Hi,

My name is Tom Mellish.

I am running the 50k Broken Goat course in July and I am using this as an opportunity to raise funds for the Save Record Ridge Action Committee (SRRAC), which is an NGO of residents, professionals and business owners in Rossland and the surrounding communities that will be impacted by the proposed open-pit mine on Record Ridge.

Record Ridge is my favourite place in the Rossland Range. It is home to rolling alpine grasslands filled with wild flowers, which are punctuated by striking old-growth trees. Habitats like Record Ridge are exceedingly rare within BC, let alone the world. Indeed, I have never experienced anything quite like Record Ridge.

However, Record Ridge is also the location of a proposed open-pit mine. And, in its current form, this proposed open-pit mine will not be the subject of an environmental assessment. This is despite Record Ridge constituting a globally rare habitat.

I believe that the proposed open-pit mine on Record Ridge should be the subject of an environmental assessment. Not just for the sake of Record Ridge, but also for the sake of preserving the integrity of the process through which mines are proposed and permitted in BC.

This is why I am raising funds for SRRAC.

By doing my part, I hope to inspire others to do what they can (no matter how big or small) to support SRRAC.

If you are interested in learning more about SRRAC and the work that it does, here is the link to its website: https://www.saverecordridge.ca/

And if you are interested in tracking my training runs, here is the link to my Strava account: https://www.strava.com/athletes/70535630