/data/AB483hst.html

For those who cannot come today, please write members of the Assembly and Senate committees, and your own lawmakers. Committee members' e-mail addresses and information on Bresette Highway are below. Other lawmakers' addresses are are http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/wileg.html

Also, Michael McQueeney's Mercer-based Klan is holding a recruitment rally Saturday at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul; there will be a huge community response, like the one Walt organized in Ironwood, Mich. four years ago See http://www.cantheklan.org

Wolf Watershed Educational Project - meeting
08/26/01

The Wolf Watershed Educational Project meets SUNDAY, AUGUST 26 IN KESHENA (10 am-3 pm). The meeting will be at the Menominee Nation Casino, in the Black Hawk Room. Thanks to the Menominee Treaty Rights and Mining Impacts Office for hosting the meeting and meal.

SPEAKING TOUR/RALLY TO SUPPORT CYANIDE BAN IN ALL WISCONSIN MINES

Leading up to October's State Senate floor vote on the cyanide ban (Senate Bill 160), we are planning a speaking tour and media campaign in key towns and cities, and a tentative October 6 Capitol rally in Madison. Contact us if you would like to help set up a speaking date in your community!!! Also again contact your State Senator to not only vote for Sen. Russ Decker's SB 160 that bans cyanide in ALL Wisconsin mines, but also against any exemptions to the ban that would allow the Crandon mine to open.

(Call toll-free 800-362-9472 and write State Capitol, Madison WI 53702. For legislator's e-mails/toll-free phones see http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/wileg.html )

For BACKGROUND on SB 160/AB 95 see: http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/cyanide.html and
http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/points.html
PRINT A LEAFLET http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/cyanide_leaflet.html
PRINT A RESOLUTION for your County Board to pass (like Rusk, Langlade, Shawano, Brown, and Milwaukee):
http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/wcbcm-prt_res.html
CIRCULATE THE PETITION for a cyanide ban in mining; over 13,000 have signed it so far. http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/petition.html

The respected Chamberlain Research Consultants has released a statewide opinion survey, showing majorities:

• Against new metallic mines (55%),
• For the ban on cyanide in mining (58%),
• For stronger "bad actor" permit conditions based on corporate track records (71%),
• For Sen. Dave Hansen's proposal to give metallic mines equal treatment in groundwater and hazardous waste laws (90%).

Northeastern Wisconsin showed strong numbers, demonstrating the success of our broad frontline alliance. A plurality of Republicans (42% to 35%) opposed new metallic mines such as the Crandon project, and a majority of them backed the cyanide ban and other mining law reforms. Two Republican Assembly Representatives attended the July 30 Green Bay press conference on the poll, proving that (like on the national level) many moderate Republicans do not want to be associated with pro-toxic environmental rollbacks. The poll was commissioned by the Forest County Potawatomi; see http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/poll.html

NEW CRANDON PROJECT OWNER BHP BILLITON
"DUMPING THE DUDS"

The Australian/South African conglomerate that now owns the Crandon project is in the process of dropping or selling some mine assets, including operating copper and zinc mines that are larger than Crandon. The poll numbers and passing the cyanide ban could help nudge it toward dumping its Crandon dud.

Wolf Watershed Educational Project - Meeting
07/28/2001

The Wolf Watershed Educational Project will meet JULY 28 IN SHAWANO (Saturday 10 am-3 pm). The meeting will be at 125 South Sawyer, in the Community Center at the SW corner of the City Hall/Police Building, across from the Public Library, downtown just south of Hwy 47/29. Thanks to Protect Our Wolf River (POW’R) for hosting the meeting. It is the same weekend as the Langlade County Fair in Antigo.

SUPPORT SENATE BILL 160 TO BAN CYANIDE IN WISCONSIN MINES

SB-160 was approved by a 4-1 vote in the Senate Environmental Resources Committee, and passed on to the full Senate, for a floor vote in the Fall session. Three Democrats were joined by Sen. Robert Cowles (R-DePere). The only Committee member to vote against the bill, Sen. Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center) has since attacked SB 160. He is proposing a hostile bill that will ban cyanide only in heap leach process mines, therefore allowing the Crandon mine to go forward because it would use a froth flotation process in vats. It is important NOW to get the ball rolling for the Fall vote for SB 160: the only genuine bill banning cyanide in Wisconsin mines. The company says that a ban on cyanide would economically cripple the Crandon mine, even though only a minority of zinc and copper mines use cyanide in ore processing. For background log on to http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/cyanide.html

1. Please call and write your State Senator toll-free at (800) 362-9472 (write State Capitol, Madison WI 53702) to vote for the genuine cyanide prohibition bill SB 160. If you are in Senator Breske's district, call him directly at 800-334-8773. If you are in Sen. Cowles' district, thank him for his Committee vote by calling 800-334-1465, and urge his strong support on the floor for SB 160. Letters are most effective. For legislative e-mails and toll-free numbers, lo on to http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/wileg.html

2. Write letters to the editor, call radio talk shows, etc. to speak out in favor of Sen. Russ Decker's Senate Bill 160. For details, log on to the Talking Points at http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/points.html . Emphasize the problems with cyanide transportation (before processing) and waste storage (after processing) in the clean environment of northern Wisconsin, no matter what milling process is used.

3. Pass local government resolutions; a version can be found at http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/wcbcm-prt_res.html Langlade, Rusk, Shawano and Brown counties, and numerous local government boards, have passed resolutions; the more the merrier.
IT IS UP TO YOU !!!!

"In the Light of Reverence" PBS
Aug. 6, 2001

On August 14, 2001 at 10 p.m., most PBS stations in the United States will air a documentary film entitled "In the Light of Reverence," which chronicles Native American struggles to protect their sacred places.

The film was produced by Christopher (Toby) McLeod, Malinda Maynor (Lumbee) and the Sacred Land Film Project of Earth Island Institute. It documents the efforts of three native communities in three different regions: the Wintu in northern California, the Hopi in the Four Corners region of the Southwest, and the Lakota in the Black Hills.

The film will be nationally broadcast on P.O.V. ("Point of View"), the groundbreaking PBS documentary showcase in August and then rebroadcast on many PBS stations in November as part of Native American Heritage month.

The Sacred Land Film Project has had a website at http://www.sacredland.org/

We now respectfully ask that you consider linking to our website and announcing our momentous August 14th PBS broadcast on your website, so that we can encourage as many people to tune in as possible.

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