{"id":36701,"date":"2024-01-06T01:19:31","date_gmt":"2024-01-06T06:19:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/lakota-tribes-grassroots-organizers-unite-against-modern-gold-rush-in-black-hills\/"},"modified":"2024-01-06T01:19:33","modified_gmt":"2024-01-06T06:19:33","slug":"lakota-tribes-grassroots-organizers-unite-against-modern-gold-rush-in-black-hills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/lakota-tribes-grassroots-organizers-unite-against-modern-gold-rush-in-black-hills\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakota tribes, grassroots organizers unite against \u2018modern gold rush\u2019 in Black Hills"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources map shows reported spills remediated and still under remediation in a 7.5 mile circumference of Wharf Gold Mine near Lead, South Dakota in the northern Black Hills. Photo credit\/ Courtesy of SD DANR\u2019s interactive tool<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Part one of a four part series.<\/p>\n

RAPID CITY \u2013 When federal agencies responded positively in 2023 to citizen pleas to prevent a \u201cmodern gold rush\u201d in the fabled Black Hills, it was a milestone for a decades-long grassroots movement defending the region\u2019s habitat from looming mega-mining. Tribal and nonprofit organizations celebrated with a December appreciation dinner after mounting a successful public pressure campaign to protect water.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0The USDA Forest Service in March proposed a halt to mining claims and exploration on more than 20,500 acres under public jurisdiction. It was a response to a barrage of comments on gold prospecting applications. The tract is about 10% of the Rapid Creek drainage upstream from South Dakota\u2019s second-largest urban area, Rapid City. If the BLM agrees, this important water source will be off-limits to new mining development for at least 20 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting to the Forest Service\u2019s proposal took five or six years of hard, focused work involving a broad alliance,\u201d Black Hills Clean Water Alliance Executive Director Lilias Jarding told Buffalo\u2019s Fire. \u201cLonger than that, if you consider that the alliance had been under construction since the 1970s,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Forest Service proposal was a departure from the government\u2019s standard operating procedure of granting permits for any mineral exploitation using the premise of the 1872 General Mining Act.<\/p>\n

Land managers from both federal agencies held a 90-day comment period and an April 26 hearing in Rapid City on the proposal they call a\u00a0mineral claims withdrawal<\/a>. The resounding turnout demonstrated public awareness was at a crest in the wake of a campaign to fend off the \u201cmodern gold rush.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Vox populi, the people\u2019s voice, was on parade. In the town of about 76,000 people, only two Rapid City hearing participants spoke up to promote mineral interests. The rest of the hundreds who testified were part of the estimated 85% of 11,000 commenters in favor of\u00a0withdrawing access to mining<\/a>. Among those in the majority was the region\u2019s largest employer, Ellsworth Air Force Base, which derives its drinking water supply from Rapid Creek.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took everyone to get to this point \u2014 the tribal governments, citizen activist groups, large and small \u2014 local residents, visitors, federal employees, and city government,\u201d Jarding said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur hope is just to push the idea that all of the Black Hills is sacred land and important to our people. It all needs to be protected,\u201d Stephen Barrett, Oglala, the alliance\u2019s Indigenous Community Organizer told Buffalo\u2019s Fire.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us as Lakota people, we call the\u00a0Black Hills The Heart of Everything That Is<\/a>. This is where our origin story is, in Wind Cave. Many of our important ceremonies happen here in the Black Hills,\u201d Barrett said. \u201cBlack Elk\u2019s Peak, Pe\u2019 Sla, Bear Butte \u2013 there are all these different places \u2013 that are just so important for us here. Our whole society revolves around the Black Hills. It\u2019s more than just a plot of land to us. It\u2019s a relative itself. It\u2019s alive. It\u2019s our family.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Black Hills Clean Water Alliance Executive Director Lilias Jarding testifies in Rapid City during Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management hearing about withdrawal of access to mining on public lands at the Mississippi River headwaters on April 26, 2023. Photo Credit\/Talli Nauman<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Hearing Opens Pandora\u2019s Box<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ever since the gold rush of the late 19th\u00a0century, mining has played a historic role in the Black Hills. Praising the Land of Gold and Glory has come to be a part of the tourist industry, the top economic activity. So, shifting public opinion has been a challenge for those who seek to maintain the integrity of this unique natural landscape.<\/p>\n

Native rights advocates are working to rein in the industry\u2019s environmental destruction by requesting a return of the land stolen in violation of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty. Water protectors are trying to harness the impending mining boom through reform of the 1872 General Mining Act. But their efforts are slow-moving.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, organizers alerted constituents about comment periods and local hearings. The tactic increased pressure on regulators who face mounting applications for permits to prospect on public lands. \u201cWe have to continuously monitor all these different agencies,\u201d Cheyenne River Sioux tribal citizen Carla Rae Marshall said at the December appreciation dinner. A board member of the Black Hills Clean Water Alliance, Marshall said it was the first step in the organization\u2019s call to action for submitting comments to the Forest Service.<\/p>\n

Twenty-three tribal governments of the Great Plains Tribal Chairmen\u2019s Association, Great Plains Tribal Water Alliance and more than two dozen other non-profit organizations\u00a0united on the mining permit withdrawals<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Their work has become an example for other people facing mega-mining proposals. \u201cWe deal with a lot of broader alliances on a national level. We\u2019re asked to give reports, seminars, webinars and all those kinds of things on a regular basis,\u201d Jarding said.<\/p>\n

The Forest Service hearing on the Rapid Creek watershed mineral claims ban revealed the efficacy of the multifaceted approach. Even before listening to the input, Deputy Regional Forester Jacque Buchanan said public pressure prompted the agency\u2019s reaction. \u201cIt really happened when we were hearing from folks the concerns around cultural resources, natural resources \u2026 and that being a water source for Rapid City,\u201d she said at the April hearing.<\/p>\n

The Forest Service will return a final proposal for further comments in early 2024, Buchanan said. In response, the Black Hills Clean Water Alliance announced on its website: \u201cBe Prepared to Write Comments on This Proposal.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Local organizers attracted the attention of the national non-profit American Rivers in 2020 when it designated Rapid Creek one of America\u2019s Most Endangered Rivers, \u201cMining could devastate Rapid Creek\u2019s clean water, fish and wildlife, and sacred cultural sites,\u201d Chris Williams, senior vice president for conservation at American Rivers, said at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, Rapid Creek is not the only threatened Black Hills drainage. Many local waterways are impaired by mercury and selenium. Four toxic Superfund sites are the result of water pollution from mining over the past 70 years. The quest for gold has been leaving its mark for more than twice that long.<\/p>\n

(Contact Talli Nauman at buffalogal10@gmail.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n

The post Lakota tribes, grassroots organizers unite against \u2018modern gold rush\u2019 in Black Hills<\/a> first appeared on Native Sun News Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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<\/span><\/div>

\u00a0 Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources map shows reported spills remediated and still under remediation in a 7.5 mile circumference of Wharf Gold Mine near Lead, South Dakota in the northern Black Hills. Photo credit\/ Courtesy of SD DANR\u2019s interactive tool Part one of a four part series. RAPID <\/p>\n

Read More<\/a>
Shared by Native Sun News Today<\/a> January 6, 2024<\/p>\n

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