The largest wetland complex on Lake Superior is at risk and the native people who depend on it for their survival are threatened by the development of a strip mine in Northern Wisconsin. Despotic mining interests from Florida seek to strip mine low grade taconite ore to be processed and shipped off to produce iron. The boom and bust cycle of metal prices has led once again to greed and corruption of our good sense as well as the erosion of our values. More iron and steel are rusting away across the Northern tier counties of Wisconsin than will ever be produced by the mine. The depression that has been caused across the Northwoods is the result of just this sort of extractive approach to economic activity and the last thing the region needs are 700 short term jobs that leave behind the legacy of toxic waste and dislocation caused by extracting the very things that make people want to live and vacation here.
The wild rice beds, (menomin) that form the basis of a culture that has been relatively stable in spite of the onslaught of white "civilization", are part of the prophecy that led these native people on their westward trek centuries ago. The grass that grows on water has not only been repeatedly harvested year after year in an unbroken chain of events since the Ojibwa came to this area, but the nutrient rich grass has flourished under their care as well. The drainage basin that feeds the marsh lies exactly where the proposed mine would be. The ore body that interests the mine owners is only part of the body of Mother Earth that the native people recognize as life giver and sacred being. If the rice beds form the heart of their culture, the water that falls upon the Penokee Range is the blood. The interactions between the atmosphere and the living cycles of life in this region are undeniable. Cursory glances over the maps of the area show that the Penokee Hills are riddled with streams and rivulets that are fed by lake effect snows during the winter and localized thunderstorms during the rest of the year. The rice and the people depend on this very wet area to feed them, nourish them and allow them to sustain not only themselves but one another. An example of the timeless symbiosis of an intact culture is at stake. The fact that the greed inspired "developers" are interested in digging a 900 foot deep hole, 23 miles long and four miles wide in this relatively unpopulated area makes the damage that they plan all the more heinous. By poisoning the wetlands and removing the mountain tops, the entire future of the native people will become untenable. It would be like poisoning all the cattle of the west in terms of our culture, or making all the wheat, corn and soybeans that we base our culture on dangerous to eat. The fact that we may be doing just those things is not a reason to allow the damage to occur but rather a wake up call for us to stop poisoning ourselves.
Don't take my word for it, check out what the Nature conservancy has to say about this most recent attack on the Penokee Range.
When I rode my bicycle around the Great Lakes in 1987, there were hundreds of environmental disasters that I could point to around the lakes, hundreds of examples of what not to do. In my way, I took the trip to share ideas about sustainability with the people who have to live with those disasters day in and day out. Back then, I didn't use those words exactly, I called it living better lifestyles with less negative impacts. The same message needs to be heeded today, especially by the multimillionaires that are proposing this strip mine, their friends in the Wisconsin Capitol, and the people who worry about long-term unemployment across the Northwoods. The reasons for the unemployment, that is endemic to the area, is rooted in the fact that extractive processes in the past are still affecting those who continue to live here. This proposed mine is all the more heinous because not only the native people stand to lose the basis of their food system, but that local groups and governments have committed to transitioning to sustainability. For those of us who love the region, honor the natural cycles of both the forest and the lake, it feels like our "representatives" are trying to punish us and attack our sensibilities. Grinding the low grade ore to powder is the first step in the process. Not only is this extremely energy intensive, requiring increased electric generating capacity, (read dirty coal) but refining and transporting this material has already led to high rates of cancer and poisoning of the land with hazardous chemicals in other areas where this sort of "economic" activity has been tried. Until we realize that the ecosphere is not a bank to be raided at will, we will not stop the titans of industry from raping Mother Earth. Allowing foreign interests to dictate how we choose to make our living is tantamount to treason and this mine must be stopped.
http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/wisconsin/mining-in-the-penokee-gogebic-range-whats-at-risk.xml
The wild rice beds, (menomin) that form the basis of a culture that has been relatively stable in spite of the onslaught of white "civilization", are part of the prophecy that led these native people on their westward trek centuries ago. The grass that grows on water has not only been repeatedly harvested year after year in an unbroken chain of events since the Ojibwa came to this area, but the nutrient rich grass has flourished under their care as well. The drainage basin that feeds the marsh lies exactly where the proposed mine would be. The ore body that interests the mine owners is only part of the body of Mother Earth that the native people recognize as life giver and sacred being. If the rice beds form the heart of their culture, the water that falls upon the Penokee Range is the blood. The interactions between the atmosphere and the living cycles of life in this region are undeniable. Cursory glances over the maps of the area show that the Penokee Hills are riddled with streams and rivulets that are fed by lake effect snows during the winter and localized thunderstorms during the rest of the year. The rice and the people depend on this very wet area to feed them, nourish them and allow them to sustain not only themselves but one another. An example of the timeless symbiosis of an intact culture is at stake. The fact that the greed inspired "developers" are interested in digging a 900 foot deep hole, 23 miles long and four miles wide in this relatively unpopulated area makes the damage that they plan all the more heinous. By poisoning the wetlands and removing the mountain tops, the entire future of the native people will become untenable. It would be like poisoning all the cattle of the west in terms of our culture, or making all the wheat, corn and soybeans that we base our culture on dangerous to eat. The fact that we may be doing just those things is not a reason to allow the damage to occur but rather a wake up call for us to stop poisoning ourselves.
Don't take my word for it, check out what the Nature conservancy has to say about this most recent attack on the Penokee Range.
When I rode my bicycle around the Great Lakes in 1987, there were hundreds of environmental disasters that I could point to around the lakes, hundreds of examples of what not to do. In my way, I took the trip to share ideas about sustainability with the people who have to live with those disasters day in and day out. Back then, I didn't use those words exactly, I called it living better lifestyles with less negative impacts. The same message needs to be heeded today, especially by the multimillionaires that are proposing this strip mine, their friends in the Wisconsin Capitol, and the people who worry about long-term unemployment across the Northwoods. The reasons for the unemployment, that is endemic to the area, is rooted in the fact that extractive processes in the past are still affecting those who continue to live here. This proposed mine is all the more heinous because not only the native people stand to lose the basis of their food system, but that local groups and governments have committed to transitioning to sustainability. For those of us who love the region, honor the natural cycles of both the forest and the lake, it feels like our "representatives" are trying to punish us and attack our sensibilities. Grinding the low grade ore to powder is the first step in the process. Not only is this extremely energy intensive, requiring increased electric generating capacity, (read dirty coal) but refining and transporting this material has already led to high rates of cancer and poisoning of the land with hazardous chemicals in other areas where this sort of "economic" activity has been tried. Until we realize that the ecosphere is not a bank to be raided at will, we will not stop the titans of industry from raping Mother Earth. Allowing foreign interests to dictate how we choose to make our living is tantamount to treason and this mine must be stopped.
http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/wisconsin/mining-in-the-penokee-gogebic-range-whats-at-risk.xml
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