a repost from late last night--forgive me but i feel strongly that the info warrants repeating. . .
FYI: on Saturday Aug. 14 there will be a *peaceful* anti-mine march on the AAA to the proposed mining site on the Baraga plains. in case you don't know, Kennecott Mining Co. is looking to sulfide mine in the Yellow Dog Plains, an endeavor that would change our land and watershed FOREVER. if you love the U.P. and all that we stand for up here, then PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE get involved in any way you can and voice your opposition to this. write, call, or take a few seconds to email our elected public servants. the Kennecott Mining Co. will bring in it's own workers, no local jobs will be created from this. ... thanks for reading this.

(I'm keeping in mind the fact that people don't want to see this become a political forum BUT...)
Sulfide mining kills watersheds. Period. It has happened all over the American west and particularly in British Columbia. The state of Wisconsin has recently legislated a ban on sulfide mining because of its inherent dangers. I happen to love wild rivers, and the Salmon Trout and the Yellow Dog are as close as Michigan comes to "wild rivers." Do I like the fact that an international corporation wants to get rich "in my backyard" and leave the locals with nothing but more roads, more powerlines, and piles of rock leaching AMD (acid mine drain) into waters that I love? Not particularly. Crusin', I'll try like heck to be up on the AAA road on Saturday...

crusin' the backroads and Dam Guy, thanks for bringing
the Yellow Dog mine proprosal to our attention. I''ve
been reading discussions on it on another Keweenaw
message board. Good luck this weekend!

trish, wa : Where is there another Keweenaw message board?

camwatcher, try this link-
www.keweenawnow.com

hey trish, can you post a link to that website? thanks for the support. well said Dam Guy!!

thanks!!!!

MINING BRINGS IN GOOD PAYING JOBS. A LOT BETTER PAYING JOBS THAN THE INDAIN CASINOS BRING IN.

hey looking for a good paying job--the proposed sulfide mine will employ, at most, 70 people from our community, and only for about 4-5 years. there is no guarantee that they will hire any "locals." the limited duration of economic benefits does not justify the raping of our backyard. it pays to be informed.
~~peace~~

It is a huge undertaking to start a mining operation. To think that a mining operation could start up and not employ locals is absurd. Not only will it employ locals but the side effect of boosting sales of all the other local companies would have a huge effect.

It would be horrible if the environment was polluted but let's be truthful about the pros and cons...

Kennecott might plan on importing workers from other facilities, but will they bring their houses, grocery stores and auto repair shops with them? There could very well be a number of reasons to oppose this operation, but minimizing its economic impact is probably not correct.

The tone of this discussion has been very reasonable, I hope we can keep it this way!

sorry Q-tip but you are wrong wrong wrong. this isn't the place for this discussion and out of respect for Mary and the rest of the crew I won't comment on this again. but ya, oh well. it's bad for the environment but hey, the almighty $$$$$$$$ should always come first right. i might agree with you if this company would stick around for a while but they will take what they want and leave us to pick up the pieces after a few short years like they did in Wisconsin. if it's not that bad then why did WI pass legislature banning sulfide mining after Kennecott came in?? do a little research if you don't believe me. true yoopers know the value of our land and it is priceless. to even suggest that an operation like this should come to town to create a few jobs for a few short years, when the effects will last well past our granchildren's lifetime, is absurd. hope to see some of you at the march on Saturday.

If there were such attitudes against mining 150 years ago, there would be no "Coppertown USA" and this area may have never developed at all. Of course there are environmental concerns, that is why the MI DEQ and the EPA are heavily involved and the operation must follow strict guidelines. Perhaps the Empire and Tilden mines should be shut down also, it did wonders for the White Pine area. If we go too far, we won't have to worry about the land around here too much since there will be nobody around to enjoy it anyway. But enough of that, I say we all get together and spin up some mud like the original topic conveys.

Trish: thanks for the Keweenaw link.

ya know, i just reread my last post and it came off as a little rude. i truly didn't mean for it to sound that way. i love this site, i think the people that post here are great, and i love the U.P. i don't want Kennecott here, but i'm thankful that a company like Kennecott is working with the community and giving us our say in this matter. over and out.

Mining is what put CC on the map.

The boards at keweenawnow.com seem to be shut down? is there yet another board besides that and http://copperrange.org ?

