Oneida County board rejects proposal to consider mining on public land

August 23, 2024

The Oneida County Board on Tuesday voted 13-6 to reject a proposal that would allow a county committee to communicate with mining companies about allowing mining activity on county-owned land.

The proposal, from board chair Scott Holewinski, drew a large amount of public opposition with 32 people making public comments and an additional 200 sending emails opposing the plan.

Mining has been a frequent political battle in the county for decades due to a large mineral deposit that was discovered in the town of Lynne in the 1990s.

At the meeting on Tuesday, much of the opposition from board members centered on complaints about the process through which the proposal was made, being added to the agenda just days before the scheduled meeting. Board members also criticized Holewinski for meeting with mining company representatives before making the proposal.

Members of the public had objected to the proposal partially because it directly contradicted the results of a 2018 advisory referendum in the county in which more than 60% of county voters said they didn’t want to allow mining in the region.

Oneida County has a large number of lakes and the county-owned forest in the town of Lynne where the mineral deposit is located is very close to the Willow Flowage, a man-made reservoir that provides important natural habitat and serves as a source of clean water that can be used to dilute pollution in the Tomahawk and Wisconsin rivers.

The county has become the location of some of Wisconsin’s most heated fights over environmental issues over the last year, with a national right-wing non-profit influencing local officials to oppose conservation projects, the Wisconsin Examiner has reported. The county is the location of the recently created Pelican River Forest, now the largest conservation easement in state history.

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