Blue Goose ~ Day 141

October 17, 2014 ~ Marquette, MI to Beaver Dam, WI

The weather had not cleared in the morning, and it continued to drizzle most of the day as I drove south from Marquette on Highway 35, a road never taken before. In only a dozen miles, I suddenly arrived at the open pit Empire iron ore mine which was HUGE. The Upper Peninsula has three iron ranges which have provided jobs for thousands and iron for all of us, but open pit mining is incredibly ugly:

WWW.WXPR.ORG 

Standing on the edge of Empire Mine is like looking into an amphitheater far too big for any performance.  It’s a mile wide and a mile across.  1200 feet deep.  

The concerns about heavy and toxic metal contamination (mercury and selenium at this site), the nearly irremediable disruption of the land, the high use of water and diesel (trucks can use 1000 gallons a day) and air quality accompany this type of mining. The Empire and the equally large and adjacent Tilden mines are owned by Cliffs Natural Resources, an interesting name, the "Natural" part apparently added later. Check out the images at:

WWW.EARTHOBSERVATORY.NASA.GOV 

 In 1844, government surveyors were exploring rugged, lake-filled terrain near Negaunee, Michigan, when they noticed their compasses swung erratically in certain areas. It did not take long to determine why: ancientPrecambrian rock layers in the area were laced with bands of iron ore. The surveyors had discovered the Marquette Iron Range (called the Negaunee Iron Formation by geologists), and the area would eventually become one of the most productive sources of iron in the United States.

Within a few years, several companies were competing to mine, ship, and process the magnetite and hematite ore in the area, which was so abundant and accessible that chunks could be pulled off the surface and shipped directly to steel mills with little or no processing. But by the 1950s, most of the easily accessible ore with high concentrations of iron was gone, and mining companies had to dig much deeper and develop new techniques to extract and concentrate iron from lower-grade ore. 

Today, mine operators in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula are generally after taconite, a low-grade ore that was once considered waste rock. To make it usable, mining companies blast it into small pieces with explosives, grind it into powder with powerful machinery, and then use magnets or flotation techniques to separate the iron minerals out from the surrounding rock. Iron-rich powder is then mixed with water and clay into a slurry that is shaped into pellets, heated, dried, and shipped to steel mills. The pulverized waste rock—known as tailings—is loaded into water-filled retention basins, where it eventually settles to the bottom and re-enters the rock cycle.

I find these mining issues fascinating when considering the lives of workers and their families, possible alternatives to this kind of mining, the products that use iron and corporations that own the mines. Of course there are not easy answers, and constant monitoring to ensure that the owners do whatever possible to mitigate the harmful effects is the often thankless job of environmentalists and conscientious politicians. Fair or not, I always think of this as a Republican / Democratic divide.

Empire and Tilden are one end of a natural landscape spectrum and the next several hours were the other end as I drove through thousands upon thousands of yellowing larches, the only deciduous conifer, with needles grow in small tufts on the branches. This species predominated but there were also spruce and cedar, maple and birch. Again, even on a gray and gloomy day, the trees gave me a sense of contentment.

Larches along Highway 35 in the UP - MI

Always checking out houses as I drive, there was an attractive one in the small town of Gwinn, appealing as it was on the main street with a lovely boulevard. But Gwinn is hundreds of miles from anyone I know....

The road eventually ran along the shore of Lake Michigan with modest homes and an occasional small park. It passed Arthur Bay which did not seem any different from the shores to the north or south in that there was no discernible "bay" that I could see. I like this area; it had little loud tourist distractions.

Lake Michigan north of Green Bay - MI

On down into Wisconsin and around Green Bay to Horicon Marsh, another refuge I was seeing for the second time. I drove the auto route in late afternoon...with sun and cloud combinations highlighting the beauty of an autumnal marsh. I think of these days as pre-Thanksgiving weather, very evocative...the transition between hot summer and cold winter.

I stayed in Beaver Dam in a motel with VERY unstable Internet. When I complained (I was trying to work), the girl at the desk acknowledged that, "They know about this; it's been a couple of days and they are working on it at the other end...." End of discussion....

Dinner was spaghetti in a nearby restaurant, a Garrison Keillor set piece on this Friday evening.

Horicon NWR - WI