Native Peoples & Environmental Justice Allies Protest Department of Justice in SF

The Sacred & Natural Medicine Lake Highlands Faces Destruction!

Native Peoples and Environmental Groups to Protest U.S. Department of Justice in SF to Demand Religious Freedom and Environmental Justice!

Battle Continues as U.S. DOJ Requests An Appeal of the Ninth Circuit Court Ruling In Favor of Pit River Tribe Over Plans to Build Power Plants in the Sacred Medicine Lake Highlands Near Mt. Shasta

What: PROTEST
When: Friday, April 6, 2007; 12:00 PM
Where: U.S. Department Of Justice; 450 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco

Who: Speakers at the protest include Jonathan Freeman of Seventh Generation Fund, Advocates for the Protection of Sacred Sites, Radley Davis, Mark LeBeau, & Morning Star Gali of the Pit River Nation. Sponsors include International Indian Treaty Council, Indigenous Environmental Network, and Redding Rancheria Cultural Department.

Why: Medicine Lake Highlands, a mountainous region located near Mt. Shasta, CA held sacred to many Native Tribes, are facing desecration! The US Department of Justice (DOJ), acting on behalf of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Forest Service (FS), requested that the 9th Circuit Court review the issues involving Calpine Energy’s proposed plans to build geothermal power plants in the Medicine Lake Highlands and appeal of the Ninth Circuit Court Hearing that was in favor of the Pit River Tribe.

In November 2006, a panel of the 9th Circuit unanimously ruled that the agencies not only violated the cultural rights of the Pit River Nation but also failed to uphold provisions of the National Environmental Protection and National Historic Preservation Acts. In their ruling the Court of Appeals found that the above Federal Agencies had never adequately considered whether the Highlands should be developed for energy at all. As a result, the Court rejected the leases that would have allowed Calpine Energy Company to build geothermal plants.
Their proposal not only destroys fragile ecosystems, but directly undermines Native American cultural integrity, trampling their right to religious freedom. The Medicine Lake Highlands have significant spiritual and cultural value to Pit River Tribes and putting a power plant there would desecrate this sacred and traditionally important area.
James Hayward Sr., Co-Chair of the Advocates for the Protection of Sacred Sites, said "If the Creator wanted such development in that area there would not be large amounts of dangerous arsenic and mercury in the ground to contend with. A panel of the 9 th Circuit and a lower court have already spent a great deal of time and other resources reviewing the case and it is time for developers to leave the Highlands alone. "
Native peoples, lawmakers, homeowners, ranchers, fishing enthusiasts, environmentalists and other citizens and surrounding towns have consistently opposed this project and demands a halt to the disastrous proposal and vow to nonviolently defend Medicine Lake from any attempts to build power plants in this sacred and natural area. Over 200 tribal members and environmental justice advocates rallied in front of Calpine Energy Company’s Headquarters on January 29, 2007. Pit River tribal representatives handed Calpine a Notice Of Eviction.
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