In Northern Wisconsin, GTAC intends to dig the world's largest open-pit taconite mine—4.5 miles long, 1000 feet wide, and 900 feet deep for phase one—at the top of the Bad River watershed, which flows through the Bad River reservation and into Lake Superior.
In this ecologically delicate area, a mine of this size spells certain environmental disaster for our wetlands, rivers, groundwater, and cultural heritage for generations to come.
Below you will find links to contact information, websites, news, maps, and blogs, media, and more.
New: Submit writings, artwork, or photos for inclusion in the upcoming Penokees Zine! Submissions can be made to penokeedefenders@riseup.net.
New: If you missed it, see information and photos from the recent Bodies on the Ice event here!
- Information
- Penokee Hills Education Project
- Events, updates, facts, maps, donations.
- Bad River Watershed Association
- Ecological & biological information; potential impacts; overview of the permitting process; and more.
- Wisconsin Peace and Justice Network
- Carl Sack crafts beautiful maps of the Penokees watershed area. Also includes information on what's at stake and suggests actions you can take.
- Save the Water's Edge
- Updates, facts, maps, information, links to other pages.
- Lake Superior Binational Forum
- Links to many other resources and information specific to the Penokee Mine & others.
- News
- Wisconsin Citizens Media Coop
- Local coverage of mining stories & events.
- Indian Country News
- From LCO, Indian Country news is an independant organization, publishing articles on the GTAC project among many other issues.
- Blogs
- Woods Person
- A very in-depth blog providing detailed scientific analysis, opinion, open letters, maps, graphs & more!
- Penokee Defenders
- A frequently updated blog of upcoming events, information, direct actions, and more. Tune in!
- Tribal Governments
- Bad River Nation
- Official press releases & open letters from the Bad River Band; donation information.
- Lac Courte Oreilles Nation
- Information on the LCO harvest camp in the Penokees.
- Great Lakes Fish & Wildlife Commission
- GLIFWC represents eleven Ojibwe tribes in WI, MN, and MI in support of the exercise of treaty rights throughout the ceded territories.
- Factsheets
- Sierra Club: The Environmental Track Record of Taconite Mining
- A look at modern taconite mining in MI and MN.
- Help out!
- Donate to the Penokee Hills Education Project
- PayPal or mail a check.
- Donate to the Bad River Band of Chippewa
- PayPal or mail a check. Look for the orange Donate button.
- Arts
- Discovering the Penokees by Joel Austin
- A compilation of original photos of the Penokee Mountains and rivers, written testimonies by tribal elders and others, and information about the proposed mine.
- Equilibrium by Evan Sasman
- A fictionalized account of the last great environmental threat faced by the Bad River Objibwe, and the response of the ogichidaawag (warriors): the 1996 train blockade. A portion of the proceeds go to the Bad River Legel Defense Fund and Penokee Hills Education Project.
- Get in touch!
- Questions? Email Frank Koehn of the Penokee Hills Education Project
- savethewatersedge@gmail.com