Fox Valley Sierra Group
Menominee River Mining
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Fox Valley Sierra Group
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A partnership calling itself the Back Forty Joint Venture has pooled resources including mineral-rights claims to thousands of acres on both sides of the Menominee River to perform test drilling on Upper Michigan properties. Highly polluting mines (similar to the Crandon Mine in Wisconsin) are the likely outcome. Citizen environmentalists are trying to stop the mines. www.menomineeriver.com
(Citizen's Site: FRONT 40 Environmental Fight) |
The Menominee River separates Wisconsin and Upper Michigan as its waters flow into the bay of Green Bay.It also separates Wisconsin from drills that have been poking for months around Lake Township in Menominee County, Mich., thanks to mining explorers who are studying zinc, copper, gold and silver.
A partnership calling itself the Back Forty Joint Venture has pooled resources including mineral-rights claims to thousands of acres on both sides of the river to perform test drilling on Upper Michigan properties. These are parcels where mineral and surface rights have been secured by purchase, lease or options to lease or buy.
By PENNY MULLINS (EagleHerald senior staff writer)
Published Tuesday, April 1, 2003 (Copyright)
A group of citizens concerned about potential mining of minerals in Menominee County has taken its information campaign a step further by establishing a Web site and setting up future meetings with state officials.
Mary Nitkowski, one of the members of that citizens' group, said Monday a Web site at www.menomineeriver.com will allow them to impart information as they receive it to other people in and out of the area about mining exploration in Lake Township.
The Web site, which provides links to other sites, also allows the group to post information about upcoming meetings, Nitkowski said. It became operational Saturday, thanks to the help of Aaron Tuinstra of Bucktera Software of Daggett, who volunteered his services after the public meeting the group sponsored March 21 at Stephenson High School.
"It's very user-friendly," Nitkowski said of the new site, which was created after Tuinstra and others suggested a Web site. "After the meeting, I had three people come up and offer their services."
The size of the citizens' group also grew after that meeting, which offered a forum to Department of Natural Resources, Department of Environmental Quality, University of Wisconsin professors, and state elected officials, as well as a representative of the company exploring for minerals.
Once only seven or eight people, Nitkowski said the citizens' group has grown to between 25-30 and that an organizational meeting Wednesday evening at 7 at Lake Township Hall is intended to focus the group's efforts on the next step to take in their quest to either block mining in the township or keep pressure on the DNR and the DEQ for tighter controls.
On the agenda Wednesday evening is choosing a name for the group. Choices right now are "The Front Forty Folks" or "The Front Forty Fight" based on the decision by the companies exploring on the site to call their operation "The Back Forty Venture."
Nitkowksi said the group also will look at several potential dates for another public meeting, this time with Lynne Boyd, head of the DNR's Mineral & Land Management Section, Forest, Mineral and Fire Management, with whom Nitkowski has been corresponding via e-mail.
"We have different questions, such as how can anyone drill down thousands of feet only 100 feet from the Menominee River, even if they are on private land?" Nitkowski said. "Also, why doesn't the state notify people when the company leases (state mineral rights) under privately owned surface rights? At the meeting, we couldn't find anyone who received notification from the state."
Nitkowski said the group also has questions about the drilling permit, a copy of which was received after a Freedom of Information Act request, because it appears that the permit had expired before the request was made, and no new permit was included in the paperwork from the state.
The group has new life after the March 21 public meeting, Nitkowski said, since contributions from citizens have brought their coffers to over $575. "We've had to open a checking account," she said. "Somebody even mailed us a calling card with 1,250 minutes on it." The money will be used for telephone and printing costs, and any other activities the group needs to pay for, she said.
"We're going to see (Wednesday) if different committee members will take on responsibility for updating sections of the Web site," she said. "We'll also look at increasing our communication efforts to others about the project."
Exploratory drilling began in Lake Township on both private and state land last year, according to Thomas Quigley, owner of Minerals Processing Corp., of Duluth, Minn., which joined with VMS Development Corp. of Iron Mountain, Mich., to form the Menominee River Exploration Co. The company has contracted with a drilling firm to draw core rock samples from beneath the earth to look for zinc, copper, gold or silver, according to company literature.
For more information on upcoming meetings, or to link to newspaper articles written about the mining ventures, as well as other environmental sites, people can log on to
www.menomineeriver.com. Mary Nitkowski can be reached at (906) 753-4493.
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Hard Rock Legacy
Gold, silver, and other hardrock mining contributed a colorful page to the history of the American West. Tainted by past blunders, the modern-day industry struggles to reconcile high stakes economics with sound environmental practices. |
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It is fitting, if not ironic, that one of the last significant stories Tom ever wrote was for the venerable National Geographic about the legacy of the 1872 hard-rock mining law. The longtime editor of the Wilderness Society magazine, Tom was no stranger to magazines.
Obituary for Tom Watkins
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