A total of between 700 and 800 opponents of proposed corporate projects throughout Wisconsin rallied on April 29 at the State Capitol in Madison in support of "people power against corporate power." The student-led rally was organized by the Wolf Watershed Educational Project (WWEP), founded by the Midwest Treaty Network in 1995. The rally united high school and college students with Native Americans, sportfishers, farmers, environmentalists, unionists, and others from various regions of the state, in opposition to new mine, water, and power projects, and in support of "environmental justice" and a "Seventh Generation Amendment." WWEP organizers promoted the rally as a Wisconsin version of the Seattle and D.C. anti-corporate protests.

The Students/Youth Rally brought together different ages and races to stop four proposed corporate projects : the Crandon metallic sulfide mine in northeastern Wisconsin, a high-voltage transmission line in northwestern Wisconsin, a Perrier bottling operation in central Wisconsin, and the RockGen power plant in south-central Wisconsin. Speakers also questioned the role of Republican Governor Tommy Thompson -- and the state government agencies Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Public Service Commission (PSC) -- in facilitating the projects against the wishes of rural citizens and their township, county, and tribal governments. They demanded the restoration of the Public Intervenor and an independent DNR chief not appointed by the Governor.

Rally organizer and University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point student leader Dana Churness declared that "the power of profit is taking over the citizens' voice." U.W.- Stevens Point student Lora Clem (another member of the Progressive Action Organization) put the Wisconsin rally in the context of growing links between people around the world protesting corporate "globalization." Echoing the international protests, U.W.-Madison students carried huge colorful puppets depicting corporate figures, and mock fish and dragonflies symbolizing company threats to the environment.

Churness introduced speakers as part of a "Journey Around Wisconsin," representing the communities near proposed projects. From northeastern Wisconsin, speakers opposed the Crandon metallic sulfide shaft mine, planned by Toronto-based Rio Algom Ltd. to operate next to the Mole Lake Chippewa Reservation (famed for its wild rice beds), and upstream from the Wolf River and the Menominee Reservation. Native nations and sportfishing groups--former adversaries in treaty rights conflicts-- have joined together to protect the fishery from a "threat" of acidic contamination that would for last thousands of years.

The Mole Lake Drum opened the rally, honoring elders who have fought the Forest County mine proposal for 25 years. Menominee Treaty Rights and Mining Impacts Office Director Kenneth Fish said, "Earlier I noticed there was an eagle flying in the sky....Northern Wisconsin is going to be a nesting ground for corporations to take our natural resources. When they are all gone, we're going to be looking at Superfund sites. We're going to leave a legacy to our future generations of not being able to swim in this water." College of the Menominee Nation student government representative Elizabeth Warrington said, "The youth are the building blocks of our nation...We need to support each other in every effort if we are going to bring this state back to the people." Menominee musician Marissa Tucker also sang her song "Back in the Evergreen"* (below), about mining by the Wolf River.

Chairman Chuck Sleeter of Nashville Township, which includes Mole Lake and half of the Crandon mine site, described his efforts to overturn the previous town board's "Local Agreement" with the mining company. "The company came to Nashville and took democracy away from the people," he said, "These are some of the bravest people you have ever met; they have been under siege....". Sleeter also praised the diversity of the rally, which he said "doesn't happen that often." Langlade County resort owner and Trout Unlimited chair Herb Buettner said, "For decades we have been fighting to keep the Wolf River clean, and it is still one of the last watersheds of pristine groundwater....People power is the final power of democracy. We don't have democracy now; we have government of the special interests."

Other speakers criticized the DNR's "undermining" of the state's 1998 Mining Moratorium Law, by opening loopholes that allow the company to present examples of "safe" metallic sulfide mines that cannot prove the safety of its Crandon operation. Speakers also noted that the mine would be the largest toxic waste dump in state history, and use 18-20 tons of cyanide per month in ore processing. Milwaukee student artists carried huge banners backing a ban on cyanide in mines, much as Montana voters have enacted. They also erected "headstones" representing rivers around the world that have been "killed" by cyanide spills from mines. Milwaukee Steelworker Gerry Gunderson, of the Committee of Labor Against Sulfide Pollution (CLASP) and Mining Impact Coalition, also read union local and federation resolutions opposing the Crandon mine.

