GOGEBIC, ONTONAGON COUNTIES, MI— The Keweenaw Land Association has transferred more than 8,000 acres of mineral rights beneath Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park to the Department of Natural Resources.
The DNR has also acquired mineral rights to a 40-acre property in Dickinson County that was previously a mine. Today, it functions as a hibernaculum for insect-eating bats in the winter months.
DNR Chief of Parks and Recreation Ron Olson says the transaction allows the department to better protect park resources and gives the Land Association mineral rights in areas believed to contain prospective copper, gold, and nickel.
In all, the DNR acquired 8,392 acres of mineral rights and the Land Association received 9,551 acres of mineral rights from the DNR in parts of Baraga, Dickinson, Gogebic, Iron, Menominee and Ontonagon counties.
The deal does not include lands associated with the Copperwood project being developed by Highland Copper in the southwest corner of the park.
