Today, Nov. 15, 2016, droves of enthusiastic supporters of Standing Rock lined the streets in Gainesville to show their solidarity with the people of North Dakota trying to protect their way of life that is being taken from them. The group met at the busy corner of 43rd St. and 16th Blvd where they waved signs promoting clean air and water, and condemning the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota,and the Sabal Trail in Florida.
After nearly an hour at this intersection, the group moved a few blocks north to the offices of the Army Corps of Engineers where they found no live person with whom to leave their concerns. The ACE is one agency responsible for allowing the pipe to be installed.
The activity in Gainesville was just one of many throughout Florida and the country.
Sierra Club Organizer Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson with Kerrie Ford, organizer of this event in Gainesville
Marihelen Wheeler, OSFR advisor and tireless volunteer for the environment
Kate Ellis from Melrose, protector of our water and working hard against the phosphate mine in Union/Bradford Counties.
Mike Roth, Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson and Cindy Noel, all OSFR members.
Comments by OSFR historian Jim Tatum.
-A river is like a life: once taken, it cannot be brought back-
