Imagine having a backyard where one had prime cross country skiing slopes, trickling streams and waterfalls, natural caves to go swimming and spelunking in, wetlands to go wild-ricing, fly fishing for trout, and mountains and valleys to take 5-day canoe portages and hiking adventures throughout, all near one’s own house. With the cool breeze and the abundant snowfall the often accumulates up near the Upper Peninsula, due to the lake effects of Lake Superior, there would never be a dull moment with the weather, either. Now imagine that being threatened by a billionaire tycoon who prefers to his business, mining, as just a game. For someone living in the northern counties of Wisconsin, this isn’t just a scenario, its reality.
In 2011, Gogebic Taconite (GTAC) purchased mineral rights for the vast expanse of about 21,000 acres that run along 22 miles of the Penokee Mountain Range in the Iron and Ashland Counties of Northwestern Wisconsin. Working with lawmakers, billionaire Chris Cline, leader of GTAC, maneuvered around Wisconsin’s landmark mining moratoriums that had once kept Wisconsin’s land protected. These moratoriums had been placed originally after Wisconsin experienced how careless harvesting of the earth’s natural resources could change Wisconsin’s beauty into incorrigible devastation.
It was in the 1960’s, that Wisconsin’s landmark mining moratoriums were placed on all mining done in Wisconsin. The moratorium purpose was ensuring that all mining done would be done responsibly in respects to Wisconsin’s wildlife, forests, land, and water. Nevertheless, GTAC was able to have legislation remove almost all of these mining regulations. Now, with these removed, there’s nothing that will watch over Wisconsin’s waters and forests ...
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...ta. MNdnr.org. 2011. Web. 1 Jan. 2014. http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/lands_minerals/mercuryandmining.pdf
Bjornerud, Marcia, Knudsen, Andrew, and Trotter, Josh. Geochemical, mineralogical and structural characterization of the Tyler Formation and Ironwood Iron Formation Gogebic Range, Wisconsin. lic.wisc.edu. 31 July 2012. Web.1 Jan. 2014. http://www.lic.wisc.edu/glifwc/penoke/BjornerudGeologyReportJa n2013.pdf
Fitz, Tom. ”Potential Physical and Chemical Environmental Impacts of Mining the Ironwood Iron Formation in the Bad River Watershed.” Bad River Watershed Association. 2012. Web. 1 Jan. 2014. http://badriverwatershed.org/index.php/learn/potential-‐mine-‐ information/potential-‐impacts
n.p. Penokee Hills Destruction Act of 2013: Summary. Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice. 2013. Web. 4 Jan. 2014. http://www.wnpj.org/miningbill2013
The positive aspects of ‘Lake’ Powell are few yet noteworthy. Glen Canyon Dam’s hydroelectric power-plant generates one thousand three hundred mega watts of electricity at full operation. That is enough power to supply three hundred fifty thousand homes. Glen Canyon Dam holds twenty seven million acre feet of water, which is equivalent to twice the Colorado River’s annual flow (Living Rivers: What about the hydroelectric loss?). One of the most valuable reasons for the dam to remain active is that “Lake Powell generates four hundred fifty five million dollars per year in tourist revenue, without this cash inflow, gas-and-motel towns . . . would undoubtedly wilt, and surrounding counties and states would lose a substantial tax base” (Farmer 185). These positive aspects are of no surprise considering they are the reason dams are built in the first place.
The tar creek mining site originally was owned by a Native American tribe, the Quapaw. The Quapaw wanted to keep these lands, but the Bureau of Indian Affairs deemed members opposing a transaction to mining companies “incompetent” (1). In such a case the business could continue and the Bureau of Indian Affairs sold the lands to mining companies. In essence these lands were stolen from the Quapaw because they were ripe for mining. These mines were then used from approximately 1891 to 1970. In the 79 years the mines were open 1.7 million metric tons (~3.75 billion pounds) of lead and 8.8 million metric tons (~19.4 billion pounds) of zinc were withdrawn from the mine (2). The entire area around Tar Creek is known as the tri-state mining area. This tri-state area was a massive source of metals. This area accounted for 35% of the all worldwide metal for a decade. It also provided the majority of metals the United States used in World wars I and II (3).
As the population grows in this country we are developing and expanding area's that have never seen the population like we are seeing these days. There are almost 1200 people who live in the small community of West Yellowstone that thrives on tourism. There is good turnout in the summer and in the winter snowmobiling keeps the small town going. Over the past five years the Government and multiple environmental agencies have tried to shut down snowmobiles in the National Park for pollution reasons. How would this affect the environment? How would this affect the local industry? I will go through each side of this debate that has been taking place.
This paper explores the fight between draining Lake Powell and keeping it as is. It discusses the gains and the losses due to environmental, economical, and political issues. The bibliography uses sources from public interest publications, environmental organizations newsletters, and government publications to give many sides of the argument and many issues dealing with the subject matter.
West Virginia is a land of natural beauty. Often described as “wild and wonderful,” the state’s fall foliage, scenic rivers, and abundant wildlife inspired the composition of a ballad. The song, “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” portrays West Virginia as “almost Heaven,” and the phrase is difficult to refute (Danoff, Denver, & Nivert, 1971). According to the West Virginia Department of Commerce (2009), the state ranks among the lowest in the nation for the cost of living, the employee turnover rate, average home prices, and instances of violent crime. Nestled among the rolling hills and winding rivers, one could certainly be convinced that West Virginia is simply a modern day Garden of Eden. However, the mountain state is not without its share of problems. Just as the deceitful serpent perpetuated Adam and Eve’s banishment from paradise, mountaintop removal poses a serious threat to the ecosystem and economy of West Virginia.
