MARQUETTE -- On Labor Day, Margaret Comfort of Bourbonnais, Illinois, completed her two-week, 175-mile walking journey from Kennecott’s proposed nickel mine site on Eagle Rock near Big Bay to St. Ignace and the Mackinac Bridge.
The trek was highlighted by rallies and visits to several UP communities in order to bring awareness to the issue of metallic sulfide and uranium exploration and mining. Comfort, along with a vehicle support team and several volunteer walkers, was generously supported by concerned citizens, businesses and tourists along the way. Donations of food, firewood and funds overwhelmed the walkers.
"The love and concern from people opening their hearts and helping out was amazing," Comfort said. "Folks honking and waving energized us to keep moving towards our goal -- the Mackinac Bridge Walk. If I had more time, I would walk all the way to the Capitol in Lansing, camp out on the front lawn and ask our legislators some tough questions: What is the ultimate goal of this destructive new mining process? Why is the state even considering allowing this to happen? Who is to benefit from this risky resource extraction?"
Banners reading "Protecting our Water, Step by Step, from Eagle Rock to the Mackinac Bridge" were prominent on support vehicles and T-shirts worn by the walkers.
"We were always within walking distance of a wetland, stream, inland lake or a Great Lake," Comfort noted. "That is why we were out there…to help protect our most precious gift of water and the Great Lakes."
Kristi Mills, director of Save the Wild UP, one of the sponsors of the Walk, participated in the Walk herself and attested to Comfort's dedication.
"Margaret Comfort is a wonderful lady with a huge heart, and she gave it all to this walk," Mills said. "At the Bridge, crowds of people kept our group from getting near the Governor even during the wee hours of the morning, but the walk/experience/contacts/outreach that we all enjoyed was well worth the trip. Margaret's emotional commitment to this movement brought out yet another love story of the UP. There are so many of them out there."
Mills added the group brainstormed around a campfire one night about the idea of forming a UP Fan Club that people from all over the world could join.
"There would be different levels of membership with very little commitment involved except loving the UP," Mills noted. "We'll see."
Joining Save the Wild UP as sponsors of the walk were the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve, Keepers of the Water and Northwoods Wilderness Recovery. The groups provided information and materials to communities along the way. For more information on the Walk and the sulfide mining issue, visit www.savethewildup.org.
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