Finlander- I'm not anti-mining, but I am pro-river. You need look no further than the contamination of Torch Lake, or Deer Lake in Ishpeming to see what mining can do to a watershed. As for 150 year-old attitudes, well, slavery was socially acceptable 150 years ago too--- and some people think that this country wouldn't have been developed without it. I keep hoping that attitudes change as people become enlightened, but it doesn't always work that way.

Isn't that pollution of Torch Lake stuff all proven wrong? I thought tests said the water's fine a few years back. The fish look fine. (?)

Yup, the Copper Country would not be called that without the copper mining. And, we would not be left with all the mess the mining companies left behind, either. A lot of people had jobs (for a while) but most of the money went into the pockets of the East Coast financiers who invested in the companies in the first place. Many mines were failures and did not pay back anything at all.

And, a large majority of the Keweenaw is still in corporate hands. Just look at a plat book.

Is any of the above "good" or "bad"? Depends on how we look at it, eh? I believe a wise philosophy is to be careful who we make into bad guys. It is easy to pick on "corporations" or "the government". It is not as easy to remember that we are all, directly or indirectly, connected to/beneficiaries of both.

I saw a neat saying someplace lately that says a lot to me: "Everything is related". Sorta says it all, eh?

The pros and cons of the mining will have to be weighed. Hopefully the people who live in the area will have some sort of say.

Peace to my fellow pasty dot commies.

Crusin down the backroads; Guess people don't
mind lookin at those abandoned mine shafts, polluted soil and water. Another mine means disaster for our land. What do you think? Tourists
don't want to make a trip to the Copper Country to
see any more mess. Without tourist trade were lost.

what is the price yoopers are willing for a few more [people buying gas and a few other products is all the destruction of lthe rivers and streams worth the ultimate cost all kennacott can say is mine mine mine

Kennecott Mining....who owns them? Be careful before they sell that mine out from under you too. They've given all our good jobs to foreign countries and then we spend the five dollars we make at Burger King to buy their product. Something is wrong with our country....be careful who you vote for and let your Congressmen know you want them jobs back. Let's take our country back..NOW! Speak up good people. If you don't take care of yourself, no one else will! Make your Vote count and your Voice be heard.

I am afraid the mine will happen as there will not be any opposition to the jobs that will be created. Face it there just are not enough jobs in the area, that is why the young people move away so they can have a good living and if it was not for the the university's and retirees there would be even less people and you can look at it another way if there were plenty of good jobs up there the area would be destroyed by urban development so it has a double edge for shure. I am for mining as long as the enviroment is protected.

Hi elsa! yes i believe tourism should be the big picture here when talking about the Kennecott co. this is not speculation, it is a fact the company has stated that they will only mine the Plains for about 7 years. the majority of the workers (70-100) will most likely be brought in from other Kennecott projects. this has also been admitted by Kennecott. again, not speculation. what effect will this have on the economy in the U.P.? it's practically nothing. what are the effects if the sulfide leaks, like it did in WI and Alaska? we will never recover from it. it will directly affect our tourism, esp. when rugged and unspoiled land is getting harder and harder to come by. our future lies in tourism. read up on the Kennecott mining company. this is not the typical mining that features so prominately in our heritage and culture. DOWN WITH KENNECOTT.

Agreed!! Down with Kennecott!!
But,as always, being a lowly troll, must defer
to the people who live there. Pray you make the right decision.

Crusin; Well I hope the people here decide to
keep the mess out. Sometimes they change like the
weather. Of all the good things you hear about our
lovely place here, you would hope these people will stand up and be heard and fight to keep the
land and water free from pollutants and a safe
place for the wildlife. KENNECOTT GO HOME!!!

Hello everyone. I live in Toledo at the western end of Lake Erie. It is coming back to life but at one time was close to being a big open sewer. I hope future industry in the U.P. will bring jobs to the region, but not in any way harm your greatest God given treasure: Lake Superior. I can't wait to get back up there and see it again. It took me until I was 47 to get there. I liked the place so much that I made three trips there in one year! I am glad to see the discussion here today stay civil. It is good to articulate your viewpoints without getting rude or personal. I hope this would carry over into this year's elections. God Bless everyone and hope the people in Florida are safe.

I'm glad to see that Apathy has not crept into the hearts and minds. It is a fine line you must walk, especially in a place like the U.P., between keeping the treasure you have and allowing enough industry to maintain your economy. I hope all who live there will not just dismiss this as someone's ranting. This is very, very important to you. Please be vigilant in your course, whatever it may be. For if apathy does creep in, the land you love will be gone and you will have nothing to say about it then.