Summer - Northern Plains Resource Council

people of the plains
Commitment to change drives Kate French
Kate French, Chair of
Sleeping Giant Citizens
Council (SGCC), reflected
recently on the growth of Helena’s
local Northern Plains affiliate and
her personal involvement with the
organization’s work.
This spring, SGCC successfully
convinced Helena’s City Commission
to request that the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers consider the impacts to
Montana if the coal ports proposed in
the Pacific Northwest are approved.
The ports will lead to a dramatic
increase in coal train traffic across
Montana in the years ahead, and
Helena is one of the communities
where local citizens have forced local
officials to look at problems coming
their way.
Kate was recently quoted in the
Helena Independent Record during
SGCC’s coal export campaign.
“These out-of-state coal companies –
headquartered in places like St. Louis
and Australia – stand to make billions
of dollars from these proposals. It is
no surprise that these companies –
just like the Copper Kings did 100
years ago – are working to silence our
community.”
Despite being relatively new to the
Helena community, commitment to a
healthy environment and community
is a natural cause for Kate. Growing
up in Boulder, Colorado, she joined
her family on weekends exploring the
great wild country there.
“It’s hard not to become an
environmentalist when you grow up
in wild, beautiful landscapes,” she
You still have chance to win $100, $500!
You still have a chance to win great cash prizes while
supporting Northern Plains’ work on coal issues!
We began drawing raffle tickets for
weekly $100 cash prizes on June
15. The grand prize of $500 will be
drawn at the Northern Plains Board
meeting on Saturday, August 18.
Raffle tickets cost $10 each or $40
for a book of five.
Winning tickets are put back in the
jar for a chance to win again. Sorry, but you must be a
Montana resident to win.
Support the Coal Task Force’s great work and buy raffle
tickets in our Coal Hard Cash raffle.
”
Northern Plains stood out from the beginning
for me: the degree of transparency, the
commitment to democratic decision-making,
and the truly local scope of its work.
said. “You just have an obligation to
make sure these places are here for the
next generation.”
She currently works for Detour, an
international sustainable travel firm
based in Helena that uses tourism to
build durable community institutions
and economic opportunities for local
people. She relocated to Helena with
her company in 2008. Kate met
Brad Bauer shortly after moving to
town, and the two were married last
summer.
Kate joined Northern Plains shortly
after moving to Helena. She was
interested in finding a way to
The Plains Truth Summer 2012 Page 3
make positive change in her own
community. A friend recruited her
to attend Sleeping Giant’s canvass
on local foods, and she immediately
noticed Northern Plains and Sleeping
Giant as organizations that reflected
her community.
“I need to trust an organization,
believe in how decisions are made,
and know that they are partners in
working to make my community a
better place to live and work,” Kate
said. “Northern Plains stood out
from the beginning for me: the degree
of transparency, the commitment to
democratic decision-making, and the
truly local scope of its work.
Telecommunications business CREDO
helps its customers take part in policy
decisions by crafting petitions and emails and
by targeting key decision-makers.
Through a network of activists, it turns up the
heat on CEOs, government officials, members
of Congress, or even the president, through
phone calls, petition drives, and by speaking
out at local meetings.
– Kate French
The company also donates a percentage of
charges to several progressive organizations
each year. In 2012, WORC (the Western
Organization of Resource Councils – a regional
network that provides groups like Northern
Plains with trainings and coordinates regional
“The commitment to these principles
means it is an organization that is
around for the long-haul. It isn’t just
the organization that jumps from one
sexy, rock-star cause to the next.”
Since Kate became Chair in 2010,
SGCC’s focus has broadened from a
local farm-to-school campaign to an
affiliate with three active campaigns:
coal exports, local foods, and hardrock
mining. At the last Northern
Plains Annual Meeting, SGCC was
recognized as the affiliate with the
highest growth in membership during
2011. She credits the membership:
“We work together – work hard
together – to build our organization
and make this a better place to live.”
Living in Helena, Kate and her fellow
SGCC members often get the chance
to represent Northern Plains in a
variety of venues. During the 2011
Legislature, Kate was a regular voice
in committees, speaking to issues like
renewable energy and the impacts of
coal mining. She has been interviewed
by a number of newspaper and
television reporters, and submits
regular letters to the editor on SGCC
and Northern Plains issues.
It is that commitment to empowering
the people of her community that
drives her passion for this work.
“I love it when environmentalism
reflects the values that my
grandmother believes. It is the kind
of environmentalism that benefits our
community and neighbors as much as
it benefits the natural world.”
– Clayton Elliott
Vote for WORC and we all benefit
issue campaigns) is one of 40 organizations
eligible for the 2012 Working Assets/CREDO
funding vote. This year, you can vote on how
CREDO should allocate its donations. In early
2013, WORC will receive a portion of the
donation pool based on the percentage of votes
WORC receives in an online poll.
Even if you aren’t a CREDO customer, “action
members” can still vote for the organization of
their choice. For instructions on how to join
and vote to help WORC, visit
www.worc.org/2012-CREDO-Ballot.
When you help WORC, you benefit Northern
Plains, too.
– Kevin Dowling