What kind of impact would new mines have on tourism?
Tourism is a billion dollar industry in Upper Michigan. But some environmentalists are concerned that if more mining companies start digging here, it could change the image of the U.P. and drive tourists away.
"I certainly believe people would choose not to come if the U.P. has a reputation as a new sulfide mining district," Michelle Halley with the National Wildlife Federation said.
Save the Wild U.P.’s Babette Welch believes the character of the U.P. would change radically.
"It changes the region from primarily an outdoor, wonderful green attraction to fenced areas, industrial areas, large traffic," Welch said.
But Tom Petersen with Citizens for Responsible Mining says Kennecott's proposed mine and others won't cause environmental problems.
"They won't be the same scale as the iron ore mines,” Petersen said. “They'll have much less impact than the iron ore mines have."
U.P. tourism officials agree, if there are no catastrophic environmental accidents, then the perception of the U.P. as a tourist-friendly wilderness will continue.
"If the mine opens, or mines plural, and it doesn't add much in the news or perception of problems, I don't think there's any issue," said Tom Nemacheck, Executive Director of the U.P. Travel and Recreation Association.
But Nemacheck warns that it would take only one major environmental problem to do serious damage.
"An environmental story, of any kind, when you're selling yourself as a 5 star wilderness, is an issue," Nemacheck said.
Mine proponents point to the Cleveland-Cliffs' summer mine tours and Kennecott's Flambeau Mine as an example of mining adding to the tourism industry.
"Tourists love mines,” Tom Petersen, President of Citizens for Responsible Mining said. “If you go around, the Flambeau Mine in Wisconsin was the second most popular tourist site when it was operating."
But if we look at the past, according to N.M.U. professor Russ Magnaghi, that's not always the case.
"I don't think you had a lot of tourists coming up to Calumet, Michigan and the Keweenaw Peninsula to see the beauty of the area standing in the middle of Calumet and Hecla's mining operation."
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Links of interest:
Kennecott Eagle Project
Aquila Resources
Prime Meridian
Bitterroot Resources
Save the Wild U.P.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forWLUC