UPDATES 9.7.20

1. Residents of Nome, Bering Straits region, and Alaska : Please be sure to put in the comments "I am a resident of ___"
2. Final deadline for public comment is Sept. 15, 2020.
   
   
3. New project manager is Tiffany Kwakwa. Write to Ms. Kwakwa at Tiffany.D.Kwakwa@usace.army.mil
4. New goal of 5,000 signatures! Please share with 5 of your friends and family who have not signed yet. Quyaana.

**********************

The people of Nome, Alaska and the surrounding area of Northwestern Alaska risk losing a valuable wetland habitat called Bonanza Channel. It is under threat from a devastating gold mine operation. Sign this petition to STOP IPOP, and SAVE BONANZA CHANNEL.
 
IPOP GOLD MINE IS A HUGE THREAT TO OUR WAYS OF LIFE IN THE BERING STRAIT REGION.
 
Bonanza Channel, located in the Safety Sound area about 25 to 30 miles from Nome, is under threat by the proposed IPOP gold mine. If approved, IPOP, LLC will spend five years suction dredging over 170 acres in Bonanza Channel. Suction dredging with a huge cutter head, plus accompanying machinery and staging area, will disrupt the ecosystem, including several species of fish and bird nesting grounds, not to mention the berries, greens, and land and marine mammals that live in and around this beautiful wetland that we love and depend on. It will obliterate the area as we know it.

But that’s only the beginning.
 
The people behind IPOP, from the lower 48, plan to use the gold mining operation to make a TV show called ‘Rivers of Gold’. This will bring an onslaught of people who don’t know about how precious Safety Sound is to the local people. The mining and TV operation will harm the lands, waters, and wildlife, to the detriment of local communities who depend on the area for subsistence and vital cultural practices.
 
The mine and TV show are solely to profit a wealthy few who are not part of this regional community. The area has been shown to be unlikely to produce much gold, yet they will profit via the TV show. They have shown no intentions to invest those profits meaningfully in the surrounding communities, nor the state of Alaska.
 
Eventually, after they are gone, they will leave behind destruction. Bonanza Channel will look drastically changed from the one we know and depend on.
 
FOR NOME AND REGIONAL RESIDENTS
Our people depend on Safety. Our cultures depend on Safety. Our lifeways--all of our life ways in this region--depend on Safety Sound and surrounding areas. Let’s protect the waters and lands that sustain all of our lifeways here. Let’s protect our berries, fish, plants, eggs, birds, and the rich life in this delicate ecosystem. Say “no” to the IPOP gold mine.

***IF YOU ARE SIGNING AND YOU ARE A RESIDENT OF NOME, BERING STRAITS REGION, OR ALASKA: Please put in your comments either "Nome resident" or "Bering Strait Region resident" or "Alaska resident." Thank you!
 
FOR THOSE WHO ARE NOT LOCAL BUT WANT TO HELP:
The Safety Sound/Bonanza Channel area is invaluable to the local communities. It is particularly critical to the Indigenous peoples of the region (Iñupiaq, Yup’ik, and St. Lawrence Island Yupik), who feed their families through subsistence in the area. Safety Sound is an estuary providing food year-round to the Indigenous peoples of the area, including several species of eggs, birds, fish, berries, nutrient-rich edible greens, and land and marine mammals. Subsistence here is completely sustainable, and affordable, in this remote, fly-in-only Arctic and sub-Arctic region where the cost of living is high, and jobs are scarce. Subsistence is a practice protected by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
 
Part of the Bering Sea Aleutian Island National Maritime Wildlife Refuge, this area is also a nesting habitat for rare migratory birds. It is some of the most accessible scenic beauty in the sub-Arctic United States. Nome welcomes tourists from all over the world every summer to watch and enjoy rare birds, and others who visit for a once-in-a-lifetime adventure in this world-renowned destination for peaceful, wild, scenic beauty.
 
WE THE PUBLIC URGE THE ARMY CORPS TO DENY THE IPOP APPLICATION.
 
If we want to protect Safety Sound and Bonanza Channel from IPOP, we, the public, and especially the people of Nome and the Norton Sound region, must urge the US Army Corps of Engineers to deny the IPOP application, POA 2018-00123. Now is our chance.
 
Sign this petition to Stop IPOP and save Bonanza Channel! Say NO to IPOP!
 
OUR GOAL
Help us get at least 5,000 signatures! We are especially grateful for signatures from residents of Nome, Norton Sound region, and Alaska! Anyone who wants to help protect Safety Sound is invited to sign.
 
Please sign this petition to STOP IPOP and SAVE SAFETY SOUND/BONANZA CHANNEL! And be sure to share with your friends and family members!

Quyaana,
—your local neighbors in Nome who love and depend on the health of Bonanza Channel and Safety Sound.
 
By adding your signature, you are authorizing the STOP IPOP organizers to send a letter on behalf of all signers as official public comment on POA-2018-00123. The letter will request an extension to the deadline for public comment; it will offer some starting details regarding why the local community is saying “No” to IPOP; and it will urge the US Army Corps to reject IPOP’s application. It will be sent to the US Army Corps of Engineers representative for this issue, and to the State of Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, Department of Fish and Game, Department of Natural Resources, and Division of Habitat.

The letter that will be sent is in development, and will be available by Sept. 14. If you are not comfortable signing this without seeing the letter first, please consider sending an individual email.