Lelu Island: A Conversation with Land Defender Goot Ges

By Natalie Knight / The Volcano

When the Indigenous land defense of Lelu Island began in 2015, Goot Ges was among the first organizers to commit to protecting Lax U’u’la, also known as Lelu Island. On a sunny July afternoon, I met Goot Ges and her three kids at Grandview Park on Commercial Drive to talk about her experiences as a land defender at Lax U’u’la and beyond.

Lax U’u’la is near the mouth of the Skeena River near Prince Rupert in northern British Columbia. The island, and the juvenile salmon that live in eel grass, are under threat from the proposed $11.4 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, a project that also includes a $1.2 billion payout to the Lax Kw’alaams community if they allow the development.

Last year, Goot Ges spent two months protecting Lax U’u’la with land defenders from the local community and allied First Nations. This year, Goot Ges lived for another three months on Lax U’u’la. She would wake early to patrol the docks and monitor employees from Petronas, the company proposing the LNG facility, and Stantec, an engineering firm.

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Over 130 Organizations Challenge EPA to Consider Prisoner Populations in Environmental Justice Action Plan

From PrisonEcology.org

The Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC) submitted a public comment to the Environmental Protection Agency today that provides input on the agency’s final draft of the EJ 2020 Action Agenda, highlighting the lack of consideration for environmental justice among the millions of prisoners in the United States. The comment was co-signed by 138 social justice, environmental and prisoners’ rights organizations from across the country.

Last year, HRDC submitted a 10-page comment signed by 93 organizations during the comment period for outlining the initial “framework” for EJ 2020, and later joined with the Sierra Club to generate over 12,000 emails of support for their position. Despite this advocacy, the EPA failed to include any mention of prisoners in the EJ 2020 final draft.

As a result, HRDC has further built on its efforts to make this a priority for the EPA by adding new heavy-hitting national organizations such as Greenpeace and the Natural Resources Defense Council, as well as prominent individuals including Sylvia Hood Washington, editor-in-chief of the Environmental Justice Journal, and Dr. Robert Bullard, considered to be the “Father of Environmental Justice.” (more…)

Rally for Pipeline Accountability In Saskatchewan

from Media Coop

Saskatchewan Legislature, Saturday July 30, 4 PM

4:00pm
– 5:30pm
Saturday July 30 2016

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Protesters Lock Down at Spectra Gas Pipeline Construction Site, Boston

by Julie M. Cohen / Dedham Wicked Local

ROSLINDALE – Several people were arrested after locking and gluing themselves together at 9:50 a.m. on Saturday to block two construction sites of Spectra Energy’s West Roxbury Lateral gas pipeline, according to Alyssa Lee of Resist the West Roxbury Lateral Pipeline.

Lee said six people were arrested, however, Boston Police said four were arrested in the area of 2365 Centre St., West Roxbury. Police said that three were charged with trespassing and disturbing the peace and a fourth person was charged with trespassing, disturbing the peace and hindering a police officer.

Bound at the waist and ankles using chains and superglue, Lee said the group aimed to stop the project from endangering the community and disrupting the climate.

The West Roxbury Lateral runs under Grove and Centre streets, and the Metering and Regulating Station is right across the street from West Roxbury Crushed Stone, a quarry where there is active blasting.

Protester Trevor Culhane, of Cambridge, said, “This pipeline would irresponsibly lock us into decades of climate pollution and community disruption. We need to keep fossil fuels in the ground and transition to a just and renewable economy without fracked-gas.”

This was the latest in a series of ongoing protests and arrests at the site. Last week more than 100 people participated in the 43-mile “People Over Pipelines” march that started in Medway and ended by occupying the grand staircase of the Massachusetts State House on Monday, July 18.

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France ALF Sabotages Hunting Towers: Eight Total in July

from Bite Back

anonymous report:

“In North-East France Alsace-Lorraine region, 4 more Hunting towers have been destroyed raising the total this month to 8 towers.

Graffiti on them showed ALF signs.

Join by individual or collective actions NOW to save some animals from the hunt.”

[EF!J editor’s note: read about ALF’s earlier attack on hunting towers here.]

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Arson in Brazil Against Machines of Earth Destruction

from Agência de Notícias Anarquistas (A.N.A.)

translated by Earth First! Journal

We mark the change into the 2016 winter solstice with warm celebrations and nighttime fires, with the hostile flames of the fire destroying the tools of the dominating system–tools used to dominate and control, used to destroy the land, water, and air…

On the cold dawn of May 30, Sunday into Monday, we visited Net Sul’s (1) installations in the Petrópolis neighborhood, “noble air” in the city of Porto Alegre (happy port). We broke the protection panel there, giving free access to transmission antennae. The security staff didn’t notice a thing until the fire broke out.

