Tag Archives: Mining Action Group

U.P. Environmentalists Receive ‘White Pine Award’ from Michigan Sierra Club

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Marquette, MI – The Sierra Club Michigan Chapter presented the White Pine Award to the Mining Action Group of the Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition during a reception held at the Neighborhood Empowerment Center in Lansing on January 26.

The Mining Action Group received the White Pine Award for their “extraordinary dedication to environmental protection,” according to the Sierra Club. “This Upper Peninsula-based volunteer group plays the leading role in reviewing and challenging mine expansions and new proposals such as the expansion of the Eagle Mine near Marquette and the final permitting of the Back Forty mine in Menominee County.”

Formerly known as Save the Wild U.P., the Mining Action Group is a 100% volunteer, grassroots effort to defend the clean water and wild places of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula from the dangers of sulfide mining. The group was formed in 2016 when Save the Wild U.P. merged with the Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition. MAG’s leadership team includes Jeffrey Towner, Jon Saari, Steve Garske, Horst Schmidt, and Kathleen Heideman, who serve as board members of the Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition.

“Pictured left to right, Anne Woiwode, Chair of the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter, presents the 2019 White Pine Award to Kathleen Heideman of the Mining Action Group. Photograph provided by the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter.” Download this photo.

“Pictured left to right, Anne Woiwode, Chair of the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter, presents the 2019 White Pine Award to Kathleen Heideman of the Mining Action Group. Photograph provided by the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter.”  Download this photo.

 

“Pictured left to right, Gail Philben, Director of the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter, talks with Kathleen Heideman of the Mining Action Group. Photograph provided by the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter.” Download this photo.

“Pictured left to right, Gail Philben, Director of the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter, talks with Kathleen Heideman of the Mining Action Group. Photograph provided by the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter.” Download this photo.

 

David Aho of Rudyard and Kathleen Heideman of Marquette attended the event as representatives of the Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition. Among those honored by the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter were State Senator Stephanie Chang of Detroit, named Environmentalist of the Year, Mona Munroe-Younis of Flint, who received the Bunyan Bryant Award for environmental justice, and the Bridge Magazine, recipient of the Environmental Journalism Award.

 

SIERRA CLUB MICHIGAN CHAPTER PRESS RELEASE 

For Immediate Release January 28, 2019
Contact: Gail Philbin, Director at 312-493-2384
Anne Woiwode, Chair at 517-974-2112

Sierra Club Michigan Chapter Awards Honor Those Who Make a Difference Every Day

Sierra Club Michigan Chapter Awards presented January 26 in Lansing recognize the extraordinary contributions of Michiganders and Michigan organizations who are making valuable contributions to protection of public health, natural resources and democracy. The Chapter is honored to acknowledge the following awardees (photos available upon request):

State Senator Stephanie Chang of Detroit received the highest honor the Michigan Chapter bestows, the Environmentalist of the Year Award. The award honors exceptional leadership in environmental protection in Michigan. Sen. Chang maintained a perfect rating on the Chapter’s environmental voting scorecard during her tenure as a State Representative. She has worked with Sierra Club to introduce legislation to protect against toxic air pollution, make water a human right, expand clean energy, and restore citizen oversight to the Department of Environmental Quality.

Bridge Magazine was awarded the Environmental Journalism Award. The mission of the online Bridge Magazine is “to inform Michigan citizens through fact-based, nonpartisan journalism that identifies critical issues.” Bridge CEO John Bebow led the effort by his publication to elevate the role of reporting on environmental issues in Michigan by hiring Jim Malewitz as their full time environmental reporter in 2017. Jim’s reporting has catalyzed a growing interest in other media outlets to increase environmental reporting. Bridge has also become a critical, “go to” investigative journalism forum, helping to promote transparency in government through its “Truth Squad” reporting on candidates and in-depth articles on Michigan democracy issues. Learn more at bridgemi.com

Mona Munroe-Younis of Flint was awarded the Bunyan Bryant Award for environmental justice work. Mona helped establish the Michigan Chapter’s Environmental Justice Action Group in 2017, which quickly developed into a cohesive, democratically organized alliance of residents on the frontlines fighting environmental injustice in the Flint/Detroit region. Learn more at sierraclub.org/michigan/environmental-justice-action-group

Change Media was recognized with the Michigan Chapter’s Digital Excellence Award. Change Media is a Michigan firm that has created sophisticated social media campaigns that help the Chapter target supporters and environmentalists on Facebook in past elections and built our social media presence. Their efforts include the Chapter’s groundbreaking political ad and video program in 2016 and our work to support Gretchen Whitmer’s campaign and other endorsed candidates in 2018. Learn more at changemediagroup.com

Mining Action Group received the White Pine Award for extraordinary dedication to environmental protection. This Upper Peninsula-based volunteer group plays the leading role in reviewing and challenging mine expansions and new proposals such as the expansion of the Eagle Mine near Marquette and the final permitting of the Back Forty mine in Menominee County. Learn more at savethewildup.org

Pegg Clevenger of Jackson was honored with the Sylvania Award for her exceptional leadership as a new Michigan Chapter volunteer. Pegg quickly emerged as a leader and budding expert on factory farms when she and others in Jackson learned about a proposal for a massive hog factory in their area in 2017. Pegg led the effort to mobilize the community and get the facility’s state permit modified to lessen the impact on a nearby wetland.

As the new chair of the Southwest Michigan Group, Roz Linsea, was recognized with a Michigan Chapter Service Award. Roz has built a strong regional Sierra Club group that educates and engages local residents about important environmental issues. She is a big solar energy booster in West Michigan as a partner in Solar Winds Power Systems, LLC., the business she runs with her husband Mike, that participates in the Sierra Club Solar Partnership. Learn more at sierraclub.org/michigan/sierra-club-solar-partnership

Mary Andersson was recognized with the Marlene Fluharty Award for her volunteer leadership at multiple levels of the Sierra Club. She’s a longtime member and volunteer who has held numerous positions including Outings Chair, Political Chair and Executive Committee representative for the Crossroads Group. She has served as a Chapter Political Committee member and has attended service outings at the group and national level.

Chris Back has been awarded the Trillium Award for outstanding student contributions. Chris began as a Sierra Club political intern on Gretchen Driskell’s campaign in 2016 and has served as the Chapter’s communications intern since January 2017. He has been an active Spartan Sierra Club member since 2016 and was just elected to the Michigan Chapter Executive Committee.

David Holtz was honored with the Theodore Roosevelt Political Leadership award. For more than five years David has served on the Chapter’s Political Committee, which has benefited from his decades of experience in the political and communications arenas. He has elevated democracy-related issues within the Chapter’s strategic priorities and in 2018 coordinated the Sierra Club’s work with the Gretchen Whitmer gubernatorial campaign.

Richard Morley Barron received the Chair’s Award for his exceptional leadership of the Michigan Chapter Political Committee for eight years. During his tenure as PolCom chair, Richard, in collaboration with Political Director Mike Berkowitz, led the dramatic expansion of Sierra Club’s political engagement in Michigan. Richard continues to serve on the Michigan Chapter Executive Committee, and has served as the Michigan Chapter Legal Committee Chair.

 

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The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.4 million members and supporters nationwide, and over 120,000 in Michigan. In addition to creating opportunities for people of all ages, levels and locations to have meaningful outdoor experiences, the Sierra Club works to safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and litigation. For more information, visit http://www.sierraclub.org/michigan

 

Environmentalists to DNR: Protect the Rocking Chair Lakes!

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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.

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