You Showed Up. You Spoke Up. You Made a Difference. Now What?

You Showed Up. You Spoke Up. You Made a Difference. Now What?

A Conference for   Frac Sand Activists:  Networking, Learning, Advocating

Join citizen volunteers from both sides of the Mississippi River for a day of network building and information exchange. Whether you are new to the issue or an experienced advocate, this conference is for you.  We are all working to protect our communities from the adverse impacts of industrial-scale silica sand mining, processing and transport. At the conference you will meet citizens and hear success stories from all over the region. You will leave with ideas that you can use in your own community.

Saturday, May 9, 2015

8:30 AM to 3:30 PM

St. Mary of the Lake Church

419 West Lyon Ave. (Hwy. 63), Lake City, MN 55041

Located 3 blocks from Hwy. 61 on Hwy. 63.

$15 includes lunch and breaks

Registration information below

Presentations and Speakers

Keynote. S. Margaret Galiardi, OP. Grounded in years of personal engagement in the struggle for justice for both people and planet, S. Margaret will set our efforts to resist frac sand mining in the context of the Universe's struggle to become more conscious of itself.  As each of us reaches deeply within to summon the energy needed for this task, it is ours to go beyond "angry activism" to encounter the force that, even now, 13.8 billion years after its emergence, propels the Universe toward greater elegance. Together we will explore how fidelity to this challenge can call forth new depths of personal, communal and structural integrity, as in the effort to safeguard the 495 million-year-old sandstone of Minnesota and Wisconsin, the region comes home to itself. S. Margaret is Dominican Sister from Amityville, New York, who lectures and gives retreats around the country with an emphasis on ecological spirituality. She is the author of Where the Pure Water Flows and Encountering Mystery in the Wilderness: One Woman's Vision Quest. While she worked at Villa Maria Center in Frontenac, she was actively engaged in advocacy for clean water in the Lake Pepin watershed.

Where We Are Today. Speaker to be Announced. PowerPoint presentation of the current status of legislation, regulations, State Rules and in Minnesota and Wisconsin and the status of permit applications throughout the region. NOTE: ??consider a Trempealeau County speaker??

Strategies for Advocacy. Any Nelson, PhD, and Keith Fossen. Your community needs to become a sophisticated RGU. Learn how to advocate effectively during the local permitting process when timelines are tight and deadlines are firm. Find out the difference between a EAW, EIS, CUP and a Development Agreement and how zoning and comprehensive planning underpin the whole process. Find out what is going on behind the scenes (staff and professional review and meetings with the applicant’s representatives). It’s important to understand your rights as a citizen, the importance of comment periods and the legal standing of various decisions. Learn the what to expect from experts and the importance of diligence in checking credentials, asking for disclosure of conflicts and relationships and checking references. [NOTE THAT SOME OF THIS MIGHT BELONG IN THE “CONTINUED” SESSION RATHER THAN HERE.]  _____[brief bio]____ Nelson and Fossen recently served on the Minnesota Silica Sand Rule-Making Advisory Panel.

Ups and Downs of Frac Sand Mining. Speaker TBD._____[information about the industry – where its at - in both WI and MN; include economic impact, supply & demand]____[brief bio]___

Strategies for Advocacy Continued. Wendy Ward (invited). More strategies for effective advocacy including how to cultivate political will and win the political game, how to use conventional and social media, and how to engage and support volunteers. _____[brief bio]______.

What the State Can and Cannot Do. Kristen Eide-Tollifson (invited). An update of the status of State Rules adoption - what they cover and what is left to local units of government. Find out who has enforcement responsibility._____[brief bio]___.

What’s Next? Panel of Citizen Advocates. Get ready for the next phase of advocacy. Experienced local advocates will share examples of the most effective strategies they used in their own community and we will ask them to give us an example of a new idea that they will try in the future. Q&A will follow.

Summary and Closing. Margaret Galiardi, OP. Sr. Margaret will call out the key points made throughout the day and leave us inspired for the work ahead.