While most speakers addressed how mining companies would pollute northern Wisconsin's clean water, one speaker described a plan by one company to actually "mine" pristine water in central Wisconsin. Rosemary Carlson, of the Committee to Protect New Haven's Water, opposed Perrier's proposal to pump groundwater from Big Springs, in Adams County, and build a "football field-sized" bottling plant near Wisconsin Dells. "They are bulldozing their way through our community because they want our water in the worst way," Carlson said, "I don't think we should give our pristine waters to a Nestle-owned multinational." Perrier has come under intense local opposition in three counties, but the DNR may soon permit its plan because state law does not protect rural wells from being pumped dry.

In northwestern Wisconsin, farmers and others along the proposed Duluth-to-Wausau route of a 345-kilovolt transmission line have formed the new grassroots group Save Our Unique Lands (SOUL). Rural residents fear the health effects of stray voltage on cattle and human beings, and defends the property rights of landowners who do not wish to sell land to utility corporations. SOUL President Tom Krueger said "It's about time Wisconsin went back to the people. Let's use the alternatives we know exist, but the PSC and utilities think we're too stupid to know." Ann Stewart, U.S. representative of Pimicikamak Cree Nation in Cross Lake, Manitoba, described how hydroelectric dams--a source of electricity for the proposed line--have damaged rivers in the northern region, causing Indigenous cultural destruction and a high suicide rate.

Nashville Chairman Sleeter noted that a 115-kilovolt "feeder line" is proposed from the main transmission line to power the Crandon mine. He observed, "On one end of the line in Manitoba, a tribe has been devastated. They want to connect the line to another tribe and devastate it as well. That is unacceptable." Some of the 120 SOUL members at the rally carried signs reading "No Line, No Mine."

The PSC also came under criticism from opponents of the proposed RockGen power plant, in eastern Dane County. Christiana Township resident Sharon Hutchinson observed that even though the township and two counties have questioned the environmental effects of the plant, the PSC is moving forward with a permit. Other speakers agreed that rural people are often "shut out" of the democratic process by state agencies that enable companies to bypass local zoning codes, ignore local referenda, and gain exemptions from state laws (such as exempting mine waste from hazardous waste rules).

Yet corporate opponents also pointed to significant victories, including successful town and county codes and resolutions, the slowing of Local Agreements in court, and strengthened tribal environmental regulations backed by federal agencies and non-Indian neighbors. The lead attorney for both SOUL and Nashville, Ed Garvey, observed that "We've got these companies on the run, and they can't figure out what's gone wrong....As people look to government and it does not respond, they have to take matters into their own hands....We're not going to turn our Dairyland over to the multinational corporations. This is a state where people come first." Garvey, a former candidate for Governor, viewed the rally as a part of Wisconsin's populist and progressive historical tradition.

U.W.-Madison graduate student Zoltan Grossman, a co-founder of the Midwest Treaty Network, observed that companies often accuse rural activists of having a Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY) philosophy. He replied that the grassroots groups at the rally instead held a Not In Anyone's Back Yard (NIABY) philosophy, which questioned the underpinning rationales for corporate projects and overall state policies. He added: "Whether our issues are mining, transmission lines, Perrier, agribusiness, genetic engineering, union-busting, job discrimination, welfare reform, or new prisons, we all have a common denominator. We are all defending our local democracies, economies, and cultures against corporate plans being shoved down our throats, with the collusion of government officials. Just as corporations and politicians work together, we should begin to act together as a single Wisconsin anti-corporate movement. Only together can we win."

College student representatives spoke in support of the rally's demand for "environmental justice," as necessary to protect the environment for everyone. Jon Greendeer, U.W.-Marathon County student and a Ho-Chunk tribal member, stated: "We don't have to be Native American to know that these issues are affecting people. You don't have to live on the Wolf River to know that an environmental disaster is at hand. You don't have to have children to know that our future is in jeopardy." U.W.-Milwaukee student Sara Garcia spoke of her anger that "the Governor is making us waste our time and money fighting these projects."

