PolyMet's chickens return to roost

If you read these postings, even irregularly, you may have noticed we have definite opinions about how Minnesota regulates mining permits. We are not impressed. Neither is the Minnesota Court of Appeals. Today that court decided to remand several critical permits back to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources with a requirement the Department hold a contested case hearing:

D E C I S I O N 

     The DNR’s decision to transfer the existing permit for the LTVSMC tailings basin was not arbitrary and capricious, and we affirm that decision. The DNR’s decision to deny a contested-case hearing in relation to the NorthMet project was based on errors of law and unsupported by substantial evidence, and the DNR also erred by failing to include a definite term in the NorthMet permit to mine. For these reasons, we reverse the DNR’s decisions granting the permit to mine and dam-safety  permits for the NorthMet project, and we  remand for the DNR to hold a contested-case hearing. 

     Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded. 

In the interests of full disclosure, we've made a number of contributions to several of the parties who challenged the contested permits in court. We're also quite mindful of Yogi Berra's observation that "It ain't over 'til it's over." A contested case hearing like this in an election year? Be still my beating heart!

St. Louis River, Jay Cooke State Park, between PolyMet and Lake Superior

Photo by J. Harrington

Candidly, and because we've become a curmudgeon, and because we liked the world better when we could have a modicum of faith in our government, we find it more than mildly ironic the decision was handed down the same day the MinnPost published an interview with Governor Walz that covered, inter alia, this:

MP: Governors I think are expected — maybe because they want to be — to be the state’s number one cheerleader. And you’ve certainly been accused of that. But there is something I’ve noticed in this state is this devotion to Minnesota exceptionalism. And I’m wondering if that can sometimes be a hindrance to reform in criminal justice or other things. A lot of people seem to start with the point of view that Minnesota does everything best, so why would we want to change anything?

TW: That is a great question. And I think an astute observation. I am very proud … and in many ways we are exceptional because the outcomes show us that. But I think there is a little bit of resting on our laurels. At one point in time on criminal justice reform, I would tell you this, we probably were seen as a leader. Now we’re lagging behind. think there’s a tendency that we’re getting a little bit more complacent on that, where other states are moving on certain issues and we’re not quite there yet. In that regard, I was pretty glad to see that we actually did move out ahead on things like wage theft and worker protection this year. We kind of led the nation. But your premise is right. I do think there is a little bit of a tendency to believe that. And the thing for me is that I think that exceptionalism led us to be complacent in state government because we did deliver services probably better than anyone else and in some cases that’s not true anymore and we need to face that and address it.  (emphasis added)

Anatomy of a leap into the void

BY MIROSLAV HOLUB

A.    Use of the lift

       going up

       is permitted, provided

B.    Use of the lift

       going down

       is not permitted, provided

C.    Use of the lift

       going up is

D.    Use of the lift

       going down is not

E.    Use of the lift

       going up

F.    Use of the lift

       going

G.    Use of the lift

H.    Is      Is not

I.    Use

J.    U--

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In Memoriam, Edmund Fitzgerald

Forty-three years ago, the Edmund Fitzgerald, with all twenty-nine crew, was lost in Lake Superior. Today the Split Rock Light House will hold a memorial service to commemorate those lost in Great Lakes shipwrecks.

Split Rock Light House overlooking Lake Superior

Photo by J. Harrington

The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald has been memorialized in song by Gordon Lightfoot; in video on the History Channel; and in numerous books. Last year we did a more extensive posting about the storm and the wreck and the song and the history.

In reviewing our November postings on this blog, we've been disconcerted by the number of pictures and mentions of snow and cold. We persist in our belief that, even in the North Country, that kind of weather is supposed to hold off until after Thanksgiving, despite this morning's temperatures in the mid-teens. Could it be that our beliefs may have developed some errors over the years? Might our memories be of how we wish things were rather than how the actual occurrence?

An additional memorial occurs this weekend, tomorrow in fact, it is the centennial of the WWI Armistice (an event that even precedes our time). That's when we had the "war to end all wars." Didn't we?

Today we're grateful we never had to fight in trench warfare nor sail into a November gale on Lake Superior.

Diving into the Wreck

Adrienne Rich, 1929- 2012

First having read the book of myths,
and loaded the camera,
and checked the edge of the knife-blade,
I put on
the body-armor of black rubber
the absurd flippers
the grave and awkward mask.
I am having to do this
not like Cousteau with his
assiduous team
aboard the sun-flooded schooner
but here alone.

There is a ladder.
The ladder is always there
hanging innocently
close to the side of the schooner.
We know what it is for,
we who have used it.
Otherwise
it is a piece of maritime floss
some sundry equipment.

I go down.
Rung after rung and still
the oxygen immerses me
the blue light
the clear atoms
of our human air.
I go down.
My flippers cripple me,
I crawl like an insect down the ladder
and there is no one
to tell me when the ocean
will begin.

First the air is blue and then
it is bluer and then green and then
black I am blacking out and yet
my mask is powerful
it pumps my blood with power
the sea is another story
the sea is not a question of power
I have to learn alone
to turn my body without force
in the deep element.

