Stop the Katahdin Region Mine

200

Supporters spoke up in this action

Delivery to Land Use Planning Commission

Action ended on November 2, 2023

What Happens Next

Thank you to all who took action! We’re grateful for your support.

What Was At Stake

The Katahdin region is no place to put a mine. 

Wolfden Resources, a virtually unknown Canadian company, has proposed rezoning its forested land to build a zinc mine at Pickett Mountain, just miles from Baxter State Park and the Katahdin Woods & Waters National Monument. This region is sacred to the Wabanaki people and contains critical habitat for endangered Atlantic salmon. 

If we’re going to protect the clean water and unparalleled beauty of this region that is the backbone of the state’s vibrant outdoor economy, we need to demonstrate overwhelming opposition to Maine’s Land Use Planning Commission. Here’s how you can get involved:

🗣️ Attend and testify at the public hearing before the Land Use Planning Commission (LUPC) on October 16th or 17th at Stearns Jr./Sr. High School in Millinocket, or at a public hearing on October 23rd at the Cross Insurance Center, 515 Main St., Bangor, ME).

📝Submit a comment to the LUPC opposing the mining proposal.

📢 Share these actions with your network! Help us spread the word with others.

Wolfden has never operated a mine before, and many of its claims are not credible. Metal mining is a dangerous and dirty industry, and the wastewater from mines is often highly toxic. A polluting mine would threaten the area’s high quality brook trout and salmon habitat and many of the activities that sustain the regional economy, such as guiding, fishing, hunting, and hiking.

Join us in telling the LUPC this mine is too big of a risk for Maine.

A cloud hugs the summit of Mount Chase in this aerial view of Pickett Mountain Pond in Maine's Northern Forest at the proposed site of the Wolfen mine. (J. Monkman / NRCM)
A cloud hugs the summit of Mount Chase in this aerial view of Pickett Mountain Pond in Maine's Northern Forest at the proposed site of the Wolfen mine. (J. Monkman / NRCM)

Your Actions Matter

Your messages make a difference, even if we have leaders who don't want to listen. Here's why.

You level the playing field.

Elected officials pay attention when they see that we are paying attention. Read more.

They may be hearing from industry lobbyists left and right, but hearing the stories of their constituents — that’s your power.

Our legislators serve at the pleasure of the people who gave them their job — you.

Make sure your elected officials know whose community and whose values they represent. When you contact your elected official, you’re putting a face and a name on an issue.

Whether or not you voted for them, they work for you, for the duration of their term.

Make sure your elected officials know whose community and whose values they represent. (Find your local, state, and federal elected officials.)

Your action is with us in court.

If a federal agency finalizes a harmful action, the record of public comments provides a basis for bringing them into court. Read more.

Throughout each of the public comment periods we alert you to, Earthjustice’s attorneys are researching and writing in-depth, technical comments to submit — detailing how the regulation could and should be stronger to protect the environment, our communities, and our planet.

We need you to join us — your specific experiences, knowledge, and voice are crucial to add to the Administrative Record through the comment periods.

Lawsuits we file that challenge weak or harmful federal regulations rely on what was submitted during the comment period. The court can only look at documents that are in the Administrative Record — including the public comments — to decide if the agency did something improper.

Your actions aid our litigation. Taking action and submitting comments during a comment period is substantively important.

It’s the law.

Federal agencies must pause what they’re doing and ask for — and consider — your comment. Read more.

Many of us may have never heard of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), but laws like these require our government to ask the public to weigh in before agencies adopt or change regulations.

Regulations essentially describe how federal agencies will carry out laws — including decisions that could undermine science, or weaken safeguards on public health.

Public comments are collected at various points throughout the federal government’s rulemaking process, including when a regulation is proposed and finalized. (Learn about the rulemaking process.) These comments become part of the official, legal public record — the “Administrative Record.”

When the public responds with a huge outpouring of support for environmental protections, these individual messages collectively undercut politicians' attempts to claim otherwise.

What this means is each of us can take a role in shaping the rules our government creates — and ensuring those rules are fair and effective.