Learn potential impacts of Back 40 sulfide mine: Save the Menominee River Speaking Tour forum July 23; canoe/kayak excursion July 29

(Image courtesy Save the Wild U.P.)

From Save the Wild U.P.: 

MARQUETTE -- Grassroots opposition to Aquila’s Back Forty metallic sulfide mine next to the Menominee River will sponsor its fourth public forum on the cultural, environmental and economic impacts of the proposed mine at 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 23, in the Wausaukee, Wis., Town Hall (N 11856 Hwy 141). Save the Menominee River Speaking Tour sponsored previous forums in Marinette, Wis., and Menominee and Stephenson, Mich. The event is free and open to the public.

Speakers from groups including the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, the River Alliance of Wisconsin, the Front 40 citizens group and the Wisconsin Resources Protection Council will present information about mining impacts, including the endangered sturgeon population in the Menominee River, and invite public comments about the proposed open pit mine.

Save the Wild U.P. to host activist trainings

Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality is expected to hold a Public Hearing on the Back Forty proposal later this summer (TBA). Citizens can learn how to speak out at public hearings in "lunch and learn" activist trainings sponsored by Save the Wild U.P. (SWUP) from noon to 3 p.m. on Monday, July 18; Monday, July 25; and Monday, Aug. 1. followed by a social hour at the Ore Dock Brewing Company’s upstairs public space, 114 W. Spring St. in Marquette.*

Canoe/Kayak Excursion July 29

For those interested in a closer look at the proposed mine site, the River Alliance of Wisconsin is leading a canoe/kayak excursion on the Menominee River on Friday, July 29, to learn about the mine and appreciate the beauty of this river. Starting at the White Rapids dam, east of Amberg, Wis., and northwest of Stephenson, Mich., the excursion will visit significant native American archaeological sites and do a "paddle-by" of the proposed mine site. The River Alliance will be joined by officials from the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin and the Front 40 citizens group.  The Menominee River takes its name from the Menominee Indians of Wisconsin whose creation stories start at the mouth of the Menominee River. According to Guy Reiter, a Menominee tribal member, "the creator gave us responsibility for watching out for that water thousands of years ago." Click here for more details and registration.

For more information contact: Guy Reiter (715) 853-2776 anahkwet@hotmail.com or Ron Henriksen (906) 563-5766 menomineeriver.com.

* Editor's Note: See Save the Wild U.P.'s recent article, "Public Comments to MDEQ: 98 percent Opposed to Back Forty!"