And now: it is easy to forget
what I came for
among so many who have always
lived here
swaying their crenellated fans
between the reefs
and besides
you breathe differently down here.

I came to explore the wreck.
The words are purposes.
The words are maps.
I came to see the damage that was done
and the treasures that prevail.
I stroke the beam of my lamp
slowly along the flank
of something more permanent
than fish or weed

the thing I came for:
the wreck and not the story of the wreck
the thing itself and not the myth
the drowned face always staring
toward the sun
the evidence of damage
worn by salt and sway into this threadbare beauty
the ribs of the disaster
curving their assertion
among the tentative haunters.

This is the place.
And I am here, the mermaid whose dark hair
streams black, the merman in his armored body.
We circle silently
about the wreck
we dive into the hold.
I am she: I am he

whose drowned face sleeps with open eyes
whose breasts still bear the stress
whose silver, copper, vermeil cargo lies
obscurely inside barrels
half-wedged and left to rot
we are the half-destroyed instruments
that once held to a course
the water-eaten log
the fouled compass

We are, I am, you are
by cowardice or courage
the one who find our way
back to this scene
carrying a knife, a camera
a book of myths
in which
our names do not appear.

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Might International Mining Sustainability Standards help protect our Boundary Waters?

You may have noticed that Russia and Russians have been much in the news recently. Every mention reminds us of President Reagan's citation, when dealing with nuclear disarmament, of the Russian proverb "Trust, but verify!" We believe following that old proverb could be very helpful in protecting one of Minnesota's most treasured resources, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness from the onslaught of copper mining. Here's our logic, yet to be verified.

• Twin Metals Minnesota is a wholly owned subsidiary of Antofagasta plc of Santiago, Chile, one of the top 10 copper producers in the world. Twin Metals Minnesota maintains offices in Ely and St. Paul, Minnesota. (source: <http://www.twin-metals.com/who-we-are/>, 7/19/18, ~12:15 pm)
• Antofagasta Minerals is a member of the International Council on Mining & Metals [ICMM]. They joined in 2014.
• ICMM member companies commit to a set of 10 principles, eight supporting position statements and transparent and accountable reporting practices.
• ICMM principles of particular relevance to mining and protected areas are:

•     Principle 6: Pursue continual improvement in environmental performance issues, such as water stewardship, energy use and climate change.

•     Principle 7: Contribute to the conservation of biodiversity and integrated approaches to land-use planning.

• Further clarifications of those commitments include

• Not explore or mine in World Heritage properties. All possible steps will be taken to ensure that existing operations in World Heritage properties as well as existing and future operations adjacent to World Heritage properties are not incompatible with the outstanding universal value for which these properties are listed and do not put the integrity of these properties at risk. 

•  Identification of World Heritage properties follow standards from the International Union for Conservation of Nature [IUCN] including 

• Ib Wilderness Area: Category Ib protected areas are usually large unmodified or slightly modified areas, retaining their natural character and influence without permanent or significant human habitation, which are protected and managed so as to preserve their natural condition. more...

• II National Park: Category II protected areas are large natural or near natural areas set aside to protect large-scale ecological processes, along with the complement of species and ecosystems characteristic of the area, which also provide a foundation for environmentally and culturally compatible, spiritual, scientific, educational, recreational, and visitor opportunities. more...

would mining activities enhance this?

Photo by J. Harrington

We believe that the Boundary Waters and much of the surrounding areas largely qualify as category Ib and/or II. We've seen no indication that the question of compliance with ICMM principles by Twin Metals has been put to ICMM, IUCN and/or Angofasta. Is the pursuit of Twin Metals exploration and/or the development of the contemplated mine consistent with or in violation of ICMM principles? If the latter, is it not therefore qualified as a sustainable source of copper for the future.

We posted about this theme a couple of years ago, before the Twin Metals project was declared off limits. Now folks are trying to bring it back "on limits" so the questions again seem relevant and ripe for verification. Answers could go a very long way toward demonstrating whether ICMM principles and standards are real, or just a long-winded version of greenwash. They might also provide Minnesota with improved tools for managing mining and its impacts in the state.

History

Linda Hogan

This is the word that is always bleeding.

You didn’t think this

until your country changes and when it thunders

you search your own body

for a missing hand or leg.

In one country, there are no bodies shown,

lies are told

and the keep hidden the weeping children on dusty streets.

But I do remember once

a woman and a child in beautiful blue clothing

walking over a dune, spreading a green cloth,

drinking nectar with mint and laughing

beneath a sky of clouds from the river

near the true garden of Eden.

Now another country is breaking

this holy vessel

where stone has old stories

and the fire creates clarity in the eyes of a child

who will turn it to hate one day.

We are so used to it now,

this country where we do not love enough,

that country where they do not love enough,

and that.

We do not need a god by any name

nor do we need to fall to our knees or cover ourselves,

enter a church or a river,

only do we need to remember what we do

to one another, it is so fierce

what any of our fathers may do to a child

what any of our brothers or sisters do to nonbelievers,

how we try to discover who is guilty

by becoming guilty,

because history has continued

to open the veins of the world

more and more

always in its search

for something gold.