Breakout Sessions and Speakers

Legal Options for Restricting or Banning Silica Sand Mining by Ordinance. William Mavity. Are you thinking of restricting or banning sand mining by ordinance? In this session you will learn how it's accomplished politically and why it is defensible in court. Mavity is an experienced trial and appellate lawyer and has argued and won cases involving issues of constitutional law before the Minnesota Court of Appeals, the Minnesota Supreme Court, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.  Now retired and living in Pepin County, WI, Mavity served on the Pepin County Board from 2011 to 2014.  He is Chair of Lake Pepin Partners in Preservation, Inc., (LPPP) which was instrumental in drafting and obtaining passage in 2013 of the Pepin County Overlay Zoning Ordinance banning all frac sand operations in the Great River Road Corridor along Lake Pepin.

Options for Legal Intervention. Carol A. Overland.  Citizens have the right to take legal action and sometimes it’s the best option or the only option. Learn how to find an attorney and what strategies to use when you need to go that route. Learn the importance of checking credentials and asking for conflict of interest disclosure. __[brief bio]__. Overland specializes in utility regulatory and land use advocacy

Handling Traffic. Speaker to be Announced. Sand mining impacts roads and traffic. Find out what you can do to protect public safety and the public pocketbook when the industry proposes a project that impacts your community. Learn the basics of civil engineer lingo, when to ask for a traffic study and what to do with the information once you have it. __??mention rail transit???___??mention the McGregor,Iowa experience??_____[brief bio]_____

Earth and Human Connections. S. Margaret Galiardi, OP. Join S. Margaret for conversation expanding on the message of the Keynote.

Maintaining Air Quality. Student Speaker to be Announced and Crispin Pierce, Ph.D. ____basics of air quality, emissions associated with the mining, processing and transport of silica sand and how exposure can be mitigated at facilities and in the environment____[brief bio]____is a student at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

Air Quality Monitoring Research. Crispin Pierce, Ph.D. _____[description of the latest research at the University of Wisconsin and at other institutions along with industry, include ongoing research and emerging issues, etc.]____ [brief bio]_______

Hydrology of the Driftless Area. Larry Gates. The hydrologic system of our region functioned beautifully before Euro-American settlement. Learn how human activity impacted the system and what needs to happen for system restoration. Find out what the Paleozoic Plateau is and what makes the driftless region of Minnesota and Wisconsin so uniquely sensitive to water pollution. ____[Maybe pair Larry with Jeff Green for the specific water impacts of mining.] ___[bio]__Aquatic Biologist (retired), Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

Rehabilitating Mining Sites. Katie Himanga, CF. Learn what you need to know about reclamation plans, local natural and cultural resources, what to advocate for during the permitting process, and what to watch for once mining is underway. Modern, science-based rehabilitation goes beyond stable and green slopes, and considers restoration of ecological function and landscape character. Himanga is a Certified Forester and long-time environmental advocate. She has a degree in forest resources from the University of Minnesota, served as Mayor of the City of Lake City from 2004-2008, and recently served on the Minnesota Silica Sand Rule-Making Advisory Panel.

Choosing Your Battles. Speaker to be Announced. Channeling your emotions into effective advocacy

The conference is hosted by Save the Bluffs of Red Wing and Lake City, Minnesota and made possible by a grant from Save the Hills Alliance of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. Learn more at: sites.google.com/site/savethebluffs

To Register

Send this information to Save the Bluffs, PO Box 296, Red Wing, MN 55066, along with a check for $15 payable to: Save the Bluffs. We won’t use this information for anything other than the conference.

Name: ____________________________________

City:______________________________________

State: ____________________________________

E-mail ____________________________________

Phone:____________________________________

To help us plan, tell us which breakout sessions are you most likely to attend:

___Legal Options for Restricting or Banning Mining

___Options for Legal Intervention

___Handling Traffic

___Earth and Human Connections

___Maintaining Air Quality

___Air Quality Monitoring Research

___Hydrology of the Driftless Area

___Rehabilitating Mining Sites

___Choosing Your Battles.