Barrick Gold is mining for gold at Mt. Tenabo in Nevada’s Crescent Valley, a mountain sacred to the Western Shoshone in part because of the springs it contains. Each spring has its own unique spirits tied to the spring’s source.

When Barrick was given the go-ahead, a court limited groundwater pumping (necessary to keep the mine's pit dry) to protect Mt. Tenabo's springs. The court directed the federal Bureau of Land Management, which permits and regulates the Barrick mine, to come up with a plan that would permanently protect the Western Shoshone's sacred waters.

BLM recently released its new plan. In a nutshell: it doesn’t protect the springs. Instead, it allows them to be depleted so long as Barrick can bring water in from elsewhere.

In other words, BLM’s plan ignores what makes the springs sacred to the Western Shoshone who have continuously inhabited the region for thousands of years -- it ignores the reason that the court protected the springs in the first place.

TAKE ACTION: We need your help to make sure that the BLM protects Mt. Tenabo's sacred springs.

Tell BLM to go back to the drawing board and come up with a new plan that actually protects the Western Shoshone’s sacred springs in and around Mt. Tenabo. It’s insult enough that the mine exists at all, allowing Barrick to destroy Tenabo’s holiness in the process would be a crime.

Photo Credit: Protestbarrick

Action Credit: EARTHWORKS