********************************************
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a step toward responsive and responsible politics?

It's just our opinion, but there may be some significant flaws in our political system, exacerbated by some deficiencies in our educational system when it comes to critical thinking skills acquisition.

For the moment, we'll skip over the insanity that passes for governance in Washington, D.C. and other international capitols (why nations should spend 4% of their GDP on defense is beyond our comprehension). Our concerns at the moment are focused on two political races that we think represent potentially typical flaws. One is for the House of Representatives in our congressional district (MN CD8). The other is for county sheriff. Let's start with that one.

There are five candidates for sheriff in Chisago County, according to information from the Secretary of State web site. (The information below is buried several pages/links deep on the Secretary of State's web site.)

Chisago County
	County Sheriff
		Candidate Name	Party	Website	File Date
		J. Carlson	Nonpartisan	www.chisagocountyforcarlson.com	5/25/2018
		Mark Osland	Nonpartisan	www.markosland.com	6/1/2018
		Ron Rollins	Nonpartisan	rollinsforsheriff.com	5/30/2018
		Cory Spencer	Nonpartisan		5/22/2018
		Brandon Thyen	Nonpartisan	www.thyenforsheriff.com	5/22/2018

Please note that only four of the five candidates listed have provided URLs for a web site. That's one candidate better than the three candidates who submitted "filing statements" with the Chisago County Press [scroll down on the linked page]. Those three are:

• Cory Spencer (no web site, but social media accounts)
• Ron Rollins
• Mark Osland

Brandon Thyen was appointed in May to serve as sheriff until the election.

Our point is that for a significant local office, there seems to be no set of basic information that needs to be made available to the public. We're not sure what information is contained on the filing papers that are submitted to the Secretary of State? County Auditor? but believe both the candidates and the public would be better served if there were a legal requirement to provide the equivalent of a job application in a standard form.

the real question is HOW?

Photo by J. Harrington

Our other frustration is partly related to public information and/or positions related to a very contentious issue in MN CD8, mining, especially copper mining. Some of the candidates have taken public positions in favor, claiming that Minnesota has necessary environmental regulations to protect our public resources. Others are firmly against allowing copper-sulfide mining in a "water-rich" environment such as the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. None that we've noticed has questioned the sufficiency of Minnesota's environmental regulations and mine permitting process. That troubles us deeply because there is a growing body of evidence that the regulations we have don't adequately protect our water quality. Plus, some of our current, and prospective politicians are busy substituting political chicanery by substituting legislation for regulatory and judicial processes, undermine the rule of law and the right to due process. While that's been going on, the mining and steel industry have been busy developing and testing processes to certify mining operations as responsible or sustainable. That may enable the mining industry to continue to secure the social license needed to operate in the future and some of the drafts appear to be more comprehensive than current regulations in Minnesota.

There is a proposed new global standard for the steel industry, ResponsibleSteel™. This may some day soon affect the iron mining sector in Minnesota as work is completed "to give businesses and consumers globally the confidence that all steel has been sourced and produced responsibly at all levels of the supply chain, from raw materials suppliers to end users."

do Minnesota's regs require best practices?

Photo by J. Harrington

This standard may or may not (we haven't tried to compare) align with the mining sector's "Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) ... the Standard for Responsible Mining, a precedent-setting global certification program for industrial-scale mine sites. With growing awareness and demand for ecologically and socially-responsible products, jewelers, electronics businesses, auto makers and others have sought assurances that the minerals they purchase are mined responsibly."

We're probably fantasizing, but we'd be much happier if some, or preferably all, of the candidates for congress in MN CD8, plus our candidates for us Senator and state governor would state talking about the fact that standards like the ones mentioned here, developed and implemented with the participation of all affected parties, might give us better, more expedient decisions about where and how to mine, if at all, that the current piece-meal, opposing party advocacy process we currently use. If any political reporters come across this, try asking any of the candidates if they've heard of ResponsibleSteel™ or IRMA and what they think of them. If they haven't heard of them, why not?

Exquisite Candidate

Denise Duhamel, 1961

I can promise you this: food in the White House
will change! No more granola, only fried eggs
flipped the way we like them. And ham ham ham!
Americans need ham! Nothing airy like debate for me!
Pigs will become the new symbol of glee,
displacing smiley faces and “Have A Nice Day.”
Car bumpers are my billboards, billboards my movie screens.
Nothing I can say can be used against me.
My life flashes in front of my face daily.
Here’s a snapshot of me as a baby. Then
marrying. My kids drink all their milk which helps the dairy industry.
A vote for me is not only a pat on the back for America!
A vote for me, my fellow Americans, is a vote for everyone like me!
If I were the type who made promises
I’d probably begin by saying: America,
relax! Buy big cars and tease your hair
as high as the Empire State Building. 
Inch by inch, we’re buying the world’s sorrow.
Yeah, the world’s sorrow, that’s it!
The other side will have a lot to say about pork
but don’t believe it! Their graphs are sloppy coloring books.
We’re just fine—look at the way
everyone wants to speak English and live here!
Whatever you think of borders,
I am the only candidate to canoe over Niagara Falls
and live to photograph the Canadian side.
I’m the only Julliard graduate—
I will exhale beauty all across this great land
of pork rinds and gas stations and scientists working for cures,
of satellite dishes over Sparky’s Bar & Grill, the ease
of breakfast in the mornings, quiet peace of sleep at night. 

