Why is Amy Klobuchar Trying to Give Away Our Forest to a Mining Company?

Here's a letter I wrote to Amy Klobuchar about her bill that she may introduce to give away part of OUR (that's right our) Superior National Forest in northern Minnesota to a mining company to strip mine it! WTF Amy?! Progressive Democrat? Doesn't sound like it.

(here's my letter)
I have heard that you are going to introduce a bill to allow strip mining in part of the Superior National Forest. This is public land that should be protected and kept forrested and completely left alone (no cutting down trees or development). This is part of a critical eco-system that is already being cut up. We cannot allow what little land has been thus far set aside to be kept in a totally natural forest condition.

Please say it ain't so Amy that you are thinking of being a supporter of giving away public land to be used for mining. Not only is that a bad idea because it destroys land that should be protected, it also bad because that mining company will get to take resources from public land and profit off them. That is OUR land. Those are OUR resources. To let a mining company just take them is theft from the public.

Further, there is a process in place for even considering such an action as taking national forest land and letting a mining company do their damage to it. The bill that Oberstar introduced skirts the established processes. That's not fair, that's not right, and that's not legal. That makes Oberstar look like a corporate whore (excuse my language but that's what it is and I'm calling it that).

Please do not follow suit and go against the public interest that you said you'd protect when you campaigned for office and which you promised to protect when you were sworn in. Don't do it Amy.

Sincerely,
Christopher Loch
Concerned Minnesota Citizen, and
Small Business Owner

(here's Amy's website where you can contact her and tell her what's up)
http://klobuchar.senate.gov/emailamy.cfm

(here's more information from Friends of the Boundary Waters who alerted me to this situation)

As an owner of the Superior National Forest, would you like to sell a chunk of it on the cheap for a strip mine?

No? We didn't think so. But that's just what Congress is being asked to do, circumventing a time-tested process meant to ensure consideration of the public's interest in National Forest lands and the environmental impacts of such an important decision.

Rep. James Oberstar has introduced H.R. 4292 in the House of Representatives, which would allow the U.S. Forest Service to sell approximately 6,700 acres of land it owns to PolyMet, Inc. so the mining company can operate a strip mine for copper and other minerals on the site. This legislation would provide a windfall to a private mining corporation at the expense of taxpayers. Senator Amy Klobuchar is poised to introduce a companion bill in the Senate.

We need to convince Sen. Klobuchar not to introduce that bill. You can help today by contacting her and your newspapers.

Although the Friends has serious reservations about this type of mining – which has never been done before in the state and poses enormous risks to the wild places of northern Minnesota – our primary concern with this legislation is the circumvention of established processes. This legislation would carve out an exception to a tried and tested process for the benefit of a single corporation.

Take action!

* If you live in Minnesota, contact Sen. Amy Klobuchar at (202) 224-3244 and urge her not to introduce a companion bill to H.R. 4292 in the Senate.
* If you live in the Eighth Congressional District of Minnesota, contact Rep. Oberstar at (202) 225-6211 to tell him you oppose H.R. 4292
* Send a letter to the editor of your newspaper expressing your concerns about H.R. 4292.

Learn more:

* Download our fact sheet
* Contact Brian Pasko at 612-332-9630 or brian@friends-bwca.org
* Visit the Friends' mining Web page.