Wisconsin bill would limit public access to part of iron mine area

A bill that is being introduced in Wisconsin would allow Gogebic Taconite to close off land near its proposed mine site and prevent public access until a permit was approved.

The bill was prompted by aggression from protesters in June. It calls for an exemption in the state’s managed forest land law, which provides tax relief for landowners in exchange for managing land for forestry and allowing the public to take part in limited recreational activities such as hunting and hiking the Journal Sentinel reported.

The mine site is on privately owned land enrolled in a managed forest land program where Gogebic Taconite has mining rights.
Gogebic is in the initial stages of testing whether to mine a four-mile stretch of land for iron. The company’s plans have been met by anger from some environmental protesters.

“When the (protesters) came in, they accosted the drilling crew and they just said you can’t stop us from being here, we are just hikers,” said the bill’s author, Sen. Thomas Tiffany (R-Hazelhurst). “They really took advantage of the (managed forest land) open designation.”

Sen. Bob Jauch (D-Poplar), who has been a strong skeptic of the mine proposed within his district, said the bill goes too far by shutting off public access. He said it’s unfair to other property owners who must allow public access under the managed forest law for activities such as fishing, hunting and hiking.

Only the Gogebic site would be affected by the bill, Tiffany said. He plans on moving the bill quickly through the Senate with hopes to have a floor vote in the Senate by the end of September.

Bob Seitz, speaking for Gogebic Taconite, said the company supported the bill because it would protect the public from injury from explosives used in taking samples from the rock and because it would protect company employees from potential confrontations with environmental protesters.

“Because of the temporary closure, it has the least impact to people’s outdoor activities,” Seitz said of the bill.

Seitz said the proposal would allow the company to close off about 4,000 acres of the 21,000 acres for which it has mining rights.

He said the company would try to compensate for that by allowing the public to use vehicles on logging roads in other areas on the property, something that is not required of private landowners under the managed forest law.