Take Action NOW – Contact the Rapid City City Council members (listed below) and let them know that protecting our water is why they were elected. They must ensure that our municipal drinking water source, which is the Rapid Creek Watershed, is kept clean. Let your family, friends and networks know about the need to protect our water and encourage them to voice their concerns! 

Take Action MONDAY – JOIN US ON MONDAY, AUG. 1^ST, AT 6:30 PM in the City Council Chambers – City/School Administration Center, 2nd Floor at 300 6th St., Rapid City, SD, and support a resolution protecting our drinking water.

On Monday, July 25, 2022, during the Rapid City Council’s Legal and Finance Committee meeting, a resolution was introduced that would oppose the Forest Service’s decision in favor of the F3 Gold Project. That resolution was sent to the Monday, August 1^st, Rapid City Council meeting. The Council has asked the public to give comments, and it is important that anyone and everyone that enjoys having clean water is at that meeting.

F3 Gold, a Minneapolis company, now has a draft permit to explore for gold from the Forest Service – in Rapid City’s water supply. We all need to be aware of what is happening in our watersheds when it comes to these gold companies that claim to “just” be exploring for gold and to not to be fooled by what their intent actual is. There’s only one reason to explore for gold – to mine it. Exploration can lead to large-scale mining projects. Currently, there are over 184,000 acres in the Black Hills that have mining claims – over 15% of the total land in the Black Hills! 

Justin Herreman, Rapid City resident, told the Legal and Finance Committee: “What is the motivation behind the half million dollars that they’ve (F3 Gold) already spent on this project and the additional million dollars that they’re going to spend? What’s my motivation for skipping lunch today and pushing three meeting today to show up here? Because we care about the future of our community. We care about the opportunity for my grandchildren that hopefully I’ll have someday to have clean drinking water. What do the folks from F3 care about? They live in Minneapolis — They care about money.”

Contact these City officials NOW. Then join us at the City Council meeting on MONDAY, August 1, at 6:30 PM at 300 6th St., Rapid City, SD. See Agenda.

• Mayor Steve Allender  – Phone: 605-394-4110 – Email: mayorsoffice@rcgov.org
• Pat Jones (Ward 1) – Phone: 605-209-2928 – Email: Pat.Jones@rcgov.org
• Jesse Ham (Ward 1) – Phone: 605-391-3293 – Email: Jesse.Ham@rcgov.org
• Ritchie Nordstrom (Ward 2) – Phone: 605-381-3363 – Email: Ritchie.Nordstrom@rcgov.org
• Bill Evans (Ward 2) – Phone: 605-431-7509 – Email: Bill.Evans@rcgov.org
• Greg Strommen (Ward 3) – Phone: 605-342-2814 – Email: Greg.Strommen@rcgov.org
• Jason Salamun (Ward 3) – Phone: 605-389-3577 – Email: Jason.Salamun@rcgov.org
• John Roberts (Ward 4) – Phone: 605-484-9747 – Email: John.Roberts@rcgov.org
• Lance Lehmann (Ward 4) – Phone: 605-390-1087 – Email: Lance.Lehmann@rcgov.org
• Laura Armstrong (Ward 5) – Phone: 605-545-1830 – Email: Laura.Armstrong@rcgov.org
• Pat Roseland (Ward 5) – Phone: 605-431-1945 – Email: Pat.Roseland@rcgov.org

Copy this group of emails to send a group email to these council members:

Pat.Jones@rcgov.org, Jesse.Ham@rcgov.org, Ritchie.Nordstrom@rcgov.org, Bill.Evans@rcgov.org, Greg.Strommen@rcgov.org, Jason.Salamun@rcgov.org, John.Roberts@rcgov.org, Lance.Lehmann@rcgov.org, Laura.Armstrong@rcgov.org, Pat.Roseland@rcgov.org, mayorsoffice@rcgov.org