The information flow from TV, computers, cell phones, and tablets are substitutes for many people [instead of] the open fire, conversations from face-to-face, the smells, the stars–but not for us.

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US to Open More Wildlife Refuges to Hunters

by Taylor Hill / Take Part

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service plans to expand hunting and fishing opportunities at 13 national wildlife refuges across nine states, including opening up big game hunting in Colorado’s 92,000-acre Baca National Wildlife Refuge for the first time.

That’s good news for America’s hunters, who will have more chances to target big game species such as elk and deer, as well as prairie chickens, quail, pheasant, ducks, doves, and pigeons.

But conservationists fear the move will expose wildlife to lead poisoning and other threats.

“The best purpose for our national wildlife refuges is the original purpose: to provide an inviolate sanctuary for the protection of our native wild spaces and wildlife,” said Jennifer Place, program associate at Born Free USA in Washington, D.C.

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Mapuche Ancestral Resistance Burn Dam Excavators in Argentina

from Counter Vorte

Members of Mapuche Ancestral Resistance in the pre-dawn hours of July 19 burned two excavator machines belonging to British business magnate Joe Lewis, that were being used to build a hydroelectric dam at El Bolsón, in Argentina’s Río Negro province. The dam is planned for the headwaters of the Río Escondido, on Lewis’ private property, and is being built in cooperation with Edenor electric company, of which Lewis is the biggest stock owner. The militants left leaflets headlined “Lewis Out of Patagonia,” and listing their demands for the release of political prisoners and the eviction of oil, mining and hydroelectric companies from Mapuche traditional territories. Liberty was especially demanded for Facundo Jones Huala, who was arrested in May and is being held pending an extradition request by Chile, where he is wanted for “land usurpation.” Mapuche territory is bisected by the Chile-Argentina border.

([SOURCES:] The Bubble, Buenos Aires, Clarín, Buenos Aires, July 19; Crónica, Chubut, June 29)

Secwepemc Resistance, Anniversary of Mt. Polley Disaster, BC, Canada

by Brenda Norrell / Censored News

Secwepemc peoples are calling on all to come and stand with us in resistance against mining and the provincial government’s decision to re-issue a full permit for Mount Polley. Indigenous Peoples are at the forefront of the impacts and consequences of climate change. The root of climate change in Canada is the continuing genocide of Indigenous Peoples, that is, the continuation of destructive and dangerous resource extractive projects approved by the Provincial and Federal governments that have no legal jurisdiction to do so. We find ourselves in a state of urgency and crisis. The continuing violations of the rights and responsibilities of Indigenous Peoples by industries not appropriately regulated, regularly causing environmental damage and destruction, and most importantly, that do not have consent by Indigenous Peoples will not be tolerated!

[Watch the Stimulator’s video here]

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Public event in Vancouver
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Monday August 1, 2016
Dinner at 5:30 pm, Event at 6 pm
1803 East 1st Ave (just east of Commercial Drive)
unceded xʷməθkwəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and Səl̓ílwətaʔ territories, Vancouver

Come learn about resistance to Imperial Metals Mount Polley mine and broader mining justice struggles WITH Cecilia Point (Musqueam), Kanahus Manuel (Secwepemc Women’s Warrior Society), Sacheen and Crow (Ancestral Pride), Sam Nock (Cree-Metis poet), Ricardo Segovia (hydrogeologist), Harjap Grewal (Council of Canadians) and Rita Wong (updates on Site C and Unist’ot’en Camp).

Accessibility info: Free event. Childcare provided on-site. Dinner served. Kitchen’s entrance is wheelchair accessible at street level. One washroom has a stall that can accommodate a wheelchair.The washroom door opening is 86 cm, and the stall door is 61 cm.

If you can please bring non-perishable food items for the camp to the event: wild rice, potatoes, bread, corn, oatmeal etc.

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Lawsuit Launched to Protect Rare California Fish, Endangered Mammal

from Center for Biological Diversity

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif.— The Center for Biological Diversity and Endangered Habitats League today announced their intent to sue the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for its failure to assess harm to federally protected Santa Ana sucker fish and San Bernardino kangaroo rats.

In violation of the Endangered Species Act, the Corps has never consulted with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regarding the effects of management of Santa Ana River flood-control projects, including operation of the Seven Oaks Dam, on the Santa Ana sucker fish and its federally designated critical habitat. It also has not considered new information, including changes in dam operations.

“These iconic Southern California animals are on a downward slide toward extinction,” said Ileene Anderson, a senior scientist with the Center. “The Army Corps needs to follow the law and do its duty to the American people by consulting with the Fish and Wildlife Service to identify and remedy any harm resulting from mismanagement of the Santa Ana River.”

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