Protect the Porkies Up Close and Personal
Help keep our wilderness, wild
While on vacation in the beautiful Upper Peninsula of Michigan I went to the Porcupine Mountains and saw where the proposed Copperwood mine site is located and the devastation that has already been done to the wilderness.
It is Labor Day weekend and here in Michigan that usually means going up north for a long holiday weekend. I used to go to the Upper Peninsula every Labor Day weekend ever since I was a baby. I stopped about 9 years ago due to finances. I get to the U.P. as much as possible during the year, however I used to be able to go more often. In honor of the beautiful U.P. and all those trips I took on Labor Day weekend and to all who are up there this Labor Day, I wanted to share my experience seeing the proposed site of the Copperwood mine. I was on vacation in the Keweenaw Peninsula in the U.P. the first week of August and drove over to the Porcupine Mountains to get a closer look as to what was going on there.
Protect the Porkies Website: https://protecttheporkies.com/home
I met Tom, the creator of the Protect the Porkies website and social media campaign to stop this disastrous proposal for a mine right next to our beautiful Porcupine Mountains State Park and Lake Superior. Tom is a very tall, willowy, nice man who has the passion to keep the wilderness area around the Porkies as pristine as possible. He has spent hours of his time to educate the public of this proposed mine project and how detrimental it would be to the environment.
We started walking down the North Country Hiking Trail, the longest of all national hiking trails, just recently incorporated into the National Parks Service, in what looked like a very remote part of the trail. The beauty of the wilderness was all around us as we started down the trail.
We saw a metal fence that was down the trail if you turned right, and Tom said that would lead you right to the main road and site where all the construction had been happening.
But we did not go down that trail to get to the site. Tom took me in a different way, we cut off into the woods a little way down from that fence we had seen. We were walking through the typical U.P. woods, thick, full of various plants, mosses, old leaves and some old trees that had fallen naturally, then we came to a very unnatural clearing of the beautiful woods.
It was an upsetting and a shock to see the massive deviation that has happened to the forest. A huge area has been clear cut of all trees and a huge trench was dug. It is hard to describe just how big it was. It was as far as the eyes could see this huge trench.
The huge trench, as Tom told me, was for holding all the water. They have already rerouted the water in this area to create an unnatural flow for all the small streams that empty into Lake Superior.
While there I learned that there is no electricity in this area. Imagine the amazing, peaceful, energy that is there with no electric poles, no transformers, no constant buzzing from the electricity moving through the wires. Many people, such as Tom, love areas such as this to create an off the grid, self-sustaining existence without all the noise, E.M.F.’s, and light pollution. An incredibly healthy way to live. This would mean besides the destruction that has already been done to the beautiful remote area, they would have to bring a whole electricity structure to the area. More devastation to the wilderness, making the roads wider, putting up all the electric poles and they are even talking about installing cell towers.
I was grateful to Tom for showing me the area where the proposed mine site is located in the beautiful pristine forest right next to the Porcupine Mountains. It was very heartbreaking to see all that has been already and the mine has not even been approved. Apparently, you can get the permits to start making way for the mine (ruining the area) before you get the approval for the actual mine itself.
What you need to know about the proposed Mine next to the Porcupine Mountains:
The Porkies are not just any park. In 2022 it was ranked by Yelp.com and TripAdvisor as "the most beautiful State Park in the country." It is the largest State Park in Michigan and one of the only State Parks in the country which has a designated Wilderness Area. Most importantly, the Porkies hold the largest tract of mixed old growth forest remaining in the Midwest.
Highland Copper is the name of the company proposing the mine. Canadian company Highland Copper is a junior exploration company with ZERO EXPERIENCE owning and operating a mine.
There has never been a metallic sulfide mine which did not contaminate local water. The Copperwood Mine would erect a tailings disposal facility holding 50+ million tons of heavy-metal laden waste-rock on topography sloping towards Lake Superior.
In addition to destroying 50+ acres of wetlands and forever altering the course of 5 streams, the project would be permitted to dump half a million gallons of wastewater per day into Namebinag Creek, which empties into Lake Superior. Namebinag Creek is also home to populations of Redside Dace, classified in Michigan as an Endangered Species requiring legal protection.
Unfortunately, the Copperwood Mine — in addition to subjecting the area to subterranean blasts, air pollution, and noise pollution — would be lit up like a casino all night long, effectively eliminating a clear view of the starry sky not just for the Presque Isle Area, but for miles around, potentially as far as Black River Harbor, another area of outstanding beauty.
Already Highland Copper has clearcut hundreds of acres of so-called "secondary" forest in preparation for the Copperwood Mine. But there's nothing secondary about the importance of such woods— in addition to existing for their own sake and providing homes for countless organisms, forest which is allowed to mature becomes a barrier against wildfires.
