The lands of the Tsilhqot’in Nation, whose name means “People of the River,” are rich in history, natural beauty, and abundance. Situated on the Chilcotin Plateau of south central British Columbia, Canada, the Tsilhqot’in Nation encompasses a wide range of forests, rivers, grasslands, and pristine glacial lakes, including Teztan Biny, commonly called Fish Lake, because of its unique abundance of fish—it is home to about 85,000 Rainbow Trout. It is also a place of enormous cultural and spiritual significance for the Tsilhqot’in Nation, where generations have traditionally come to fish, trap, skin, and gather as a community. “If they put an open pit mine here it would be just like cutting somebody’s heart out,” says Edmund Lulua of the Xeni Gwet’in community.

That’s exactly what Vancouver-based Taseko Mines Limited plans to do: a massive open pit gold and copper mine with a tailings pond just two kilometers upstream from Teztan Biny, the proposed “New Prosperity” mine would turn Teztan Biny into a lake on life support.

The Tsilhqot’in have already saved their lake once. After more than two decades fighting for their land rights, people from all walks of life have stood alongside the Tsilhqot’in. Jim Prentice, then Canada’s minister of the environment, rejected an earlier iteration of the project, which had planned to drain the trout-filled lake and use it as a waste dump. The government’s environmental impact review condemned the project with “scathing comments.” But Taseko’s plans die hard. Having modified its original mine proposal into the “New Prosperity Mine,” the company has been given a second chance via a federal environmental review, and plans for the project will be accepted or rejected as early as Fall of 2013.

The fight is on to save Teztan Biny—again. The Tsilhqot’in Nation and their environmental partners at work across Canada are demanding that the New Prosperity Mine be cancelled and abandoned. But they need help from the international community to make their voices heard. Chief Joe Alphonse, chair of the Tsilhqot’in national government, explained: “In the case of the re-bid Prosperity Mine proposal, we feel that we’ve nearly exhausted every possible avenue to resolve this at the local level.” We need your help to stand with the Tsilhqot'in. They did it once before, and we can help them do it again.