Hearing for Tribal Input on Mining Bill

Tribes from the ceded territory of northern Wisconsin will get their say Thursday before a senate committee looking at rewriting the state’s mining law. Committee members intend to diffuse past tensions with the tribes.

The proposed iron ore mine in the Penokee Range of Iron and Ashland Counties had members of the Assembly Mining Committee going nose to nose with tribal members at a January hearing in Hurley.

Now, the Democrat led Senate Select Committee on Mining will give it another shot. They will begin by hearing testimony from the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission. Committee member Republican Senator Dale Schultz says they will not only listen, they are reaching out to the tribes in a meaningful way.

Tribes maintain that as sovereign states, they will have a say in the mining bill process.

The meeting begins Thursday at 10 a.m. in the State Capitol Building.