Taconite mining has become more popular ever since the rock has become rare. Taconite was once considered “waste rock,” but is currently really valuable. Since the Gogebic Iron Range has about three-fourths of all the taconite in the nation people from all over the country want to take over and start mining. Although taconite mining would do some good for the community, such as creating tons of jobs and boosting the economy for awhile, there are too many risks. Taconite mining has a negative effect on the environment and health.
The 205-thousand-square-mile Appalachian Mountain range, which spans from Eastern Canada to northern Alabama, boasts North America’s oldest mountains (formed approximately 400 million years ago), the highest peak of the eastern United States (Mount Mitchell), industrial production opportunities and leisurely recreation. The range includes the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Great Smoky mountains (NCSU, n.d.). A range of recreational activities such as fishing in freshwater streams, camping, biking the Blue Ridge Parkway, skiing and hiking are available in the region. One popular hiking location is the 2,184-mile Appalachian Natural Scenic Trail, which is the longest walking trail in the eastern United States (United States. National Park Service, 2014). Its rich natural capital offers a plethora of resources, allowing production to range from small-scale agricultural establishments to larger industrial outputs of metal and timber. Approximately 80 percent of land has been used for the coal and logging industry since the 90’s (Little, 1995). Though the commercial utilization of the mountains has boosted the economy of Appalachian towns and cities, it has also degraded the range aesthetically and commercially.
January 12, 1888, a blizzard covered the northwest part of North America that claimed many lives. This blizzard was considered to be the worst blizzard of all time, and was dubbed the “the Schoolchildren’s Blizzard”, for claiming the lives of so many school children on their way home. The death toll of this murderous blizzard rose, because of lack of preparation and being uninformed. During this time, many farmers and families were unprepared to survive a blizzard of this magnitude, by the lack of clothing they wore. Forecasters were not as accurate enough to inform people on the weather conditions. Also, shelter was a major factor in protecting themselves from the winter storms, but the shelter was not stable
Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), the crowned jewel of the nation’s 544 refuges is in danger of destruction (Lamar and Markey 12). ANWR has been in existence since 1960 and has slowly become one of the most controversial topics to hit Congress. ANWR is composed of 19 million acres on the northeast coast of Alaska. Although the government has been provided with this immense land they are fighting to gain more land. Why? ANWR is the second biggest oil field that is owned by the U.S. Now the government wants more land to construct oil reserves. The refuge is home to many endangered species such as migratory birds, polar bears, and wolves (Lynne and Roberts 1). Most of ANWR’s designated oil area is owned by indigenous Alaskan people (Klyza and Ford-Martin 1). Though these are some of the concerns when debating to stop any further drilling, the more prevalent matters to anti-drillers are; the caribou species, duration of changes (benefits), and why keep a bill that contradicts already existing federal acts.
The loss of a life is the ultimate tragedy, and over the thousands of years of mining history, the industry has had its share of casualties. Mining deals with the extraction of raw materials like coal, diamond, iron-ore etc. Mining industries can be both open cast mining and underground mining. Although we have improved in the technology and study of the earth, mining industry is a very dangerous job. One of the most dangerous work of mining has been mentioned to be coal mining in which they extract coal from underground. Coal mining hazardous mixture of gas and coal dust can form a fatal explosion. As a matter of fact, I reviewed an article that mention the worst coal mining known as the Benxi Hu colliery disaster in China in 1942. “Cost 1,549 lives and is believed to be the worst coal mining disaster ever.” (Limited, 2014)
Coal mining in the 1920s was extremely difficult job in which miners endured many challenges and hardships. The 1920’s safety was not on everyone’s mind. It was as if the miners were just tools to be used. The equipment the miners used was a marvel for its time, as it was just the start to a technological advancement. Miners faced hardships such as low wages, long hours, and the difficulty of the work conditions.
The first noticeable step towards conserving the natural resources and wildlife in the United States started with the Lacey Act. The Lacey Act was started by Senator John Lacey in 1900 to stop the drastic drop in the number of animals and decrease in natural resources in the United States. Lacey’s act made it illegal to kill animals for sport and sell them elsewhere to escape from the law also known as market hunters. Thankfully an end was put to them. The Lacey Act is the oldest wildlife protection law in the United States and the prominence does not stop there. Multiple amendments have been made to the Lacey Act over the years to help preserve plants and wildlife. Since then, numerous species have been saved and the conservation of our natural
* Enact a moratorium on new mining and logging concessions until there is a clearly defined policy on environmentally responsible mining, and reclamation standards have been established.
“America the beautiful, for amber waves of grain, for purple mountains majesties, above the fruited plain” (Bates, 1893). These words written by poet Katherine Lee Bates in 1893 offered her view of America and the landscapes that stretched out before her. At the same time Kathrine was experiencing visions that inspired her to write America the Beautiful, The United States was in the middle of experiencing The Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution was largely responsible for the role it played in the utilization of coal. It was discovered that coal, as a fuel source, was unlike any other. The undeniable efficient qualities of coal made it a must have energy source. Coal was discovered to be very affordable and