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Is copper-nickel mining in Minnesota responsible? Not so's we can tell!

Copper-nickel mine proposers would have us believe that Minnesota's requirements are world class. We've been posting about sustainable mining, or responsible mining, or green mining, for several years. We have, based on what we've read, major doubts about the "world classness" of what's being proposed to be issued permits to mine in Minnesota. Today, we're going to list key points from a definition of responsible mining, as found in the late Robert Goodland's Responsible Mining:The Key to Profitable Resource Development-Defining “Best Practice Responsible Mining."

would it be responsible to mine near here?

Photo by J. Harrington

Goodland asserts that there are eight principles to responsible mining:

Principle 1: Social and Environmental Assessment
An objective, skilled assessment team is the starting point to determine the path toward responsible mining.

Principle 2: Transparency vs. Secrecy
No social and environmental assessment should be kept secret from potentially impacted stakeholders.

Principle 3: Acceptance by Stakeholders
If stakeholders don’t want the proposed project, it should not go ahead.

Principle 4: Food Production Trumps Questionable Mining
Mining must not decrease resources in areas of scarce land or water.

Principle 5: Compliance with International Standards
Responsible mining corporations will uphold all international social and environmental agreements.

Principle 6: Prequalification or certification of potential mining permit seekers
The best practice is for all mines to engage in a rigorous independent certification regime, as suggested in the IUCN World Conservation Congress’ Resolution 4.088.

Principle 7: Insurance and Performance Bonds
Insurance and performance bonds, mechanisms to foster compliance with contractual obligations and to improve the quality of results, should become standard in mining.

Principle 8: Royalties, Taxes and Fees
Responsible mining accurately assesses all relevant costs and benefits to ascertain whether the proposed mine will earn a significant net benefit.

We believe that, at best, Minnesota would rate about a gentle person's "C" on the preceding principles. Woodland then proceeds to consider that "Five types of socially or environmentally sensitive areas need special consideration in mining regulations." We are unaware of provisions in Minnesota's mining regulations that create what Goodland refers to as "No-Go Zones for Mining:" (something Minnesota probably needs)

• Indigenous Peoples Reserves:


• Conflict Zones:


• Fragile Watersheds:


• Biodiversity, Habitats, and Wildlands:


• Cultural Property:

is it responsible to expand a tailings dam upstream of this state park?

Photo by J. Harrington

We further believe Minnesota, and those who would undertake copper-nickel mining here, would be well served if each mining proposal were reviewed by third party auditors to determine just how responsible the proposed mining project may be. From what we've read so far, we doubt any would pass muster. Read Goodland's paper and the assertions by those proposing to undertake copper-nickel mining. Form your own opinion. We'd sleep much better at night if we were proven in error in our assessments of the status of "responsible mining" in Minnesota.

                     We Are Not Responsible

By Harryette Mullen

We are not responsible for your lost or stolen relatives. 

We cannot guarantee your safety if you disobey our instructions. 

We do not endorse the causes or claims of people begging for handouts. 

We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone. 

Your ticket does not guarantee that we will honor your reservations. 

In order to facilitate our procedures, please limit your carrying on. 

Before taking off, please extinguish all smoldering resentments. 

If you cannot understand English, you will be moved out of the way. 

In the event of a loss, you’d better look out for yourself. 

Your insurance was cancelled because we can no longer handle

your frightful claims. Our handlers lost your luggage and we

are unable to find the key to your legal case. 

You were detained for interrogation because you fit the profile. 

You are not presumed to be innocent if the police 

have reason to suspect you are carrying a concealed wallet. 

It’s not our fault you were born wearing a gang color. 

It is not our obligation to inform you of your rights. 

Step aside, please, while our officer inspects your bad attitude. 

You have no rights we are bound to respect. 

Please remain calm, or we can’t be held responsible 

for what happens to you. 

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Sustainable mining? Minnesota? It's a start!

We had to read it twice, these paragraphs from yesterday's story in the Duluth News Tribune by John Myers:

"ERP stands for Earth Restoration Project and is a product of Clarke's transformation into an evangelist for sustainability. That transformation was hastened in Africa, where Clarke established nonprofit health-care facilities and where he saw the results of worsening droughts and famine.

"Now he's started ERP Iron Ore LLC and Chippewa Capital Partners for his two Minnesota mining operations — the former Magentation operations based in Grand Rapids and the former Essar Steel Minnesota project in Nashwauk."

After speculating for the past couple of years about the prospect of "sustainable mining" coming to Minnesota, that eagle may be starting to land. At least there's an active, major player who is familiar with the terms "And he says he wants to bring his carbon offset ideas to the iron-mining and steel-producing industries, which also are large emitters of greenhouse gases."

