Land developers have reared their ugly heads recently in Castle Rock, Colorado, where they have begun constructions on a 900,00-square-foot abomination called the Promenade Mall. Unfortunately for the local ecosystem, this construction will wipe out the thousands of prairie dogs who live where the mall is being constructed, and will irreparably harm scores of other species which rely on the prairie dogs for maintaining their healthy habitat. To date, several hundred prairie dogs have been buried alive, crushed, trapped or poisoned.

Deep Green Resistance (DGR) and conscionable individuals everywhere abhor the abject rejection of the living planet by Alberta Development and the Castle Rock Town Council for the sake of money. We stand with the activists resisting this planned rape of the Colorado landscape.

Earlier efforts to stall mall construction, in order to relocate as many prairie dogs as possible, have met with stubborn refusals by Alberta Development representatives and by Mayor Donahue and his Town Council cronies. But the fight is not over, by a long shot. Deep Green Resistance wishes to forward the following email we recently received, which outlines the next steps in the struggle.

Town Council Meeting

Please attend the Town Council meeting on March the 3rd at 6pm in the Town Hall Building on 100 N. Wilcox Street, Castle Rock.

It is very important that we show up for this meeting to address the town council and insist that they postpone development and work with us to save the prairie dogs at the Promenade site. In our speeches we will be addressing the importance of the prairie dogs as well as the corruption of the council members in disregarding the residents of Castle Rock. The town council has a long history of serving the interests of commercial developers over the people. It is time we work to stop these destructive behaviors.

We are fully aware that the council members won’t listen to us. We expect them to pass the ordinance, however, this makes it even more important for us to show up in mass against this step of approval with the Promenade.

Referendum Process

When the council passes the ordinance, we plan to organize and petition for a referendum. Here is how this works. The Town Council will approve the ordinance before them on Tuesday night. Of course we will be there in mass to testify against this approval, giving us leverage and adding pressure to the council. Once they approve the ordinance, it will go into law 30 days following. During that period, the citizens have a right to petition for a referendum which ultimately puts the votes for the ordinance back into the hands of the citizens rather than the town council. At this meeting, we will be collecting names and contact information from all the registered voters of Castle Rock (or potential registered voters) present at the meeting so they can be the first to sign our petition once it is in circulation. There will also be opportunities to get involved in this process.

We will not be defeated in our efforts. At the last meeting, it was certainly enraging to feel invisible, but we plan to empower ourselves at this meeting.

Please show up and stay tuned for more updates. We have several actions we are willing to pursue, this being one of them.

For the Prairie Dogs!

Deanna Meyer, WildLands Defense

720-722-1691

We can do this! Let’s secure the future for our joyous prairie dog families!

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