Environmentalists to DNR: Protect the Rocking Chair Lakes!

Posted on by

Major environmental groups have joined forces with the Mining Action Group of the Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition (UPEC), calling on the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to protect Rocking Chair Lakes Natural Area.

Comments opposing the UPX mineral lease requests were jointly submitted to the DNR by UPEC’s Mining Action Group, the Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition, the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve, the Superior Watershed Partnership and Land Trust, Friends of the Land of Keweenaw (FOLK), Freshwater Future, Concerned Citizens of Big Bay, the Michigan Environmental Council, and the Michigan League of Conservation Voters.

UPX Minerals, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canadian mining company Highland Copper, is seeking to lease more than 3,800 acres of State-owned minerals in Iron and Marquette Counties. Most of these mineral properties are in Marquette County, and many are underneath private property, homes, camps, rivers and streams, lakes, wetlands – even nature reserves and the DNR’s own Rocking Chair Lakes, located 25 miles northwest of Marquette.

The DNR’s Forestry Division calls the Rocking Chair Lakes one of the “jewels of the state forest system… a natural area in a rugged and nearly inaccessible part of Marquette County. Managed for trout, these lakes offer a wilderness fishing experience.” 

The Mining Action Group has released the following statement:

“The special qualities of Rocking Chair Lakes Natural Area demand that it be protected in its natural state. Mineral exploration is obviously not a compatible land use. Rocking Chair Lakes is listed on the Michigan DNR website under Natural Areas. If the DNR cannot deny a mineral lease request in this unique and highly significant area, then it seems it cannot deny a lease anywhere. In that case, what do we have a DNR for?

As a Natural Area, any form of mineral exploration is prohibited by Michigan law: “Natural Area status as provided under Public Act 451 of 1994 Part 351 WILDERNESS AND NATURAL AREAS: Sec. 35105. prohibits the following activities: (…) Exploration or extraction of minerals.”

We remind the DNR of their statutory prohibition regarding “Exploration or extraction of minerals” which must be applied in this case:  Any area which has been “proposed for dedication” is protected under the act, and must be managed as a natural/wild/wilderness area until the dedication is final.”

“These mineral lease requests appear to be oblivious to the community’s concerns. UPX doesn’t care about surface ownership, environmental management goals, the potential for environmental damage, legal or regulatory restrictions, or proximity to wetlands and water,” said Kathleen Heideman of the Mining Action Group. “To be clear, we believe that ANY mineral development activity in this remote, fragile place threatens the DNR’s stewardship of the Rocking Chair Lakes area.”

In their joint comments, Michigan environmental groups criticized the DNR’s overly-permissive lease classifications, requested on-the-ground reviews for lands of special environmental concern, and called on the DNR to hold a public meeting in the Upper Peninsula prior to making any final lease decision:

“The agency needs to meet with concerned landowners to discuss the UPX request, and answer questions directly, engaging and educating the public on the work of the minerals management division. The DNR appears to be rushing from nomination to public comment and then straight to ‘decision’ – bypassing the opportunity for a Public Meeting.”

Four different Ecological Reference Areas have been established in the Rocking Chair Lakes Natural Area, representing natural areas of “High Conservation Quality” including cliffs, wetlands, old growth forest, numerous threatened and endangered plants and one of Michigan’s largest inland cliffs, the Mulligan Cliffs.

Read their full comments, here.

LEARN MORE

One thought on “Environmentalists to DNR: Protect the Rocking Chair Lakes!”

  1. I have owned property since 1976 on the Mulligan Creek I’ve visited rocking chair lakes many times it is a true Jewel for the state of Michigan and United States these are the type of places we need to keep for kids and grandkids you can’t bring nature back – Thank You.