Miners Lake Pit, IRRRB Reclamation

Photo by J. Harrington

Lest any of you think we've foregone our usual degree of skepticism, we continue to operate on the premise articulated by President Reagan's dictum "Trust, but verify." (Although this is also probably as close as we'll ever get to sounding like a Republican.) But we're encouraged to see that Clarke is talking integration, collaboration, partnerships and has a record of successfully using those approaches on other, similar projects. Details are in Meyers' story from the day before yesterday.

From what we've read so far, we wish Clarke the best. He, his companies, and his approach, may well represent the core of a sustainable future for mining in and around the Iron Range.

Boundary Waters

by Sheila Packa

Off the road
where lichen and thick moss
take in minerals
beneath the balsam
over the border
past the landing
in the stone face of granite
above the water's mirror
small islands where
root dives into stone
amid broken limbs
of white pine
behind the reflection of day
into dark endings
reached for my own reaching
hand in the cold water
of October—
a tail flick of a fin
among the sunken
shoulders
in a vein of ore.
To take from another body
is a question
answered by loon
or by the morning rime
with weasel
searching the char of a cold fire.
After the urgent
animal of the body—
a heavy frost
and the moose that trod
over our path
running, hunted.

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'Twas the Day After Solstice, a seasonal wish

We have an early Christmas present for some, perhaps all of you. It depends on how much of a William Gibson fan you are. We loved the Neuromancer and quite enjoyed some of his other works. Gibson offers an observation that we find to be quite cheering, if we look in the right places. He's reported to have noted that "The future is already here — it's just not very evenly distributed."

If we turn our minds and hearts from the idiocy currently being perpetrated in Washington, D.C., we can find good news scattered about. For example, we recently learned that Kinross Gold preserved fish and wildlife habitat with Trout Unlimited and RMEF. That's not the kind of behavior we would have expected historically from a mining company.

In a similar vein (sorry, we couldn't resist), the Northern Plains Resource Council has a several times amended Good Neighbor Agreement with the Stillwater Mining Company. The key provisions of which are that it:

• Provides for citizen oversight of mining operations to ensure protection of the area’s quality of life and productive agricultural land;


• Establishes clear and enforceable water quality standards that go above and beyond state requirements;


• Provides local communities with access to critical information about mining operations and the opportunity to address potential problems before they occur;


• Ensures public safety and security while protecting the interest of miners through traffic plans designed to reduce mining traffic on country roads;


• Raises the bar for environmental excellence by setting goals and objectives for developing new technologies. This is accomplished through a cooperative framework of local citizens, third-party experts, and the mining company.

St. Louis River, downstream of proposed PolyMet project

Photo by J. Harrington

We find ourselves wonder if a similar agreement might be possible in Minnesota, and what it might take to bring one about for something like the proposed PolyMet project. Could an agreement be crafted that would adequately address the concerns of many of the stakeholders who currently, and with good reason, strongly oppose copper-nickel sulfide mining that puts precious Minnesota water resources at unacceptable risk?
Gibson's premise makes me wonder if the emergence of things like Good Neighbor Agreements, the growing interest in the possibility of "sustainable" mining and the increasing recognition that our earth's resources have limits, both in sources and sinks may not be signs of an unevenly distributed future we need to bring about more broadly. That's at least one of our Christmas wishes for this year.

near the entrance of the Boundary Waters

Photo by J. Harrington

Oh, and lest any of you think we may have eaten too many holiday sweets and become Pollyanna-is,   today we also signed up to help Save Bristol Bay from a resurgent Pebble Mine proposal. It seems to us that there needs to be a much better balance between the need for metal resources and the quality of the other natural resources that are put at risk. Search our prior postings on sustainable mining if this interests you. We need to make mining companies, and government regulators and our elected leaders, more sensitive to the idea that a social license to mine doesn't include a license to kill places or their inhabitants.

The Everglades

Campbell McGrath

Green and blue and white, it is a flag
for Florida stitched by hungry ibises.

It is a paradise of flocks, a cornucopia
of wind and grass and dark, slow waters.

Turtles bask in the last tatters of afternoon,
frogs perfect their symphony at dusk—

in its solitude we remember ourselves,
dimly, as creatures of mud and starlight.

Clouds and savannahs and horizons,
its emptiness is an antidote, its ink

illuminates the manuscript of the heart.
It is not ours though it is ours

to destroy or preserve, this the kingdom
of otter, kingfisher, alligator, heron.

If the sacred is a river within us, let it flow
like this, serene and magnificent, forever.

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Nice to travel, nice to be home, MN Nice?