College students also attended from U.W. campuses at La Crosse, Eau Claire, Stout, Oshkosh, and elsewhere, Lawrence University (Appleton), the Madison Area Technical College, and other campuses around the state. The April 29 rally culminated a year-long WWEP speaking tour which reached many colleges and high schools around the state. Rio Algom spokesman Dale Alberts criticized the WWEP for "exploiting" students to advance its anti-mine cause. Sleeter retorted, "How dare he insinuate that students are stupid...or blind."

High school and middle school speakers also joined the rally's call for passage of a Seventh Generation Amendment to the State and U.S. Constitutions. As devised by the late Chippewa environmental leader Walter Bresette, the Amendment would define the natural environment as the "common property" of all citizens, and require that environmental decisions be made with a view ahead of seven generations--or about 150 years. Madison West High student Dustin Moriarity announced the formation of the Student Environmental Action League (SEAL) to organize area high school students. A Watertown middle school group calling itself Students Against Vanishing Ecosystems (SAVE), presented the WWEP with a $300 check to continue its anti-mine work. Science teacher Peter Watts pointed out that dozens of 7th-graders signed the check, and noted that the mining company has started a schools speaking tour of its own.

Rally emcee Dana Churness told the crowd near the closing: "We have speakers from 8 to 80 years old. Isn't that beautiful?". Eau Claire grade school student Joseph Theo, 8, told the crowd from his father's shoulders: "My grandpa lived in the Northwoods; he hunted and fished there for many years....I want to be able to take my grandchildren to the beautiful Northwoods." Rusk County farmer and long-time Ladysmith mine opponent Roscoe Churchill, 80, said, "When you get older you wonder if your fight will be carried on, and I feel it is being carried on....We are here to say to Governor Thompson, the DNR and PSC that the people have spoken, and it is time that they listened!".

For more information or to get involved** on mining and other Indigenous/environmental issues in the western Great Lakes region, contact the Midwest Treaty Network at (800) 445-8615, or log on its website at http://www.treatyland.com Tax-deductible contributions can be made to "MTN/PC Foundation," and sent to Midwest Treaty Network, P.O. Box 14382, Madison, WI 53714-4382. (Please send clippings on the April 29 rally to the same address.)

Her CD (with that song plus ten others) is called "If I Had a Penny." It is available for $12 ($10 plus $2 shipping). The number previously given is no longer correct; checks should be made out to:

Robert and Marissa Tucker, 313 South Warrington Street, Cecil, WI 54111

**-- The next meeting of the Madison Treaty Rights Support Group will be Wednesday, May 3, 7 pm, in Catacombs (Pres House basement, 731 State St.). The next WWEP meeting is TBA possibly Sunday, May 21 in Shawano.

