Compromise plan expected to be introduced for Wisconsin mine site
An alternative plan to the issue of access to the land around Gogebic Taconite’s proposed mine site in northern Wisconsin was expected to be proposed to state lawmakers in September.
A bipartisan group of legislators was crafting an alternative plan to barring the public from 3,500 acres of managed forest land around the site. The alternative plan would create a 300-ft perimeter around mining related activities and create a 50-ft buffer zone along an access road.
The Wisconsin State Journal reported that Sens. Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center), Rob Cowles (R-Green Bay), Bob Jauch (D-Poplar) and Tim Cullen (D-Janesville) collaborated on the proposal. The 300-ft buffer was previously proposed by Jauch, but rejected by the mining company.
“We think this is going to leave people with a good taste in their mouth, rather than a bad one,” Schultz said. “It treats everybody fairly and it puts the Department of Natural Resources in control rather than a company.”
Sen. Tom Tiffany, R-Hazelhurst, is also working on changes to his original proposal, which would have halted public access to the area while Gogebic Taconite tests the possibility of building a large openpit iron ore mine.
The bill also would have allowed the landowners who are working with Gogebic to temporarily avoid paying nearly $900,000 in back taxes should the land be removed from the state’s managed forest land program, according to a DNR analysis.
Tiffany said his compromise plan would allow land access during gun deer season, and provide a 50-ft buffer zone along class one and class two trout streams.
Tiffany said the problem with the bipartisan proposal, which he referred to as the “circles bill,” is that mobile workers who move between different parts of the site would not be protected.
Tiffany’s bill appeared to be on the fast track when it was introduced in late August and approved by a Senate committee less than a week later. A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) initially said it would be on the Senate calendar, but it was not included for debate.
“The bill was not scheduled because the votes were not there to pass the bill,” Fitzgerald chief of staff Dan Romportl said. “A few senators had concerns with some of the language contained within the current version of the bill, and Sen. Tiffany is continuing to work with those senators to reach a compromise that everyone is comfortable with.”
The state’s managed forest land program allows landowners to pay lower taxes on property that they maintain for public access for periods of 25 or 50 years. Owners can only close up to 160 acres of managed forest land per municipality. Tiffany’s bill would allow all 3,520 acres around the mine site to be closed, but remain in the program.
The other option for Gogebic would be to have the land removed from the program, which would require them to pay back taxes and penalties totaling an estimated $891,871. Under Tiffany’s bill, that bill wouldn’t come due until the company removes the land from the program to mine, which won’t be for a few more years.
The landowners would pay about $4,700 a year extra in fees to close all of the land, according to a Legislative Fiscal Bureau analysis. Tiffany said he would like to see the land remain as managed forest land.
“This way the closure is temporary and limited,” Tiffany said.