We're back home in the South end of the North Country. The snow showers stopped a little South of Cloquet but the clouds continued to precede us and are still hanging around. A few of the wolf photos from the International Wolf Center turned out well. Many others show a wild animal's desire to avoid eye contact. The ravens look like ravens feeding on roadkill or the equivalent. We're still frustrated at an ongoing inability to readily identify ravens compared to crows. It's one that we'll just have to keep working on / at?

ravens feeding on carcass

Photo by J. Harrington

Something we've neglected to report on before this are the swans we saw on our drive North Saturday. One pair South of Cloquet, flying in the low clouds, crossing the road, and two pair flying plus a flock on the water North of Cloquet. We don't remember ever seeing swans in the vicinity of Duluth / Cloquet in all the times we've visited. In addition, other wildlife observations include one whitetail beside the road near Embarrass, one or two bald eagles, multiple ravens and / or crows [see preceding paragraph] and several flocks of small birds.

wolf stalking raven

Photo by J. Harrington

As is often the case, it was nice to travel and visit places rarely seen or never seen before and also nice to return home to familiar surroundings. We remember reading that the typical home range for a whitetail deer is about one mile square. We noted maps of the ranges of several wolf packs (see p. 3) during our visit to the International Wolf Center. Do we humans have a home range and if so, what is it? Would it be established by our average commute? Our shopping radius (not counting mail order)? How much of a sense of community among adults depends on having children in the same schools? Christopher Alexander, in A Pattern Language writes about a Community of 7,000 and about Community Networks. We're overdue for a relook at his descriptions of Community and at thinking about the relationships among community, rural life and wilderness.

Raven’s Last Dream

Red Hawk

Raven was in a deep sleep,
dreaming the world. He saw things
and they happened, He dreamed things
and they came to life. He hardly knew 
where to begin or what to do 

once the world was. At last He understood 
Fodder’s dilemma. It troubled Him, 
made Him restless, disturbed His sleep. 
Then the terrible thing happened:
He had a thought.
 
Everything dream? He wonder.
Then the worst thing happened:
He had another thought, one thought
following the other.
Who dreaming Raven? He wonder and
 
this woke Him up.
He looked up, He looked down, He
looked all around.
Don’t know, He say and
He couldn’t get back to sleep.

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Please be kind to each other while you can.

Greetings from the Iron Range

This is coming to you from snow-covered Embarrass, MN, on the Iron Range. We've already had lunch in Ely, shopped at Wintergreen and Steger Mukluks, and then headed for the B&B we're staying at for the weekend. The Better Half intends to enjoy a sauna this evening and many of the local road names have a Finnish tone to them.

Speaking candidly, we've noticed that snowed-on pines, spruce, tamarack, aspen and birch look a pretty much the same no matter where in Minnesota they're growing. There's just lots more acres of them growing up here than down near The Cities. The snow cover isn't likely to start melting until tomorrow. Weather for the next week or so up here is going to be cloudy, slightly snowy with temperatures in the mid-30's.

Iron Range in October or Chisago County in December?

Photo by J. Harrington

Looking at the empty storefronts as we drove through Biwabik and Gilbert, it's clear that those local economies are hurting. "Downtown" Ely looks healthier and some building renovation was evident. We're wondering how Paul Wellstone's concept, that "We all do better when we all do better" can be made to work effectively throughout Minnesota. As farms have gotten fewer and bigger, rural agricultural centers have faded, some completely away. Mining has been boom and bust for a long, long time. Cities like Minneapolis and St. Paul are prospering in part because they've created their own critical mass. Better high speed internet could help substitute for the physical proximity cities offer, but that's only part of the answer.

South St. Paul used to have an economy dependent on stock yards. They're gone. Wales, in England, once had an economy based on coal, as had Appalachia in the U.S. The world and its economies keep changing. Is Amazon the new Dayton's? What will replace Amazon in a generation? Can a multitude of smaller businesses like Steger Mukluks and Wintergreen clothing begin to replace mining jobs? Our county has solar farms sprouting like weeds. Wind farms and solar farms need to be built, maintained and operated. How much metal recycling is being done in northern Minnesota? How much could be done? How many conferences have been organized at Giants Ridge to explore these and related questions?

North Star

by Sheila Packa

In Hanko, Finland
a young woman boards
the vessel in the Baltic
for a ship across the Atlantic.
The North Star shines in the sky.
She’s carrying in her valise
a change of clothes
a packet of seeds
and the sauna dipper.
Distance pours between constellations
between English words on her tongue
through storms and sun.
In New York City, she buys
a one way ticket
boards the train going
across the continent
arrives on an inland sea.
The winter ground underfoot
is familiar with frost
as she transfers to a northbound
along the Vermilion Trail
in Minnesota.
Ahead of her waits a man
a house to be built
and a fire that burns it down.
Ahead, eleven children
to bear, a few she must bury,
the cows in the barn
needing to be milked.
Unbroken ground only hers to till.
Above her, the North Star
inside the aurora borealis, northern
banners waving welcome —

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Please be kind to each other while you can.

North to sustainability?

Long, long ago (2010), in a country far, far away, it came about that

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines sustainability as the satisfaction of basic economic, social, and security needs now and in the future without undermining the natural resource base and environmental quality on which life depends. From a business perspective, the goal of sustainability is to increase long-term shareholder and social value, while decreasing industry’s use of materials and reducing negative impacts on the environment.4" 

"4 U.S. EPA, Sustainability, Basic Information, http://www.epa.gov/sustainability/ basicinfo.htm#sustainability (last visited Apr. 2, 2010)."

