Storytime
Public Comment to Minnesota Dept of Natural Resources Regarding the Proposed Tamarack Mine Project
The map above was created by Howard Fisk, a professor at Louisiana State University in 1944.
Fisk was a geologist and cartographer who worked with the U.S.Army Corps of Engineers, who, over the course of fifteen years, chronicled the Mississippi River's course from the Pleistocene Period to his day. His publication, Geological Investigation of the Alluvial Valley of the Lower Mississippi River, Fisk highlighted the results in changes based on core sampling of soils and subsoils. He noticed major changes in the Earth's chemistry and composition after the introduction of steamboats, and later, barge traffic along the Mississippi attributed to greater churn of its waters. Fisk found in his studies that the Mississippi changes course about every 1000 years.
The Mississippi River is a primary body of water with the largest drainage basin in the United States. It was a highway system for First Nations People for thousands of years, supplies communities with drinking water to many communities, and continues to be a conduit of commerce. Roughly seven million people live along its banks, 16,000 of whom live in Aitken County and are directly within its watershed. It is home to innumerable aquatic flora species, including rich wild rice stands harvested by Native and non-native people. It is home to 375 fish species, some as ancient as sturgeon, various aquatic species of reptiles, amphibians, and mollusks, and crustaceans; it also supports fifty-seven mammal species. 326 species of birds use the river basin as a flyway each year; about 60% of all migratory birds use it. Water Is Life. The average depth of the water from Lake Itasca to Minneapolis is three feet deep. The Upper Mississippi River contributes about $24.6 billion in tourism and recreational industry support.
The downside is that, through human agricultural and industrial activities, it already generates 31% of nutrients and pollutants responsible for Gulf Hypoxia further downstream. Adding pyrrhotite, sulphates and nitrates through the mining process to this mix is unconscionable! Given the topography of the land. the low water levels, the many creeks, streams, and other tributaries that flow into the Mississippi River, many too small to be named but still vital and dynamic, i ask that you seriously consider the impact of this project, follow the science, do your own research, then give us one example of this mining process that has no environmental impact.
Mi'iw
— jester ©2026
Upcoming Events ^
Share Your Voice — the Talon Mine
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is accepting public comments on the proposed Tamarack Mine. This is your opportunity to tell decision-makers what matters to you before decisions are made
Your comments are really important at this stage. Show elected officials that we are watching & we care about this.
- Deadline:
- September 14
- Where:
- Submit your written comments online or by mail
"Talon Metals/Rio Tinto plans to mine a 'massive sulphide mineralization' with high levels of sulfide and toxic metals. Drilling in the huge 31,000 acre area where Talon controls private land and state leases (about 85% of the size of Minneapolis) controlled by Talon Metals in central Minnesota’s Aitkin County, Talon has already found sulfide ore both in the Sandy River and Tamarack River watershed, which flow through the Big Sandy Lake Flowage to the Mississippi River and along the West Branch Kettle River, which flows downstream to the St. Croix River."
Upcoming public comment meetings
Wear blue to the meetings to show your support for clean water
- August 5: DNR Public Meeting McGregor High School
- August 12: DNR Public Meeting Blaine Sports Arena
Indivisible for Peggy Flanagan
Indivisible U.S. Senate Phone Bank Series
- When:
- Jul 27–Aug 10, 5:30–7:30 CT
- Where:
- Anywhere
We’ll be telling voters all about this exciting candidate and why they should be voting to send Peggy to represent them in DC. Help make calls to voters in Minnesota, and let’s send a real fighter for families and a defender of democracy to the Senate!
A short phonebanking training will be included at the beginning of each phonebank, so both first-time dialers and phonebank pros are welcome to join. Be sure to have both a computer and a phone so that you can make calls to voters.
6th Annual Iron Range Pride Festival
Fantabulous Diverse TRANSformative
- When:
- August 8, 11:00–4:00pm
- Where:
- Iron Trail Motors Event Center
Virginia, MN
This year's festival will include vendors, food trucks and a full day of entertainment.
MN Primary Election
Voting open now!
- When:
- August 11
A primary election determines which candidates will be on the ballot in the November general election
Ongoing ^
Support our Work
We have $500 in matching funds for folks that make a donation in August!
Democracy Defenders is completely volunteer-driven. Your donation will support the direct costs of our activism — things like meeting room rental, website creation and maintenance, posters and educational materials, art supplies, clipboards, transportation, and more!