The proposed mine site would be right next to the North Country Hiking Trail (NCT). A cornerstone of North Woods natural heritage, the historic NCT stretching 4,800 miles from North Dakota to Vermont is the longest of all national hiking trails.
Unfortunately, our section of the trail which weaves through the Ottawa National Forest would be just a less than a quarter mile from a 323-acre mine waste containment facility, as well as explosives plants, sewage lagoons, exhaust systems, and more.
There has never been a hard rock mine that didn't contaminate water, and Copperwood would be the closest metallic sulfide mine to Lake Superior in history.
Because Copperwood's ore grade is only 1.5%, nearly all of what comes out of the ground will be stored as on-site waste, forever, in a Tailings Disposal Facility measuring 244 football fields in area and 171 feet in height — 20 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty.
Here is what you can do:
Protect the Porkies Website: https://protecttheporkies.com/home
Sign the petition to stop the mine: https://protecttheporkies.com/petition
Follow and sign up for newsletter from Protect the Porkies:
https://protecttheporkies.com/contact-1
Buy sticker and print flyers to hand out and tell everyone you know:
https://protecttheporkies.com/outreach
Subscribe to the YouTube channel and watch the videos:
https://www.youtube.com/@ProtectThePorkies
Attend this special event or make a donation:
https://protecttheporkies.com/water-walk
The Gichigaming Water Walk is being held in response to proposals for new metallic sulfide mines within the Lake Superior watershed, specifically the Copperwood Mine — closest metallic sulfide mine to Lake Superior in history — as well as the reopening of the White Pine Mine, previously defeated by the Bad River Train Blockade.
A Water Walk is not a protest, however: it is a ceremony to honor our connection to Nibi (Water), the Land, and the diverse Lifeforms of this area. Just as groundwater, streams, lakes, clouds, and precipitation are united in a seamless conversation, so too is the wellbeing of we humans interwoven with that of the Elements and our Other-Than-Human Relatives.
The proposed Copperwood mine site is located firmly in 1842 Treaty Territory; both its development and operation will pose a real and significant threat to multiple treaty resources, most crucially, Lake Superior, which connects Anishinaabe communities in multiple states and countries.
Nawadaha, Manido, and Manabezho— these are the three waterfalls of the Presque Isle Scenic Area, which still bear the names of Anishinaabe manitous.
Long before Michigan, long before the arrival of Europeans, the Anishinaabe fished and foraged these lands. There was a nomadic settlement at the mouth of the Presque Isle River. Later, at that same beach, the Anishinaabe met to trade with French trappers. To this day, park-goers find arrowheads and other artifacts on the shore.
I went to two of the three waterfalls on the Presque Isle Scenic Area:
Why this is so near and dear to my heart:
I have been going to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan ever since I was born. My paternal grandparents owned a large piece of property in Carney, outside of Escanaba while I was growing up. We went there for every holiday, every vacation and it was always the best place to go when I was a kid. In my 20’s and 30’s my grandparents place was my sanctuary of healing, peacefulness and also of love. The memories of our family there and the love and security I felt at my grandparent’s place is why the U.P. feels like home to me.
Plus, my maternal grandfather was born in Mohawk. And his grandparents, what would be my great, great grandparents built a house in Ishpeming and it is still standing. My roots to the U.P. run deep.
The piece of property my paternal grandparents owned, is no longer owned by my family and since it was sold, I have camped and stayed in cabins all over the U.P. The Porcupine Mountains has been one of the incredible, untamed wilderness places I have camped and enjoyed for years. When I found out about this proposed mine site being put in there, I knew I had to do what I could to stop it. I have been writing about it, posting on social media about it, telling everyone I know about it and when you attend one of my cooking classes, you learn all about what is going on in the U.P.
Thank you for taking the time to read and learn about this proposed mine site right next to the Porcupine Mountains. If you feel drawn to take action, it is much appreciated.
Upcoming Cooking Classes:
The Last Outdoor Grilling Cooking Class for 2024
Wed. September 4 - 5:30 to 8:30 PM (ET)(Earlier time so we have daylight outside) Sign up: https://www.macroval.com/cookingclasses.htm
In person $65.00 - Virtual $55.00
Your last opportunity to attend the outside classes for 2024. The taste of grilled food is some of the most delicious food of the year. This class has two sauces, features the sweet delicata squash and a version of everyone's childhood favorite outdoor treat S'mores.
Menu: Grilled Mushrooms and Onions over fresh Lettuce and Quinoa with a Tahini Garlic Sauce, Grilled Delicata Squash Rings and Grilled Whole Grain Bagels with a Fresh Herb Tamari Sauce and Individual S'mores Chocolate Marshmallow Pie Toasters
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