Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve » woodland road

Update of the Woodland Road

elimywhit — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 18:35:41 +0000

Kennecott Eagle Minerals announced Tuesday that their ambitions to build a 22 mile section of road from Eagle Project to Humboldt Mill will be abandoned. Kennecott met with federal officials including the Environmental Protection Agency to discuss the road’s potential impact to wetlands, waterways, and wildlife habitat.
When the idea of this road was first pitched to the public, several federal agencies responded with serious concerns. Many environmental groups and concerned citizens also did not agree that the road was the best option. The area proposed for the road is isolated and undeveloped. Development in that area would lead to habitat loss, fragmentation, and sedimentation of the waterways.
Now, Kennecott says that in order to stay on their timeline, the proposed Woodland Road project will have to be scrapped. Instead, they will begin to re-evaluate their original idea as stated in their mining permit, which is to use County Road 550/510. Local officials and residents have responded negatively, citing safety concerns for citizens as the most important issue.
YDWP is pleased that, at least for now, the wild area slated for development is not under pressure. However, Kennecott has changed its plan many times and could possibly do so in the future. Time will tell what the ultimate outcome will be, but for now, we will continue to monitor their on the ground activity and keep everyone posted of changes. For those that support the use of alternatives to the Woodland Road, write to media sources about your opinion, such as the editor of the Mining Journal or TV-6 website. Also let the EPA know that you support their decisions.

Map showing major roadways in Michigan

Road Development Discussed at Meeting

elimywhit — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 14:19:51 +0000

The development of a new public road will be on the agenda during the next Marquette County Road Commission meeting. The meeting is scheduled for October 7, 2010 at 6:30pm and will be held at the Ispheming Township Hall (1575 US 41). This proposed road will a likely alternative to the Woodland Road and be suited to meet the needs of a mining haul road. The proposed location, although very vague, will pass through areas that are relatively undeveloped. The Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve will be in attendance voices concerns of our constituents about the possible consequences on our aquatic resources from road development. Please attend if you can.

Native Plant Walk along Woodland Road

elimywhit — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 19:12:30 +0000

NORTHWOODS NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY OUTING

Proposed Kennecott haul road and North Country Trail
Michigamme Highlands, Marquette County, Michigan
Saturday, August 28, 10 AM Eastern (9 AM Central).

Leaders:
Emily Whittaker, Executive Director, Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve
Steve Garske, Invasive Plant Specialist, GLIFWC

This trip will begin near the southern end of the proposed mining haul road through the scenic Michigamme Highlands. We’ll drive the southern 2/3 of this gravel road. At the north end of the road we’ll take a hike along a seldom-visited and very scenic portion of the North Country Trail. This trail runs through an amazing variety of natural habitats ranging from open rock outcrops to northern hardwood forest and upland white pine and cedar. At the far end of the trail, we’ll visit a forest of red oak and white pine, where a plant never before seen on an NNPS trip grows in perfusion! This area is also the heart of Michigan’s moose range, so there is a (small) chance that we could see a moose. This trip will also provide a chance to see a little of what the big mining companies are planning for this still-isolated and wild part of the UP.

What to bring: Hiking boots and clothing, bug dope (biting bugs were not bad at all as of last week) water, trail snacks, camera.

Directions: From Bruce’s Crossing, follow M28 and M28/41 east 68.5 miles to County Road FX, also known as the Wolf Lake Road. This road starts 1.5 miles east of the BP station in Humboldt. Follow the Wolf Lake Road north (with a short jog to the east at the beginning) from Hwy 28/41. From Marquette, drive west about 30 miles to Wolf Lake Road.

At the start of the Wolf Lake Road you should see a brown state sign with the words, “Access site – Wolf lake – Brocky Lake”. Go north 3.5 miles along this gravel road, where we will meet up for the rest of the trip. You can park off the road there if you wish to carpool. From here it is another 12.0 miles north along this road to the Dead River. (With reasonable care this gravel road is quite passable up to the river with a passenger car.) From the river we’ll walk 0.7 miles north to the start of the North Country Trail. The walk from the river to the easternmost hill on the trail and back takes about 2 hours at a moderate pace, so plan on 3-4 hours round-trip (including stops along the way).

PLEASE LET US KNOW IF YOU PLAN ON ATTENDING, SO WE CAN PLAN AHEAD AND SO NO ONE GETS LEFT BEHIND!

Contact Steve at:
asimina@alphacomm.net
715-682-6619 x 126 (GLIFWC)

or

Emily Whittaker
ydwp@yellowdogwatershed.org
906-345-9223

by Thursday, August 26th, if you plan on attending.

