Who We Are (Our Mission)
The Western Mining Action Network is a strong, diverse alliance of communities who work to protect water, air, land, wildlife, and human beings from the adverse effects of hard rock mining.
We connect locally-based citizen groups and activists in the US and Canada in an effort to share information, tools and resources related to hard rock mining. Our network consists of over 400 individuals and organizations, from racially and economically diverse communities in the U.S. and Canada.
Our Vision
WMAN multiplies our individual power to make positive social change; we are more than the sum of our parts.
Together, we work to ensure that solutions to climate change and the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy are just, and do not exacerbate existing, or create new environmental degradation and social inequities.
WMAN recognizes that Indigenous, Black, and People of Colour disproportionately bear the social and environmental harms of hard rock mining and we support community rights and solutions to environmental issues that center community voices and work towards environmental justice.
We support our network partners:
We advocate for Free Prior Informed Consent, including the Right to Say No.
We advocate that environmental and cultural resource are protected.
We advocate that hard rock mining operates under terms and conditions defined by directly affected communities and with broad public input.
Our Leadership
WMAN is democratic. We are governed by an elected, volunteer Steering Committee of 20 community-based leaders, serving two year terms, filling designated regional and issue-based seats. More than half of our current Steering Committee are Indigenous.
Our History
WMAN began in 1997 as a small grassroots group in the western United States to help each other protect their communities from the environmental devastation of hard rock mining.
Since then, the WMAN network has grown to more than 400 people across the United States and Canada, partnering with representing Tribes, First Nations, grassroots community groups, scientists, legal experts, and non-profit NGOs.
WMAN has also expanded to provide free programs and services to communities negatively affected by hard rock mining throughout the United States and Canada.
WMAN consists of working groups, including: the Indigenous Caucus, Uranium Caucus, Energy Transition Caucus, and the Alaska Caucus. These groups serve to uplift and prioritize Indigenous stewardship of the land to better help communities deal with the legacy and ongoing impacts of hard rock mining.
WMAN has grown into a unique, critical forum with a long record of proven success that has a positive impact in strengthening environmental advocacy work, community skills, and non-violent, direct action on the ground.
Our Values
WMAN explicitly values the experience and knowledge of Indigenous peoples, mining-affected communities, and workers, and bases its work on mutual learning and participatory, deliberative and transformative methodologies.
Our Key Values:
Frontline Voices
Environmental Stewardship and Just Transition
Solidarity
Respect
Honesty & Transparency
Collaboration & Teamwork
Empowerment