From: Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition (UPEC)
In 2025 the Protect the Porkies campaign -- a UPEC member organization -- has been mobilizing to prevent the approval of 50 million taxpayer dollars to fund the preliminary infrastructure necessary for the proposed Copperwood Mine to advance.
Copperwood is a proposed copper sulfide mine, which would share a border with the western portion of Porcupine Mountains State Park -- mainland Michigan's largest old growth wilderness area -- with metallic sulfide waste containing dangerous heavy metals to be stored in unprecedented proximity to Lake Superior.
This same funding was halted twice last year in the Michigan Senate Appropriations Committee but was reintroduced on April 23rd of this year by Rep. Greg Markkanen, now rebranded as a "community infrastructure" grant for Wakefield Township. The infrastructure in question -- cell towers, heavy industrial roads, and power grid -- would've been rolled out into an uninhabited area for the exclusive purpose of advancing the mine.
Protect the Porkies organized a sign-on letter of 230 local residents and 100+ organizations to oppose the funding, including the Michigan League of Women Voters, the Michigan Environmental Council, and the Michigan chapter of the Sierra Club. The two closest Michigan Tribal Nations -- the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC) and the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa -- both submitted their own letters of opposition.* Two trips were made to Lansing this year in close collaboration with Citizens for a Safe and Clean Lake Superior: the first, to educate lawmakers; and the second, to hold a rally protesting the Michigan House's approval of the funding in August.**
Despite these efforts, shortly before the official Michigan budget deadline of October 1st, it was learned that Governor Whitmer was pushing for the item's inclusion in the budget, and Senator Elissa Slotkin publicly endorsed the Copperwood Mine. Sources in Lansing were reporting that the funding had indeed been included. But during overtime budget negotiations, a renewed rallying cry from the Protect the Porkies campaign resulted in a surge of Michigan residents reaching out to lawmakers, until both the House and Senate agreed to eliminate the controversial proposal.
"Lawmakers weighed all sides of the issue and decided that rolling out infrastructure into an uninhabited area to help an inexperienced foreign mining company was not a good use of taxpayer funding," said Tom Grotewohl, founder of the Protect the Porkies campaign. "We fully support state money coming to Gogebic County -- but let it fund locally-owned businesses and other endeavors that do not export our wealth out of the area at the expense of the environment. This is a win for everyone, both ecologically and economically."
Although the funding was not included in the budget signed by the Governor, the mine may still advance through private investment. And source close to the campaign assert that the $50 million request will be reintroduced as a budget supplemental later this year.
So get ready for Round Four! For more information, visit www.ProtectThePorkies.com and see Protect the Porkies on Facebook for updates on thanking organizations and legislators for opposing the $50 million funding.
Celebrate at the October 22 Protect the Porkies party
All are invited to join Protect the Porkies for a celebration at the Ore Dock brewery in Marquette, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Wednesday, October 22. It will include a few speakers, but mainly live music from some of the wonderful artists from their Songwriting Contest --including the winners! There will be poetry, a coloring station for children (and anyone else who wants to color nature scenes), and more.
Editor's Notes:
* CLICK HERE to read the letter of opposition from the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC).
** See the Sept. 17, 2025, Keweenaw Now article by Protect the Porkies, "UPDATED: Citizens march against funding for Copperwood Mine."
*** CLICK HERE to read the "Preliminary Dam Breach Inundation Analysis for the Copperwood Project" by scientists of the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC). They found that modeled failures could release tailings that reach Lake Superior in less than an hour, could contaminate the Presque Isle River in less than 1.5 hours, and could affect the underground mine entrance and other mine infrastructure. In addition, they note that a tailings flood in parts of the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness could reach up to 14 m high in parts of the flooded areas.
