Defend Bristol Bay

June 17 Greetings, Keystone Community: Below is background information from Defend Bristol Bay for the new action step (as discussed after church yesterday June 16.  And here is your promised email to make this simple!) Our action step is to urge our Congressperson Pramila Jayapal to vote for Congressperson Huffman's amendment to the appropriations omnibus bill to put a pause on the Army Corps of Engineers regarding a final environmental Draft Environmental Impact Statement.  To contact Jayapal by email, you can click on "Tell your elected officials to help defend Bristol Bay."  You can personalize the form letter or send as is.  You can also phone Jayapal's office (206/674-0040) and leave a voice mail or talk directly to a staffer during business hours.   I emailed AND left a voicemail.  Thanks for whatever you can do. Connie Voget, Keystone Green Team member  p.s. My voicemail message follows: "Hello.  My name is ...I am a constituent.  My zip code is 98103.  I urge Congresswoman Jayapal to vote yes on the Huffman Amendment to protect Bristol Bay from a runaway permitting process.  Pebble Partnership must be held accountable for its incomplete and deceptive mining application.  The Army Corps of Engineers must be required to get the science right.  Thank you."   Subject: A Last Stand for Bristol Bay - All Voices Needed       Defend Bristol Bay <info@defendbristolbay.com>   info@defendbristolbay.com       Dear Constance By now you’ve heard that Pebble is on the fast track toward permitting. As of now, we’re more than two-thirds of the way through a review period on primary permit applications for the Pebble Mine. Their application is woefully inadequate, but yet the United States Army Corps seems to be fine with mediocrity and is pushing the permit at record pace. All indications are that they plan to finalize Pebble’s permits by 2020. HELP US SLOW DOWN PEBBLE’S RUNAWAY TRAIN! Bristol Bay, as you know, is the crown jewel of fisheries and a mediocre permit review is unacceptable. That is why we were delighted last week when California’s Congressman Huffman introduced an amendment in the House budget process that would prevent the Army Corps from finalizing the Draft Environmental Impact Statement with this budget.  This amendment forces the Corps to stop, regroup and include critical missing pieces to its analysis of the Pebble mega mine, like salmon stream surveys and what happens if a toxic waste dam collapses.  Unfortunately, this step is necessary to reign in an agency that seems more interested in meeting an artificial and unrealistic deadline than getting the science right and listening to the public.  For years now, a majority of Alaskans  have opposed Pebble and have been joined by millions of Americans urging strong protections for Bristol Bay. The Huffman amendment provides a critical opportunity the get things right. TELL YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS TO HELP DEFEND BRISTOL BAY This is a critical opportunity for your voice to be heard. We need you to tell your elected official to support the Huffman amendment. The House will be reviewing the budget and amendments this week, so please the clock is ticking. Send an email to your elected officials and tell them now is the time to defend Bristol Bay! Thank you Defend Bristol Bay  Defend Bristol Bay 707 A Street Anchorage, AK 99501 United States ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hello Keystone- Yesterday after church we gathered at the coffee pot for TAKE 5 for ADVOCACY because we have a moment- TODAY- June 16 & 17... MAY...be the 18th!... to contact Rep. Pramilla Jayapal or your Rep. to make a potentially lasting impact... Some more background/a tip to help you here: Connie V. has been in this effort to protect Bristol Bay since 2017.  We are grateful to bounce off her research.  WE need about 10 folks to make a brief call or email today, if you can. It is great for us to identify ourselves as members of an organization.  (And Pramila is a friend and fan of Keystone!)  You might say :  "As a member of the Green Team at Keystone, UCC, I care deeply about... or I advocate for... or I am committed to the principle of environmental justice or safeguarding the fishing sites of native Alaskans or native Americans or safeguarding important food sources, etc. For this reason I urge you to... Or the writer might say: I am a member of Keystone UCC, a Justice centered church.  For this reason... Thanks all! BACKGROUND shared earlier Native and Non-Native Fishers Battle Big Money to Protect Bristol Bay From Keystone Member, Connie Voget: On April 25, I attended a Town Hall at the University of Washington to learn more about an issue I have been following for many years - a proposal to build a mine that scientists say presents an unacceptable risk to Bristol Bay, Alaska (please see overview, below). Native and non-Native fisher folk are up against big money and have to rely on people-power to defend their livelihoods, their values and the Bristol Bay ecosystem that they cherish and whose bounty serves not only their community, but the world. In the last couple Keystone newsletters, we've shared the opportunity to signed a prepared letter for submission to the Army Corps of Engineers. The deadline has been extended, so if you still haven't signed or submitted a letter, there's still time! Sign the online letter here   More information on the threat to Bristol Bay: The peril of mining the pristine headwaters of Alaska’s Bristol Bay https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/the-peril-of-mining-the-pristine-headwaters-of-alaskas-bristol-bay/ Businesses for Bristol Bay issue a plea from Seattle: suspend permitting on Pebble Mine https://www.knkx.org/post/businesses-bristol-bay-issue-plea-seattle-suspend-permitting-pebble-mine Seattle City Council asks feds to stop permitting on copper mine in Alaska https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/seattle-city-council-asks-feds-to-stop-permitting-on-copper-mine-in-alaska/862756654 Please see Connie on Sunday, May 19, to sign a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers, and thank you, Connie, for helping Keystone speak up on this important matter!