Signing & Resisting Events
Each Friday at noon at the following locations:
- Cook: Hwy 53 and River Street
- Tower: Mainstreet by the locomotive
- Ely: Sheridan St. & Central Ave
Signs should include issues common to everyone like good jobs, enough money for food and healthcare, and a good education.
Free Community Meal
1st & 3rd Sundays in Virginia
- When:
- 1st & 3rd Sundays, 12:00–3:00pm
- Where:
- 510 Chestnut Street
Virginia, MN
Join us for
a free hot meal,
food distribution,
clothing distribution,
& a free store table.
Note that food, hygiene, clothing donations are needed!
Free Community Potluck Meal
2nd & 4th Sundays in Hibbing
- When:
- 2nd & 4th Sundays, 12:30–2:30pm
- Where:
- 117 E Howard Street
Hibbing, MN
Bring a dish or just come & enjoy. Open to the public, all are welcome.
To-Go Available
Strategy & Action ^
Urge Democrats to Oppose and Stop Trump's Crypto Corruption
Oppose the CLARITY Act (H.R. 3633)
"Last year, the House passed the CLARITY Act (H.R. 3633), a bill disguised as “crypto regulation” that actually serves the billionaires and bad actors at the center of today’s crypto chaos. This bill doesn’t protect consumers, doesn’t close money laundering loopholes, and does nothing to stop the biggest threat of all: Trump’s crypto-fueled bribery machine. The CLARITY Act is being considered in the Senate and we need to stop it. Unfortunately, 78 House Democrats helped pass the CLARITY Act last summer. We need to make sure Senate Democrats don’t make the same mistake.
"Call your Democratic Senators now and tell them: OPPOSE the CLARITY Act. We won’t let Congress enable more of Trump’s corruption or gamble away our financial stability just to appease crypto billionaires."
Call Senator Amy Klobuchar: (202) 224-3244
Call Senator Tina Smith: (202) 224-5641
Immigrant Justice Summer
a training series from Indivisible
- When:
- July [9], [23], & August 6 (& more), 7:00 CT
- Where:
- Online
The Trump administration is buying up warehouses across the country to expand its detention and deportation regime while planning for more militarized surges in major US cities. The threat is escalating. This resource breaks down what we're demanding, how communities are fighting back, and how you can get trained to respond when ICE comes to your community.
Not an additional dime to fund Trump's Iran war
Tell Congress Now
Trump's unauthorized, unprovoked war in Iran has cost the lives of US service members and thousands of civilians in Iran and across the Middle East...
Democracy on the Block Organizer Toolkit
from MN Voice
"DOB gatherings are celebratory community care events intended to promote voter participation and civic engagement at a precinct level. Gatherings are organized and hosted by teams of local volunteers, all of whom will receive Democracy Observer training through Minnesota Voice.
"Across the country, BIPOC, native, and immigrant voters are facing increased uncertainty around their right to vote in the 2026 election. One major concern is that immigration enforcement officers will expand their operations in communities and target polling sites to suppress voter turnout and encourage division among communities.
Democracy On The Block gatherings direct communities to combat dangerous narratives by reframing elections through the lens of community care. Through boots-on-the-ground organizing, connection to supportive live community calls, voter education, and community collaboration, Democracy On The Block reaffirms voting as a joyful expression of community power, and upholding our rights under the constitution."
Act Free to Be Free
A State and Local Pro-Democracy Framework A Civil Society Framework for Election Defense in 2026
"Anyone paying attention knows that Donald Trump is not preparing to lose the 2026 midterms. He is preparing to disrupt and sabotage them, and his administration has beenlaying the groundwork for months.
"The harder problem is this: most of us (organizers, elected officials, legal advocates, pro-democracy funders) are still preparing for a normal election. We are running election programs. We are testing messages. We are mobilizing voters. These are not wrong things to do. They are profoundly insufficient for the threat we are actually facing.
"There is also something harder to name, a kind of collective avoidance. An unwillingness to fully believe our own eyes. Many Americans have internalized a story about ourselves that says we are immune from this kind of thing. We are not. And the next six months will matter enormously for how far down the abyss we go."
Neighbor2Neighbor
Indivisible
We're going all in to help Peggy Flanagan win her Senate primary, and last week we launched our Neighbor2Neighbor canvassing tool statewide in Minnesota.