IN THE NEWS

Protesters are people power from all over state John Nichols Capital Times [Madison WI] May 2, 2000 One of the more bizarre fantasies advanced by conservatives and their journalistic lackeys is the suggestion that protests in Madison are made up of a tired cadre of local lefties who dust off their marching boots each time the call to demonstrate is issued. In fact, because of Madison's status as the state capital, protests here draw activists from around the state -- many of whom travel three, four, five and six hours to make their views known to a cynical Legislature and an even more cynical media. That was certainly the case with Saturday's "People Power Against Corporate Power'' rally outside the Capitol. The event was a terrific example of the diversity and depth of the coalitions that are calling for a shift in state policy on a host of environmental issues. American Indians, family farmers, fishing enthusiasts, small-town retirees and newly active students marched up State Street to the Capitol to protest against continued efforts to develop the Crandon mine, against proposals to pump water from Wisconsin streams by the Perrier corporation, against a proposed utility corporation transmission line that would stretch across northern Wisconsin, and in favor of an independent Department of Natural Resources and a Legislature that rejects special interest in favor of the public interest. Debbie Beyerl came all the way from Colby to hold a sign that read: "Proud to be a farmer. Want to stay one. No power line in our fields." She arrived with a busload of activists with Save Our Unique Lands (SOUL), a grass-roots group of northern Wisconsinites who are challenging plans by utility companies to tear up the North Woods to run a transmission line across the top of the state. Most of the SOUL activists who came down to Madison could be referred to as classic Wisconsin farm folk. Typical of the group was Pearl Guralski, a dairy farmer who made the three-hour bus trip to Madison because she is furious with plans to rip up farms to further enrich power corporations that are already benefiting from monopoly business practices and corporate welfare protections. Standing amid hundreds of people on the Capitol steps, with tribal drummers who oppose the Crandon mine on one side and members of West High's Student Environmental Action League on the other, Guralski said, "I love having all these people here because, you know, we all agree on something. We're all for preserving the basics of Wisconsin -- the land, the air, the water." By the same token, she says, "we're all fighting against the same basic things. On our own, we'd have a tough time. But together, we've got people power. The corporations just don't have enough dollars to shut us all up." Ed Garvey, the 1998 Democratic gubernatorial nominee, agreed. Speaking to the crowd, he said, "I think we've got these corporations on the run. They can't figure out what's gone wrong. Suddenly, they've got all these people stirred up -- willing to come down to Madison from all over the state and make their voices heard. ... This is grass-roots democracy, this is people's democracy. And it works." John Nichols is the editorial page editor of The Capital Times. © 2000 The Capital Times

Diverse groups rally against big business Various projects threaten environment, crowd of 600 agrees By Kevin Murphy Special to the Journal Sentinel Last Updated: April 29, 2000 Madison - Separate organizations opposing either a proposed Crandon mine, an electrical transmission line from Duluth to Wausau, or Perrier's plans to pump and bottle water in central Wisconsin found Saturday that they have something in common. An estimated 600 environmentalists, sportsmen and American Indians joined in a rally at the state Capitol, all of them concerned that corporate profits were threatening the needs of people and the land. "People want to protect their communities, natural resources and their way of life from the large-scale projects being shoved down their throats by corporations with the collusion of state government," said Zoltan Grossman of Midwest Treaty Network, one of several groups that brought people from around the state to the rally. Rally organizers said they want to harness common interests of these groups and concerned individuals into a statewide alliance that would remove corporate influence from environmental decisions. Rich Daul of Athens, one of about 120 members of Save Our Unique Lands, a group opposed to the power line project, said individuals still matter even in this day of high-priced political campaigns. "Corporations don't vote, but they can buy votes, so it's up to the voters to put people into office who won't trade our natural resources for corporate profits," said Daul, whose 160-acre livestock farm is within 250 feet of the proposed line. Daul said that pressure on public officials could slow the transmission line approval process. "The longer we can drag this out, the better our chances are to putting a stop to this line, because more people will learn what's up," he said. Genevieve Buettner of White Lake has joined her husband, Herb, in speaking out against efforts to mine along the Wolf River in northeast Wisconsin for 20 years. "I'd like them to take the millions available in the Stewardship Fund for purchasing recreation land and buy the mining site," she said Saturday. "That way, it would protect this pristine source of water and get rid of the mining company once and for all." Red Cliff Chippewa tribal member Andrew Gokee said the rally not only helped connect the different organizations but showed him that people from all walks of life share the same ideas on what he considers environmentally destructive projects. "I was talking to an older Caucasian lady, who is as average a person as anyone," he said. "She was against the state allowing Perrier to take our water, and we both believe that if the politicians listen to the people and not the big-money corporations, then we'll retain the quality of life we enjoy in this state." A local official who has stood up against Crandon mining interests fired up the rally when he urged the people to "keep fighting the mine and everything that endangers the people." Speeches on the Capitol steps were preceded by a march up State St. and followed by a potluck supper and a powwow. Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on April 30, 2000.

