Don't let corporations close Wisconsin forests to hiking, hunting

[hue]

http://host.madison.com/ct/news/opinion/editorial/don-t-let-corporations-close-wisconsin-forests-to-hiking-hunting/article_ebcf8656-1252-11e3-924a-001a4bcf887a.html

If anyone needs a reminder of what is wrong — really, really wrong — with letting corporations call all the shots in the governing of Wisconsin, consider the proposal by two Republican legislators to close the forest around the planned Gogebic Taconite mine in northern Wisconsin.

Gogebic, an out-of-state corporation, is determined to develop a mine in the Penokee Hills just south of Lake Superior.

The forest surrounding the mine site is enrolled in a state Department of Natural Resources managed forest program that ensures access for hiking, hunting, fishing, skiing and sightseeing. But some of those hikers, sporting enthusiasts and birdwatchers might also be conservationists who worry that the massive mining project might harm one of the most beautiful regions in northern Wisconsin, so Gogebic has brought armed paramilitary units into the region.

And now, two legislators who are more concerned with caring for corporations than with serving citizens — state Sens. Glenn Grothman and Tom Tiffany — want to allow Gogebic to bar recreational use of up to 4,000 acres around the site.

The Grothman/Tiffany proposal insults Wisconsin’s outdoor traditions and values. Yet it is moving ahead in the Legislature. The Senate’s mining committee has scheduled a public hearing on the measure for Wednesday.

[atreides1]

1. And here is the irony!

So many want to punish a Middle Eastern dictator, accused of using chemical weapons against his people...and yet we allow an American dictator to violate the Constitutional rights of our fellow Americans by denying them the right to freely assemble in a capitol constructed with their tax dollars!

And now that same smarmy bastard is going close a public forest so that a corporation can poison the environment...I got a better target for those cruise missiles...

[Scuba]

2. Kick

[Eleanors38]

3. More evidence that GOP doesn't give a s_ _t about outdoor recreation...

unless you pay four figures to hunt privately.

[Cha]

4. K&R hue!

[gopiscrap]

5. yup this is what we have become as a nation

it's always all about fucking money. If we had our priorities right, public campaign financing and regulatory commissions that had some balls, we wouldn't be in this place.

[Faryn Balyncd]

6. These criiminals belong in prison, not the legislature.

[Iliyah]

7. And Walker want to be President of the USA