U. P. CD aids anti-mining effort

By Steve Seymour

January 16, 2007

Internationally renown musician Greg Brown knows the power and purpose of folk music.

His "Yellow Dog" album, drawn from an Aug. 26, 2005 performance at the historic W. C. Peterson Auditorium in Ishpeming, describes a way of life in the Upper Peninsula being threatened by a proposed metallic sulfide mine in northern Marquette County.

The folk singer routinely fishes the Yellow Dog River, known as a unique habitat for native brook trout. Over 50 miles in length, the main branch begins in the Ottawa National Forest at the boundary between Marquette and Baraga counties. The river runs through the Yellow Dog Plains, a remote wilderness area which has been routinely logged, but is otherwise virtually untouched.

Recently, Rebecca Humphries, director of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, announced the agency was delaying a decision on the permits requested by Kennecott until more information could be obtained.

Regardless of the outcome, Brown has used the best traditions of folk music to make an eloquent point in an effort to preserve an irreplaceable part of the Upper Peninsula's ecological heritage.

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