Meeting to Connect Communities, Land
Finding new ways to connect local communities to the public lands near them is the thrust of an upcoming meeting of the Heart of the Continent Partnership scheduled for February 24-25 in Eveleth.
Land and Resource Use
PolyMet Hires Former MPCA Commissioner
PolyMet Mining, the Canadian firm that hopes to build a $600-million copper-nickel mine near Babbitt, has hired former Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Commissioner Brad Moore as an Executive Vice President.
Environmentalists Sue Over PolyMet Loan
Five environmental groups are suing the State of Minnesota over a $4-million loan that Iron Range Resources approved for PolyMet Mining as part of its plan to mine copper, nickel, and precious metals near Babbitt.
McFarland Lake Shoreline Protected
Nearly 1,200 feet of shoreline on McFarland Lake just outside the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness has been protected via a conservation easement facilitated by the Minnesota Land Trust.
Copper Mining Firms to Merge
Duluth Metals, Ltd. has agreed to buy Franconia Minerals Corp. in a merger of companies hoping to mine copper and nickel in Northeastern Minnesota.
Critics Concerned by Loan to PolyMet
Environmental advocates are concerned with a $4-million loan granted by the state of Minnesota’s Iron Range Resources board to PolyMet mining which hopes to open a controversial copper-nickel mine near Babbitt.
PolyMet Seeks $4-Million Loan from State
PolyMet Mining is asking for a $4-million loan from the State of Minnesota to help it buy land that it will swap with the U.S. Forest Service for land at its planned mining site near Babbitt.
Easement Conserves 76,000 Forest Acres
A conservation easement agreement will keep some 76,000 acres of northern Minnesota forest protected for sustainable forestry, wildlife habitat, and recreation, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources announced yesterday.
Atikokan Looks Ahead to Gold Mine
Atikokan, the northern gateway community to Quetico Provincial Park, is considering what steps to take to become gold mining town. Osisko Mining expects to have a gold mine in the Atikokan area, perhaps by 2015.
County Aims to Curb Public Land Growth
Northeastern Minnesota’s St. Louis County has commissioned a study to determine how best to keep private land in the county from becoming publicly owned.
Ruling Against Sierra Club Upheld
A ruling by a lower court dismissing a lawsuit filed by the Sierra Club against the Forest Service over the Superior National Forest management plan has been upheld.
Heart of the Continent Seeks Communities
The Heart of the Continent Partnership, an association of land managers, researchers, government officials, and local stakeholders, is seeking to add representatives of the region’s communities to its collaborative effort.
Group Finds Mine Pollution near BWCAW
The advocacy group Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness claims that sulfide mine pollution is occurring at a 36-year-old mine site off of Spruce Road near the South Kawishiwi River just miles from the limits of the BWCAW.
AT&T Suspends Tower Construction Until Trial
In an agreement hammered out in a Minneapolis courtroom, AT&T has agreed to suspend construction of a controversial cell phone tower at the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness until a trial determines its ultimate fate.
Cell Tower Suit Spurs Discussion
The lawsuit by the advocacy group Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness to halt construction of a 450-foot=high cellular communications tower near Ely has recently prompted commentary from those who hail and oppose the effort.
PolyMet Impact Statement to be Rewritten
State and federal agencies will rewrite the the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for PolyMet Mining’s proposed copper-nickel and precious metals mine near Babbitt. The rewrite comes after the federal Environmental Protection Agency deemed the initial Draft EIS “Environmentally Unsatisfactory-Inadequate.”
$1 Trillion in Metals Buried Near BWCAW
With an estimated $1 trillion worth of copper and other precious metals buried beneath the surface along the South Kawishiwi River near the southern border of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, the tangle over mineral development and natural resource protection appears likely to continue well beyond those surrounding the PolyMet copper-nickel mine in nearby Babbitt.
PolyMet Impact Statement May Be Redone
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers may redo their Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the PolyMet copper-nickel mining operation proposed near Babbitt. The original Draft EIS was declared “environmentally unsatisfactory-inadequate” by the federal Environmental Protection Agency earlier this year.
Lake Vermilion Park Deal Finalized
The dream of a Lake Vermilion State Park is now a reality after the State of Minnesota and U.S. Steel Corporation signed a deal yesterday that put 3,000 acres of company land along the picturesque lake under state ownership.
Forest Advisory Committee to Convene
An advisory committee intended to to enhance local community collaboration with federal officials who manage the Superior National Forest will convene for the first time on June 11, the U.S. Forest Service announced recently.