Neighbor2Neighbor (N2N) is our revolutionary voter contact program that makes getting out the vote quick and easy. There's no app to download. No need for fancy tech. Just complete the signup form and we'll connect you with 10 likely progressive neighbors who may need a reminder to vote.
Then, you can knock on doors whenever is most convenient for you.
People who hear from a trusted neighbor are up to two times more likely to vote than those who don't. The key to turnout-and the success of our Neighbor2Neighbor program-is connecting on a personal level with those we live closest to.
Hands Off Our Vote 2026
Hands Off Our Vote is Indivisible’s national program to ensure all eligible voters get to cast their ballot, and that those ballots get counted
"We know that Trump and his Big Lie cronies are plotting to do everything they can to undermine our elections in 2026. Whether it’s trying to end mail-in voting, targeting registration programs, blocking vote-counting, even trying to ban states from encouraging people to vote – it’s going to be no-holds-barred from them this year as they try desperately to block the free and fair elections.
"But we’re going to cut through the noise, and we’re going to be ready for whatever dirty tricks they try. And we’re going to do it with community power and preparation, not panic."
Learn more about voting
We are gathering links & resources
Please add to this shared space for information on
voting rights & strategies to defend our elections.
5calls
Pick an action & make a call
Inspiration ^
The Welcome Table
North Star Lane with host Michael Goldberg
A new podcast releases its first episode on NCDN Radio
This week on North Star Lane, two stories about food sovereignty. Foster Cournoyer Hogan tells of his work as the Bison Coordinator at NDN Collective, feeding the people; and writer Matthew Miltich makes a bowl of soup.
Letters from Minnesota
An invitation from Writers for Democratic Action Minnesota
Last month WDA MN launched a new feature, Letters From Minnesota.
We invite you to contribute your Minnesota Letter to be featured in the Writers for Democratic Action Minnesota newsletter. We are seeking writers from all over the state of Minnesota. We are looking for flash essays or stories or poems. Here are some suggestions or writing prompts:
- What are the concerns in your area?
- What are the ways the community is dealing with that concern?
- What is happening in your community to strengthen democracy?
- Tell a story that is connected to your particular landscape
Letters From Minnesota is an opportunity to connect with and learn about Minnesota writers and their locale. WDA-MN is a non-partisan organization. Writers of all kinds have a unique ability to harness the written and spoken word for good, for truth, for justice and equality, and for the rights of all. WDA–MN aims to advocate for writers and for the written word as well as to empower writers to join the fight to protect our democracy.
We support independent journalism, libraries, and indie bookstores.
We believe in participatory democracy. Voting is important, but we can have more impact if we take action in our communities in word and deed.
Writers for Democratic Action Minnesota has arranged public poetry & writers' events, hosted a table at the Rain Taxi Minnesota Book Festival, published monthly newsletters that offer resources, opportunities, and curated news reports. The national WDA organization also has a Substack and invites writers anywhere in the US to send in essays for publication.
Send us your contributions at hello@writersfordemocraticaction.org.
Panatrope Call for Writing
Activate your voice — storytellers, poets & independent journalists wanted
Deadline: August 31, 2026
Wildwood River Press* is announcing a new annual anthology of literary
and political writing, Panatrope. We invite you to submit writing
about what sustains you, about what has marked you, about where you
are from and what has made you. The deadline is August 31.
The term panatrope means "all octaves in music" and it was the name of
the first electric record player in the 1920s. Trope is a word used
in literary circles, and it refers to a pattern in a piece of writing:
a narrative structure, theme, image, or metaphor used by an author
across their body of work.
Call for Storytellers
"Humans evolved opposable thumbs to be able to hold on. We evolved Story to know what to hold on to."
What’s your story? We’re celebrating the art of oral storytelling —
the every day way we all communicate with each other.
For our new podcast, 'North Star Lane', we’re collecting personal stories about connections —
to place, to the past, to each other.
Stories should be 3–10 minutes in length, and can range in tone from funny incident to elegy and everything in between.
Michael Goldberg is collecting the stories.
Send audio to him — or a note to arrange a phone call or zoom —
at goldberg.actionmedia@gmail.com.
Michael also produces live storytelling shows in Grand Rapids and elsewhere in the region. Let him know if you’d like more information about those.
North Star Lane is produced by Michael Goldberg, who lives in the woods of northern Minnesota and collects stories from his friends and neighbors. They tell stories about their connections – to place, to the past, to each other – and about things that are important to them. We think a lot of the same things are important to us all.