We learned this from a paper by Jane Kloeckner titled Developing a Sustainable Hardrock Mining and Mineral Processing Industry: Environmental and Natural Resource Law for Twenty-First Century People, Prosperity, and the Planet. If it's not clear yet, we're strongly in favor of people, prosperity and the planet, but without the latter, the first two don't do very well. In fact, although we reserve the right to revise our opinion at some future time, we prefer the cited EPA definition to that of the oft quoted Brundtland Commission [p. 41]:

"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It contains within it two key concepts:

• the concept of 'needs', in particular the essential needs of the world's poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and
• the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment's ability to meet present and future needs."

All of the preceding has been triggered by our continuing and growing interest in the possibility of helping Minnesota become a world leader in sustainable mining. [We'll pause here so you can either recover and catch your breath or finish laughing uproariously.] Canada, our friend and competitor to the North, has been working for some time on an approach called Toward Sustainable Mining. We like to believe that the "Toward" may be in recognition that an extractive industry may not ever get to be truly sustainable. Perhaps not, but we can certainly do better in Minnesota in increasing long-term shareholder and social value while we further reduce negative impacts on the environment. (See why we like the EPA definition?)

Duluth harbor, steel hulls and taconite pellets

Photo by J. Harrington

Even the steel industry itself is getting into the "sustainability business." Unfortunately, they seem to have missed the significance of the early parts of their supply chain, the entire mining sector. Fortunately, others are busy helping the industry focus on such concerns and offering strategic guidance. For example, from "Steel Available ... a data-driven supplier relationship management and sourcing platform that connects buyers and suppliers while ensuring compliance and visibility in the heavy industry." we learn:

"Often required by different sustainability advocates nowadays, companies need to adopt ‘ethical sourcing practice’. Therefore, they have to select suppliers with high economic, social, and environmental value and work with them. Recall a principle from operations management: a stable partnership with only a few suppliers is usually more favourable. Along the process of selection, suppliers with similar values and operation systems can be relied on and even grow together in the long term. This pushes for mutual reliance of supplier and buyer, achieving a better power balance in the buying process as well."

While the world is changing around us, some folks are pursuing what seems to be a least cost commodity tactic for Minnesota's mining industry, reducing or eliminating or not enforcing environmental requirements. It doesn't have to be like that. For example, did you know that "Today, DNR is the largest single FSC-certified land manager in the U.S." (Forest certification is a voluntary third-party process that identifies and recognizes well-managed forest land. It takes into consideration the ecological, economic, and social components of forests and surrounding communities.)

solar panels on a northern Minnesota farm

Photo by J. Harrington

We now live in a world where engagement rings need to hold blood-free diamonds in fair trade gold settings. Next thing we know, companies like Ford (you can buy any color you want as long as it's black) will have lots that look like rainbows and will be advertising fair trade steel in their EVs. Take a look at their sustainable materials strategy.

Wouldn't you think Minnesota would want a piece of that kind of action? To get it, we'll need healthy communities in a healthy environment with mines that meet stringent requirements, won't we? Or else Chinese steel from Canadian ore might be a more sustainable source, because Minnesota failed to value and use its assets to increase shareholder and social value. We have most of the necessary tools, but that's a posting for another day or two (or three).

Prayers of Steel

Carl Sandburg, 1878 - 1967

Lay me on an anvil, O God.  
Beat me and hammer me into a crowbar.  
Let me pry loose old walls.  
Let me lift and loosen old foundations.  
  
Lay me on an anvil, O God.
Beat me and hammer me into a steel spike.  
Drive me into the girders that hold a skyscraper together.  
Take red-hot rivets and fasten me into the central girders.  
Let me be the great nail holding a skyscraper through blue nights into white stars.

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Please be kind to each other while you can.

The "green economy" (and Minnesota's) can do fine without our copper

The lead opinion piece in today's Star Tribune is:

U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan: The green economy needs Minnesota mining

As a constituent of Rep. Rick Nolan, I'll concede his sincerity, but the arguments he makes are, I believe, misleading approaching disingenuous. Let's try for some factual context.

• The United States copper reserves rank fifth, well behind Chile's.


• Within the United States, "Copper was produced from 27 mines in the US. Top copper producing states in 2014 were (in descending order) Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, and Montana. Minor production also came from Idaho, and Missouri. As of 2014, the US had 35 million tonnes of known remaining reserves of copper, the fifth largest known copper reserves in the world, after Chile, Australia, Peru, and Mexico.^[1]"

would a Polymet mine improve this water?

Photo by J. Harrington

That suggests to me that Minnesota's role in copper production is nonexistent and would be far from essential. In fact, to go further, Minnesota could be well served by deferring development of our mineral resources until such time as the entire mining sector becomes more socially and environmentally responsible, if it ever does, and the value of our copper reserves has increased due to the scarcity of alternative sources of that commodity. The Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) has drafted, and will soon launch, "an independently verifiable responsible mining assurance system, offering mines an opportunity to apply for recognition of achievement in environmental and social responsibility." Congressman Nolan makes no reference to such standards in his proposed legislation, at least in the version I last saw on line.

The fact that the proposed sulfide ore project has been through years of environmental review is of little relevance to the land exchange. The initial version of the review was deemed inadequate by the federal reviewing agency. That essentially doubled the preparation and review time normally expected.

