Via American Rivers:

Show love for the Salmon Trout River

Last year, river activists spoke out to protect the Salmon Trout, one of America’s Most Endangered Rivers of 2006. The fight to save the river is not over yet and you can help. A proposed nickel and copper mine that would be located squarely in the headwaters of the Salmon Trout is now one step closer to becoming a reality.

Go to www.AmericanRivers.org/action867 to tell Michigan decisionmakers that you care about the Salmon Trout and the Great Lakes and want to see them protected from harmful mining activities.

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Tagged: environment environmental environmentalism environmentalist action alerts american rivers river Michigan Kennecott Minerals Company mining sulfide mining conservation Salmon Trout River fish

Via American Rivers:

U.S. to Canada – Stop Mine Threat to Montana’s Flathead River

It’s called the North Fork River by some, but most know it as the Flathead River. Regardless of the name, this Wild and Scenic River is one our country’s natural jewels, blessed with crystal clear water and unparalleled beauty. Not for long, though, if the Cline Mining Corporation convinces Canadian officials to destroy the headwaters of the Flathead in British Columbia. The company’s proposed open-pit mine would gouge two million tons of coal per year from the river’s source for the next 20 years. Not if we (and you) can help it!

There’s more at stake than this one river. The Flathead also serves as the source of Flathead Lake’s crystal clear waters. And its watershed supports a vast array of wildlife in Montana, including more grizzlies per acre than anywhere else in the Rocky Mountains. Touted as America’s “wildest valley,” the area surrounding the river and its namesake lake is protected by Glacier National Park and a Wild and Scenic River designation.

While the mine proposal is being assessed, Canadian authorities have graciously agreed to accept comments from U.S. residents — but only until Thursday, February 1. Please take a moment to let them know that you appreciate the opportunity to provide input, and then tell them you OPPOSE the mine affecting our beloved Flathead River.

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Tagged: environment environmental environmentalism environmentalist action+alerts american+rivers mining North+Fork+River montana Flathead+River conservation

Via American Rivers:

Turn California’s Rivers Wild

Good news! The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has recommended eight rivers in California’s Sierra Nevada foothills for Wild and Scenic designation.

This is an excellent idea, but the BLM wants to hear from you!

The agency is accepting public comments on behalf of the South Fork American River, Cosumnes River, North and Middle Forks Cosumnes River, Mokelumne River and its North Fork, North Fork Tuolumne River, and North Fork Merced River.

Please take action today by sending a letter to the BLM to make sure these rivers get the protection they deserve. Remind the BLM that these eight rivers provide important recreational and cultural values for neighboring communities.

These recommended rivers are also among the few remaining free-flowing rivers in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Wild and Scenic protection would prohibit new dams and ensure that federal public lands along the rivers are managed to protect their outstanding values.

Tell the BLM that you support Wild and Scenic protection for these outstanding rivers. Your action today is a promising step forward to add 40 new rivers to the Wild and Scenic Rivers System by the 40th anniversary of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act in 2008.

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Tagged: environment environmentalist environmentalism environmental action+alerts american+rivers blm Sierra+Nevada ca california

Via American Rivers:

Speak out against the Corps’ Nationwide Permits

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is poised to expand its nationwide permit program, fast-tracking the agency’s approval of harmful projects. These nationwide permits provide a “streamlined” approval process for projects with so-called “minor” environmental impacts — yet these impacts can harm freshwater resources and damage rivers and wetlands.

Under the new proposal, the Corps would have broad discretion when it comes to permitting mining, bank stabilization, fill, development, and other activities. The problem is that these nationwide permits lack basic Clean Water Act safeguards, such as public notice requirements and a thorough evaluation of less damaging alternatives. These permits also would allow unwise floodplain development and wetland destruction, putting people and communities at risk.

By creating a less stringent permitting process, the Corps would be rubberstamping the destruction of small streams and wetlands across the country. Now is your chance to stop the Corps from allowing the destruction of our nation’s valuable streams, wetlands, and floodplains. Tell the Corps that you oppose its nationwide permitting package. The comment deadline is next week, so please act TODAY!

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Tagged: environment environmentalist environmentalism action+alerts american+rivers Army+Corps+of+Engineers

Via American Rivers:

Don’t Let the Corps Kill the Caloosahatchee: Tell the Corps to Go Back to the Drawing Board!

Just six months after American Rivers listed Florida’s Caloosahatchee River as one of America’s Most Endangered Rivers due to releases of polluted water from Lake Okeechobee, the Army Corps of Engineers is set to make the problem even worse.

Already, the Caloosahatchee regularly gets inundated by a so-called “chocolate soup” of toxins from the lake proven to irritate human skin, cause nausea and vomiting, and affect liver functions. These toxins are also believed to be the cause of periodic outbreaks of Red Tide, blue-green algae and other never-before-seen species of algae that have turned the Caloosahatchee a kaleidoscope of colors and decimated river wildlife.

