Feds: Coaster Brook Trout Not Endangered

May 18, 2009

by Gabriel Caplett

The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has declined a petition requesting that the rare coaster brook trout be listed on the federal endangered species list.  The decision is in response to a petition, filed in 2006 by the Sierra Club and the privately-owned Huron Mountain Club, seeking federal protection of the trout in an effort to thwart mining giant, Rio Tinto’s (parent company of Kennecott Minerals) plans to open a metallic sulfide mine near coaster habitat, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by LSMN

Wiggle Worm: How Kennecott Got Off-the-Hook

January 25, 2009

by Gabriel Caplett

Marquette County, Michigan – New information has surfaced suggesting that the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) assisted Kennecott-Rio Tinto by forgoing proper procedure in allowing the company to reconstruct a road crossing in Fall of 2004.  With Kennecott’s persistence, the DEQ approved an ill-designed plan to install a new culvert on the Triple A Road where a branch of the Salmon Trout River flows.  Kennecott was contracting with Pete O’Dovero, of Associated Contractors, to rehabilitate the road crossing. Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by LSMN

Coaster Brook Trout Decision Delayed

December 9, 2008

by Gabriel Caplett

The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is postponing a decision on the listing of the coaster brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) as endangered, under the federal Endangered Species Act. The agency is expecting to reach a final decision by April 15, 2009. Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by LSMN

US Fish & Wildlife Requests EPA Delay on Kennecott Mine

October 7, 2008

by Gabriel Caplett

The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has requested the EPA to determine whether habitat for the endangered Kirtland warbler and threatened Canada lynx occurs in areas that are potentially directly or indirectly affected by Kennecott’s Eagle Project.

According to the USFWS, “Kirtland’s warblers utilize young, dense stands of jack pine that are interspersed with treeless openings” and requested the EPA to conduct a survey of male Kirtland’s warblers, in late Spring, 2009, if potential habitat is located in the area.

According to the USFWS, “the Kirtland’s warbler, an endangered species, was detected within three miles of the project site during the 2006 and 2008 Kirtland’s warbler census.” Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by LSMN

Coaster Brook Trout Update

April 2, 2007

by Gabriel Caplett

Metallic sulfide mining on the Yellow Dog Plains threatens the last remaining naturally reproducing population of the potamodromous Coaster Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) on the southern shore of Lake Superior. Because the trout is not located within the boundaries of the actual mine site, Kennecott Mineral’s Environmental Impact Assessment makes no mention of the trout that its operations would invariably impact.[1]

On April 10, 2007, Patrick Kochanny, Chairman of Michigan Trout Unlimited (MCTU) issued a press release stating that “Trout Unlimited and the Michigan Council strongly oppose this project, and believe that it is in the best interest of the State of Michigan and the Salmon Trout River to deny Kennecott’s application at this time.”[2

Kochanny continued: “We are seriously concerned that [the DEQ’s] analysis and review of the permit application may not have been conducted properly.” Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by LSMN

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