Wisconsin Resources Protection Council

February 16, 2022

Dear WRPC Member and Friends of the Menominee River,

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Wisconsin Resources Protection Council in Medford, Wisconsin in 1982. The major concern of WPRC was the lack of information about the effects of large-scale metallic sulfide mining on our state’s precious water supplies, on the tourism and dairy industries, and upon the many Native American communities that are located near potential mine sites.

By Al Gedicks and Dave Blouin

January 4, 2013

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and the mining industry have begun a major lobbying effort to overturn Wisconsin’s landmark Mining Moratorium Law. The law, also known as Wisconsin’s “Prove it First” law, was developed to address the problem of acid mine drainage from metallic sulfide mining.

Originally published by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

by Al Gedicks

May 19, 2011

Should the state’s regulatory authority over the metallic mine permitting process be dramatically reduced to accommodate the wishes of a mining company to receive a permit in record time?  This is not a hypothetical question.

Gogebic Taconite (GTAC) has met with several legislators about its proposed open pit iron ore (taconite) mine along the border of Ashland and Iron counties to push legislation that would drastically speed up the mine permitting process.

Proposed Lynne mining sparks new debate over ongoing issue

Deborah Bedolla, The Lakeland Times

September 14, 2010

It has been more than a year since Tamerlane Ventures, a publicly-traded international mining firm, first expressed interest in exploring a sulfide ore deposit near the town of Lynne.

The Oneida County Mining Oversight Committee has since been considering opening a public bid for leasing mineral rights to allow exploratory studies. The committee’s consideration has been, in the words of chairman Dave Hintz, “slow and deliberate” in the face of the myriad technical, economic and environmental issues the proposal raises.

A well-attended July 24 information session in Lynne brought some of those issues before the public, but it was only the beginning of a process that is likely to become contentious quickly.

“It’s going to be extremely controversial and it’s going to be extremely long term. It’s not going to happen quickly, if at all,” Dan Kuzlik, the UW-Extension professor who facilitated the information session and is serving as liaison for the committee, said.

Hintz underscored the long-term nature of the conversation at a committee meeting last week: “Mining is not going to happen in Oneida County for some time. We’re in the early stages of this process.”