By Robert DesJarlait (Contact)
To be delivered to: The Minnesota State House, The Minnesota State Senate, and Governor Mark Dayton
Manoomin (natural wild rice) is a vital cultural, spiritual, environmental, and economic resource for the Anishinaabe people in northeastern and north-central Minnesota.
As an environmental resource, healthy stands of manoomin are the barometer of a healthy ecosystem. Macroinvertebrates, vegetation, flora, fish, waterfowl, wetlands and wildlife are all interconnected in the ecosystem of manoomin.
Legislation seeks to weaken the Wild Rice/Sulfate Water Quality Standard for the benefit of foreign extractive copper resource colonies to open nonferrous mines in northern Minnesota. Additional legislation weakens the permitting process and diminishes the authority of regulatory agencies at the cost of the manoomin and the environment. Lawmakers need to consider that their actions place Minnesota's State Grain (Wild Rice) at great risk - not only for the current generation, but for the generations that follow.
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