The Corps has now issued a draft plan that would lower the maximum level of Lake Okeechobee by more than one foot, requiring that more polluted water be dumped into the Caloosahatchee on a regular basis. The agency’s plan threatens the lifeblood of Southwest Florida. The Caloosahatchee contributes more than $2 billion annually to tourism through recreational use and cultural events. It provides drinking water for 40,000 residents in Lee County and irrigation for citrus and sugar crops on Florida’s west coast. The river basin also comprises part of the Great Calusa Blueway — a celebrated water trail home to dolphins, manatees and more than 300 species of birds.

Tell the Army Corps of Engineers to go back to the drawing board — Please do it TODAY since the comment period ends on Monday! Urge the Corps to scrap its harmful plan in favor of one that will reduce — not increase — pollution in the Caloosahatchee River.

Via American Rivers:

A Dam Runs Through It?

After a year of delays, the U.S. Forest Service is set to decide the fate of the Mike Horse Dam, a monstrosity built to contain metallic mining waste, perched precariously atop the headwaters of Montana’s famous river. Located about 100 miles east of Missoula, this glorified pile of zinc, copper and silver mine tailings threatens to pollute the river with more than two million cubic yards of toxic sediment.

In July 2005, your comments to the Forest Service bolstered local efforts to remove this mountain of noxious mine tailings — and now your help is needed to close the deal. Tell the Forest Service that protecting the Blackfoot River requires removing the Mike Horse Dam.

The comment deadline is Monday, September 18, so please act today!

In the latest issue of Currents, American Rivers announces a new report detailing the post-Katrina flooding of New Orleans:

Last year’s post-Katrina flooding underscored, once again, our nation’s failed strategy for reducing flood damage to communities. As the country observed the one-year anniversary of the drowning of New Orleans, American Rivers released a report that details the causes of the tragedy, and recommends key changes to the nation’s approach to flood protection. Case studies illustrate how communities across the nation have reduced their over-reliance on structural flood controls that repeatedly failed to protect them, in favor of natural flood protection strategies. Read Unnatural Disasters, Natural Solutions: Lessons from the Flooding of New Orleans.

If you’d like to learn more, here’s a press release that explains the 44-page report in further detail:

(more…)

Via American Rivers Outreach:

Help ensure protection for all streams and wetlands!

After years of legal assault against the Clean Water Act by developers and other polluters, the U.S. Supreme Court last month issued a confusing opinion that leaves the fate of 60% of the nation’s stream miles in a state of legal limbo. As expected, hostile lower courts are exploiting the ruling to weaken federal protections for smaller waterways and wetlands. A Texas court recently invoked the Supreme Court decision to strip safeguards against oil pollution in a tributary stream. Congress can fix this troubling situation by passing legislation restoring full federal protection for all our waters!

Urge your Senator to co-sponsor the Clean Water Authority Restoration Act.

Click here to learn more, or here to take action.

Via American Rivers:

Oppose EPA’s New Pollution Pumping Policy

Under the Clean Water Act, pumping polluted water from one body of water to another is illegal without a permit. The law (and common sense!) tell us that transferring dirty, contaminated water into clean water poses grave threats to public health, fish and wildlife.

Yet the Environmental Protection Agency is seeking to exempt water transfers from the Clean Water Act — no matter how contaminated the transferred water is and even when it is being pumped into drinking water sources! This proposed rule undermines the Clean Water Act and compromises the health of our nation’s lakes, rivers, streams, coasts and other waters.

The agency is accepting public comments until July 24. It is important that EPA receive as many comments as possible in opposition to its reckless policy proposal.

Please tell the EPA today that pumping polluted water into clean water without a permit must remain illegal under the Clean Water Act.

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: American Rivers Outreach – outreach [at] americanrivers [dot] org
Date: Jun 14, 2006 2:23 PM
Subject: Good Riddance MRGO

June 14, 2006

At long last, Congress has turned tough talk into action on the notorious Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO).

After destroying coastal wetlands that could have served as a protective natural buffer during Hurricane Katrina, and acting as a “hurricane highway” that funneled the storm surge and breached levees in New Orleans neighborhoods, the MRGO is finally on its way to being gone.

This week, the Congress agreed to a plan championed by Senators Landrieu (D-La.), Vitter (R-La.), Inhofe (R-Ok.), and Jeffords (I-Vt.) that will close the MRGO and require the restoration of wetlands devastated by its construction and operation (Click here to read our press release www.americanrivers.org/site/R?i=qfkri93bQfgCZyR63TmQAQ.. ). A report from the Corps on final closure and restoration is due in 18 months.

While this action comes too late for New Orleans flooding victims in St. Bernard Parish and the Lower Ninth Ward, at least the MRGO won’t continue to wreak havoc on Louisiana’s dwindling wetlands and the people who count on the coastal buffer zone to lessen the damage from powerful storms.

American Rivers is proud to have joined a number of community, conservation, and governmental leaders who pushed for the closure of the misguided Corps of Engineers shipping channel that did little but worsen the Katrina tragedy. As always, we thank you, our dedicated supporters for helping to make a difference.

Sincerely,

Rebecca R. Wodder
President

Click here to forward this message to a friend.

www.americanrivers.org/site/R?i=ri-vM7J3NySG5mXTXPxdoA..

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To contact American Rivers, email us at outreach [at] americanrivers [dot] org.