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Northland College to sponsor mining education week

January 18, 2012

Residents of northern Wisconsin will have the opportunity to learn about the proposed Penokee Hills and Gogebic Range iron ore mine from a variety of perspectives during Mining and the Environment Week at Northland College in Ashland, Wis. The college will sponsor a public forum on Saturday, Jan. 28, from noon to 5 p.m. at the Campus Center Alvord Theatre. The college will also host a series of lectures leading up to the forum beginning Thursday, Jan. 19, and continuing through the next week leading up to the Saturday forum. The lectures and discussion will feature presentations on the geological, scientific, social and cultural aspects of mining with opportunities for the public to ask questions of the panelists and presenters.

"As an educational institution with a long history of involvement in environmental matters, our role is to help provide sound information so individuals can make their own decisions about the complex issue of reestablishing mining in this region," said Michael A. Miller, President of Northland College. "We want Mining and the Environment Week to take the conversation beyond ‘are you for or against mining' so that our society can make informed decisions about one of the most important economic proposals in this state for many decades. What we decide now will affect our children and our children's children."

The Jan. 28 forum will include presentations from professionals with an informed understanding of various aspects of mining regulation and legislation. A group of panelists will ask questions of the presenters, followed by opportunities for audience questions.
Presenters will include Mike Wiggins, tribal chair of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, who will address the issue of sovereignty and resource management; Tom Evans, Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey, University of Wisconsin-Extension, speaking on the role of resource regulation and democratic processes; George Meyer, executive director of the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation and retired secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, addressing recent mining history and regulation in Wisconsin.

Panelists will include Jennifer Giegerich, the Legislative Director of the Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters; Randy Lehr, Bro Professor at Northland College; Mike Simonson, reporter for Wisconsin Public Radio; and Patrick Boerboon, board member of the Ashland/Bayfield League of Women Voters, past Chair of the Town of Gingles and a private practice attorney. Campus Minister David Saetre will moderate the forum.

"The proposed resumption of mining in northern Wisconsin has raised new concerns and exposed sharply divided opinion on these important community issues," said Saetre. "We want this forum to provide citizens the opportunity to ask deeper questions so that our society can arrive at better decisions." Saetre added, "A college can engage an issue like this by offering a different kind of forum that will help us think about our shared responsibilities as citizens and neighbors beyond the feelings that divide us."

Northland College radio station 97.7 WRNC-LP will broadcast the Saturday mining forum live. Listeners may tune in online to hear the live broadcast at www.wrnclp.org.

Events leading up to the Saturday mining forum include a presentation by Al Gedicks, Sociology Professor at the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse. Gedicks will speak on Thursday, Jan. 19, at 6 p.m. in the Alvord Theatre on the iron mine proposed by mining company Gogebic Taconite. Tom Fitz, Northland College Associate Professor of Geoscience, will offer a lecture on the geology of the mineral deposit in the proposed mining area on Tuesday, Jan. 24. On Wednesday,Jan. 25, Rajat Panwar, Chapple Chair of Business and Social Responsibility at Northland, will touch on extractive resource economies and sustainable communities and mining at 7:30 p.m in the Sentry Room of the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute. Tom Evans, assistant director of the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey at the University of Wisconsin-Extension, will speak on Friday, Jan. 27, about environmental regulations in a democracy. Lectures by Fitz and Evans will be held at 7 p.m. on their respective days in the Sentry Room of the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute. Related events may also be scheduled during Mining and the Environment Week.