Woodland Road permit withdrawn

elimywhit — Tue, 11 May 2010 15:32:58 +0000

The permit application for the Woodland Road project was withdrawn from review according to a letter sent to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment on May 7. The letter was sent from the Woodland Road, LLC which was planning to build a road connecting the Yellow Dog Plains to M-28 near Humboldt Township. The Woodland Road, LLC is comprised of Kennecott Minerals, John Jilbert Properties, A. Lindberg and Sons, and the Michigan Forest Products Council.

The group submitted the application earlier this year but was met with challenging opinions from local citizens, federal agencies, state biologists, and environmental groups like the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve. During public hearings regarding this permit application, many individuals spoke out about the potential negative consequences of building a 22 mile haul road through a remote and wild section forest land. Issues ranged from the impacts on wetlands to habitat destruction/fragmentation and more. The majority of the concerns from federal agencies included a lack of analysis regarding alternative routes and wetland mitigation. To address the concerns, the group withdrew their permit right as the 90 day decision period was closing.

As a group that has reviewed the application, submitted comments, and attended the public hearings, YDWP commends the U.S. EPA for taking a closer look and not simply rubber stamping this project. If such oversight was used during the permit review for the mining plan, we might be in an entirely different situation.

Below is the document that was sent to the MDNRE from Woodland Road, LLC.

Memo to MDNRE

Federal Agencies Disapprove of Haul Road

elimywhit — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 15:42:51 +0000

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Army Corp of Engineers and U.S. Fish and Wildlfife has recommended to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment to NOT APPROVE the Woodland Road wetlands permits. There were two important concerns that emerged from all three agency comments:

1. They recognized that the intent of the road was for the use of Kennecott to haul ore from Eagle to Humboldt – no matter how they tried to guise it for the good of the public and part of a greater consortium for other uses. The agencies noted a need for a “holistic” approach to the building of a mining haul road which included noting cumulative and individual impacts of the proposed Eagle Mine, their Humboldt Mill processing plant and any future mining ventures that may utilize the roadway.

2. That Kennecott did not meet the letter nor intent of the law and did not apply the necessary science or diligence to prove their case in the development of this road through this virtually ‘roadless’ region. They cited a lack of good comparative analysis of alternative routes, wetlands mitigation projects that do not meet legal criteria and an overall deficiency in the wetlands permit application itself.

Further detail about their comments can be viewed in this document
EPA_Comments_3-17-10[1]

The MDNRE has 90 days to either get compliance from the applicant with their concerns or deny the permit. If the company can comply with these agencies’ concerns within the next 90 days these agencies may withdraw their objection and the wetlands permit may be approved. If, however, the MDNRE approves this permit without these agenies withdrawal of their concerns – the applicant must file for a permit under Part 404 Clean Water Act with the Army Corp of Engineers.

The outcome is still to be determined, so we urge all citizens to again weigh in with their comments to the DNRE asking them to deny this wetlands permit. A simple email to Mr. Smolinski supporting the EPA, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Army Corps of Engineers’ recommendations to NOT APPROVE the Woodland Road LLC wetland permit, with a cc: to Director Rebecca Humphries AND a little call to our Governor would be nice. Keep it all nice and polite and urge them to DENY this permit.

Mr. Mike Smolinski – DNRE

SMOLINSKIM@michigan.gov

cc: Director Rebecca Humphries – DNRE
Lansing MI

HUMPHRIR@michigan.gov

CALL:

Governor Jennifer M. Granholm
PHONE: (517) 373-3400
PHONE: (517) 335-7858 – Constituent Services

Woodland Rd Permit Hearing Scheduled

elimywhit — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 18:13:04 +0000

The MDEQ announced a public hearing to review the permit to build Kennecott’s south haul road, known now as the Woodland Road, from the Yellow Dog Plains to Humboldt Township. The hearing will be held on February 10, 2009 at 7pm at Westwood High School (300 Westwood Drive, Ishpeming, MI 49849). The company plans to cross 8 waterways including the Yellow Dog River, Mulligan Creek, Dead River, Middle Branch Escanaba River, Wildcat Canyon, and more. According to the company, 38 acres of wetlands will be removed. There are several ways to access the information submitted by the company.
1. The Peter White Public Library has the application on file.
2. Visit http://www.michigan.gov/deq/0,1607,7-135-3307_29692_24403—,00.html for the full application. Scroll down to What’s New and click on Woodland Road Permit Application.
3. Visit http://www.deq.state.mi.us/lwmpnh/default.asp?PermitNo=09520086 for notice of hearings and summary of application. Comments can also be emailed by using this link.
4. Use this document, Woodland_Road_Analysis[1], to help understand why the MDEQ should not approve these permit and formulate comments for the hearing.

Written comments will be accepted 10 days after the scheduled hearing. Please make it to this meeting. This area should be left wild and building a haul road straight through it will endanger wildlife, plant ecosystems, opportunities for solitude, and water quality of 8 different waterways. We will keep you posted on more updates as the comment period approaches.

State threatened gentians could be impacted