My biggest concern with Representative Nolan's opinions is what they absolutely leave out. At no point does he acknowledge the court cases that have been filed to get the taxpayers (that's us in case you forgot) a fair deal on any land swap. The court case "argues that the Forest Service instructed its appraiser to ignore the proposed use of 6,650 acres of Superior National Forest land for PolyMet’s proposed copper-nickel mine when calculating its value. Failing to account for the fact that this public land is being acquired for PolyMet’s mining proposal resulted in a bargain basement valuation of just $550 per acre. An independent analysis of real estate transactions found that PolyMet recently paid a private landowner a 70 percent higher price per acre for similar nearby land. The $550 price is also well below what other Minnesota mining companies have recently paid for surface land."

The land exchange would be unnecessary without the PolyMet proposal and is not a wonderful deal for the public if it substantially undervalues the resources that run with the land. The land swap legislation mixes apple and oranges and throws in a kumquat to deliver a strange fruit salad to the public, but a "wonderful deal" to a mining company whose major investor is a foreign corporation.

                     The Theft Outright

By Heid E. Erdrich

after Frost

We were the land's before we were.

Or the land was ours before you were a land.

Or this land was our land, it was not your land.

We were the land before we were people,

loamy roamers rising, so the stories go,

or formed of clay, spit into with breath reeking soul—

What's America, but the legend of Rock 'n' Roll?

Red rocks, blood clots bearing boys, blood sands

swimming being from women's hands, we originate,

originally, spontaneous as hemorrhage.

Un-possessing of what we still are possessed by,

possessed by what we now no more possess.

We were the land before we were people,

dreamy sunbeams where sun don't shine, so the stories go,

or pulled up a hole, clawing past ants and roots—

Dineh in documentaries scoff DNA evidence off.

They landed late, but canyons spoke them home.

Nomadic Turkish horse tribes they don't know.

What's America, but the legend of Stop 'n' Go?

Could be cousins, left on the land bridge,

contrary to popular belief, that was a two-way toll.

In any case we'd claim them, give them some place to stay.

Such as we were we gave most things outright

(the deed of the theft was many deeds and leases and claim stakes

and tenure disputes and moved plat markers stolen still today . . .)

We were the land before we were a people,

earthdivers, her darling mudpuppies, so the stories go,

or emerging, fully forming from flesh of earth—

The land, not the least vaguely, realizing in all four directions,

still storied, art-filled, fully enhanced.

Such as she is, such as she wills us to become.

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Please be kind to each other while you can.

Mining for sustainability?

The federal agencies with responsibility for the decision have decided not to renew the two mineral leases associated with copper-nickel mining near the Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness Area. (The entity holding those leases had already filed suit to ensure their renewal.) On the one hand, I'm very pleased with the decision and hope the courts affirm it. On the other hand, I wonder if such a decision would be necessary if the mining sector were known to be better stewards of the environment.

Birch Lake on the Gunflint Trail

Photo by J. Harrington

Because it's Christmas season, I'll be brief in enumerating what I see as some critical points.

• According to an April 2016 story in that bastion of environmental radicalism, the Wall Street Journal, Mining Dams Grow to Colossal Heights, and So Do the Risks


• The National Park Service has identified high failure rates for tailings dams 


• BLM maintains an inventory of known abandoned mine lands on public lands. Most of the sites are abandoned hardrock mines. As of April 18, 2014, the inventory contained nearly 46,000 sites and 85,000 features. Approximately 23% of the sites have either been remediated, have reclamation actions planned or underway, or do not require further action.  The remaining 80% require further investigation and/or remediation.  


• The USEPA is working toward remediation and beneficial reuse of many abandoned mines and related superfund sites


• Mining has operated in such a way that its very social license to operate may be denied, or like some leases, not renewed in some locales. 

On the other hand,

• the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has developed approaches for environmentally sensitive "green" mining. 


• The Mining Association of Canada has an initiative Towards Sustainable Mining


• There's also the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance, which is working toward Standards for Responsible Mining


• The United Nations has a public consultation on how mining can contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals

If mining in Minnesota and the United States could demonstrate a successful period of contributing to the world's sustainable development, avoiding environmental disasters and cleaning and rehabilitating the sites it uses, federal, state and environmental interests might not find as many objections to new endeavors. Can Twin Metals or PolyMet point to any major successes in sustainable mining that they have participated in? If so, what, where, how did it come about, when? Resources might be better spent on getting answers to these questions than in courtroom battles, wouldn't you think?

An Identity Crisis

By Garry Gottfriedson

I certainly know who I am . . .

I can get away with being politically incorrect.

I am the ambassador to First Nations’ poetic expressions

& as Kinsella pompously put it straight

“I have the license to do so.”

what a magical way to escape tyranny!

just like Trudeau & Chrétien hiding beneath cowboy hats

nevertheless & back to the point,

call me cowboy

call me First Nations

call me aboriginal

call me native

call me chug

call me skin

if you must,

but never call me Indian.

I call myself that!

& if you feel guilty when I say so,

this is not about postcolonial rhetoric

it is about an identity crisis

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Please be kind to each other while you can.