Roscoe Churchill
By Al Gedicks
gedicks.al@uwlax.edu
Roscoe Churchill, a dearly loved leader of Wisconsin’s environmental
movement passed away on February 9, 2007 in his sleep after a long
struggle with prostate cancer.
Roscoe Churchill of Ladysmith, was the grandfather of Wisconsin’s
grassroots anti-mining movement. For more than 30 years, this retired
school principal, part-time farmer, former Republican, and Rusk County
supervisor, along with his late wife Evelyn, were the heart and soul of
the efforts to stop some of the largest mining companies in the world,
including Kennecott, Noranda, Exxon, Rio Algom and BHP Billiton from
destroying the land and clean waters of communities from Ladysmith to
the Mole Lake Chippewa Reservation near Crandon, and from La Crosse
County to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
In the early 1970s the Kennecott Copper Company tried to develop a
copper mine in Ladysmith and Roscoe became concerned that the mine could
endanger local groundwater and disrupt the dairy farming economy of Rusk
County. During their retirement years, he and Evelyn traveled across the
U.S. and Canada, visiting active and abandoned mines and educating
themselves about every aspect of mining.
Evelyn specialized in Wisconsin’s mining laws and regulations while
Roscoe did most of the public speaking and debates with mining company
officials and representatives of the Wisconsin DNR. He and Evelyn were
among the founders of the Rusk County Citizens Action Group, formed in
the mid 1970s to oppose Kennecott’s proposed open pit copper mine on the
banks of the Flambeau River.
Local opposition stopped the mine in 1976 but the company tried again in
1988 and after running roughshod over township opposition and covering
up the presence of endangered species in the Flambeau River, received
permits to mine in 1991. The long and sordid history of Kennecott’s
interference with local democracy and the courageous resistance by
grassroots citizens is recounted in the forthcoming book by Roscoe
Churchill and his friend Laura Furtman, called The Buzzards Have Landed:
The Real Story of the Flambeau Mine.
Their discussions around the kitchen table with friends and neighbors
led to the drafting and successful passage of the 1998 Wisconsin Mining
Moratorium Law, known as the Churchill Moratorium Law within the
environmental community, in honor of Roscoe and Evelyn’s key role in
drafting the original legislation.
This law set a strict performance standard for mining permits which
required mining companies to demonstrate successful mining and
post-mining without polluting surrounding surface and groundwaters. No
mining company has been able to meet this standard and Wisconsin soon
earned a reputation within the international mining industry as the
least attractive place to mine.
Roscoe’s untiring opposition to ecologically destructive mining had
nothing to do with “Not in my backyard” sentiment. He traveled across
the state to assist the Indian, environmental and sportfishing alliance
that formed to oppose Exxon’s proposed Crandon mine at the headwaters of
the Wolf River. He was an effective public speaker and organizer with
the Wolf Watershed Educational Project, one of the principal groups that
stopped Exxon, Rio Algom and BHP Billiton from constructing the
ill-conceived Crandon mine.
Roscoe spoke before town and county boards all over western Wisconsin in
1997-98 when Kennecott wanted to explore for copper in La Crosse,
Jackson, Trempealeau, Clark, and Eau Claire counties. All five counties
voted to ban mining on public lands.Roscoe and Evelyn’s dedication to
preserving sustainable economies in Wisconsin received special
recognition by several Wisconsin tribes, including the Menominee, the
Mole Lake Chippewa, the Forest County Potawatomi, the Lac Courte
Oreilles Chippewa and the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission.
Roscoe’s knowledge, experience, eloquence and fearlessness in the face
of irresponsible corporate and bureaucratic power won the admiration and
respect of an entire generation of environmental activists.
The Churchill farm became a mecca for young people interested in
learning from the elders of the Wisconsin anti-mining movement. Even
when the ravages of prostate cancer was slowing him down, he continued
to give his time, energy and expertise to newly formed citizen groups
opposed to Kennecott’s proposed metallic sulfide mine in the Yellow Dog
Plains of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
“We can’t quit fighting, and we’re not going to!” As long as there was
breath in his lungs he used his voice to speak uncomfortable truths to
power and to inspire hope and confidence in the grassroots.
Roscoe and Evelyn’s legacy is one of the strongest grassroots
environmental movements in the history of Wisconsin.
Funeral services will be at 11:00 a.m. Friday, February 16, 2007 at the> First Church of Christ, located at 701 Menasha Avenue, Ladysmith. Pastor
Donn Schroeder and Pastor Ramon Hunt will officiate. Visitation will be
at the Nash-Jackan Funeral Home in Ladysmith, Thursday, February 15,
2007 from 4:00 to 7:30 p.m., with a 10:00 a.m. visitation on Friday
prior to the funeral service.
In addition, a “Fond Farwell” memorial will be held at the Stefan
Pavilion at the Grant Town Shops (South of Ladysmith on Hwy. 27),
beginning at 2:00 p.m. (following the burial). There will be songs in
celebration of Roscoe’s life, sharing of memories, dedications by Native
American Tribal Members and a special Eagle Feather Ceremony to honor
Roscoe and Evelyn’s dedication to protecting the earth.
For more information call Sandy Lyon (715) 766-2725 Friends have already
called and ask “what can I do to help?” and we told them, “bring pies”
lots of pies….Roscoe loved pies. (they may be dropped off at the
Pavilion before, during or after the funeral.) Thank you.
To help carry on the legacy of these two fine stewards of the
environment, memorials may be directed to:
Evelyn Churchill Memorial Environmental Scholarship Fund,
Wells Fargo Bank,
100 Miner Ave E.,
Ladysmith, WI 54848.