American Rivers, a national organization that defends our country’s waterways, declared the Menominee River to be one of the nation’s 10 most endangered rivers in April. This is the second time in four years the Menominee River is on that endangered list.

The group commented: The Back 40 mine "poses an unacceptable risk to the Menominee River and Lake Michigan. We cannot allow mine tailings to demolish the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin’s sacred sites or send toxic waste into drinking water supplies, potentially risking millions of people.”

A long stretch of the Menominee River defines the state border between northeast Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

More recently, Al Gedicks gives an update on what COVID-19 means for  the state of the campaign to block the mine at https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2020/07/26/proposed-mine-faces-mounting-troubles/

 Aquila Resources, a Canadian mining exploration company, is seeking permits for a massive metallic sulfide mine project next to the river near Stephenson, Michigan, and barely inside the Michigan border.

Those mining proposals have met ferocious resistance from tribes and citizens on both sides of the Menominee River

For more information about the Menominee River, the growing coalition defending it, and what you can do to help these righteous efforts, see the Coalition to SAVE the Menominee River’s website, jointherivercoalition.org.

For more on Sierra Club efforts to stop the mine, go to jointherivercoalition.org.