LANSING, MI— Several Upper Peninsula lawmakers are expressing anger over a decision made by the State Historic Preservation Office.
The office’s Review Board determined Monday that land bordering the Menominee River near the proposed Back Forty mine site should be added to the federal registry of historic places.
Primarily a zinc and gold operation, the Back Forty project has been going through more than a decade of site permitting.
State Senator Ed McBroom says the move is a flagrant taking of private property rights and opportunities. Representative Sara Cambensy says the fight against such projects only forces the investment and jobs to go elsewhere with less concern for the environment.
They also blame the SHPO for blocking the removal of more than a dozen old buildings on the former KI Sawyer Air Force Base.
Along with Representatives Greg Markkanen and Beau LaFave, the lawmakers are planning legislation to defund and reform the SHPO, along with a formal resolution condemning their recent actions and calling for the removal of the present director and staff.
