A new Earth First! group has been formed here in Grand Rapids to work on environmental issues here in Grand Rapids, specifically around stopping the Eagle Project sulfide mine proposed for Michigan's Upper Peninsula:

"In 2002, Kennecott Exploration discovered a small high grade nickel and copper deposit located on the Yellow Dog Plains in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. A sulfide mine is now being proposed by Kennecott Minerals...

Mining in sulfide-rich areas produces acid mine drainage... sulfuric acid that can leak into nearby wells, streams, and lakes... Five streams and rivers that empty into Lake Superior originate on the Yellow Dog Plains... Kennecott Minerals wants to carve the mine out from underneath the Salmon Trout River and its aquifer... The Salmon Trout River houses the last remaining run of native coaster brook trout along the entire south shore of Lake Superior..

Mining on the Yellow Dog Plains could alter water quality and flow, devastating this fragile population and threatening the health of various waterways... The Department of Environmental Quality has given Kennecott approval for the mine...

Join COASTER BROOK; EARTH FIRST! in stopping this sulfide mine.

COASTER BROOK is the Grand Rapids chapter of EARTH FIRST!. EARTH FIRST! formed in 1979, in response to an increasingly corporate, compromising and ineffective environmental community. It is not an organization, but a movement. We believe in using a variety of tools and tactics to confront threats to the Earth.

COASTER BROOK EF! meets every Thursday at 8:15 in Rosa Parks Circle."