Protestors Urge Wisconsin Withdrawal From Modern Society Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC) News Release, April 29, 2000 MADISON -- Protestors opposed to a mine, a power line and pumping drinking water are determined to shut down businesses and have Wisconsin residents retreat from modern life, a Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce official said Saturday. "These radical environmentalists want to obstruct businesses from legally operating in this state," said James A. Buchen, WMC vice president of government relations. "Their real agenda is to run businesses out of the state, kill jobs and force our families to check out of modern life." Protestors were slated to rally at the headquarters of Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce on Saturday as part of a day of protests in Madison. The protestors oppose the Nicolet Mine at Crandon; a proposed power line from Duluth to Wausau; and a plan to pump water for Perrier. All three projects must comply with all state and federal laws, Buchen said. "The law requires these projects to be environmentally safe," Buchen said. "Wisconsin has the toughest environmental laws in the nation, but the environmental radicals won't be happy until these projects are killed. We need minerals and we need electricity, but we don't need to return to the dark ages." Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC) 501 East Washington Avenue, P.O. Box 352 Madison, WI 53701-0352 http://www.wmc.org     LOOK OUT: WMC IS ANGRY by Ed Garvey Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce is angry. And when WMC is angry, we should all get nervous. They already set the agenda for the Legislature and the Governor, fund campaigns for their pals, run issue ads in support of their favorite candidates, have made the DNR part of the Department of Commerce, turned the Department of Agriculture over to the Farm Bureau, carry the day at the PSC, gain tax breaks for the big corporations only little business can dream about, so this should be the very best of times for them. But something has gone wrong. Could it be the tale of two states? The people, these "uneducated and ill-informed locals," are getting in the way of big business and their government. How dare they! They forced a moratorium in an effort to halt the Crandon mine (that DNR has refused to enforce), stopped the two million chicken "farm" in Dunn County, stopped the 10,000 hog operation in Richland County, killed the recently proposed 2,850 cow deal in the Town of Porter, are opposing the huge powerline, and now they have the effrontery to demand that Perrier go back to Switzerland. What’s going on here? Could the people start taking things into their own hands? Never a group to confuse power with ideas, the WMC vice president for government relations, a Wisconsin euphemism for "the boss," issued a news release condemning citizens who met at the Capitol steps two weeks ago without even obtaining a permission slip from WMC. Students from UWM, Marathon Community College, Madison, Stevens Point, farmers, Native Americans, small business people converged to protest against Perrier taking hundreds of millions of gallons of our groundwater; Exxon and Rio Algom trying to take our zinc, copper and gold while endangering the Wolf River and Rice Lake; Minnesota Power clear-cutting 250 miles for an unnecessary transmission line from Duluth to Wausau to wheel energy to Chicago; and corporate farms that would destroy our way of life. Don’t they understand that WMC recruited these corporations, through their subsidiary, the State of Wisconsin? Perhaps WMC became over-stimulated because these "locals" stopped by to briefly picket WMC’s beautiful building on East Washington. Hard to keep the riff-raff out of the neighborhood these days. He said, "These radical environmentalists want to obstruct businesses from legally operating in this state. Their real agenda is to run businesses out of the state, kill jobs and force families to check out of modern life." Wow! Little did this ill-informed citizen know these people were about to plunge Wisconsin into darkness, impede our progress toward total corporate control, place us at a competitive disadvantage with Indiana that welcomes huge factory "farms." And I thought these well-behaved citizens, who barely received mention in the media were rather calm, the speeches well reasoned, the audience respectful. Little did I know they were "radical environmentalists" who want to stop multi-national corporations from taking natural resources and forcing Wisconsin families back to using candles. Shame on them. Worse than the demonstration, the Town of Porter rejected the WMC/Department of Commerce/Department of Agriculture/DNR 2,850-cow operation. Don’t they understand, as WMC/ DOC Secretary Brenda Blanchard wrote, that this operation would create 23 jobs? What is wrong with these dunderheads? These issues should not be decided locally. These are decisions made in the boardroom. Don’t they know that Wal-Mart has helped small business and that these new corporate "farms" will help redefine Wisconsin in the 21st Century? Rumor has it that WMC will soon put a million-chicken ranch behind their building on East Washington. "Best little chicken house in Madison." One can almost hear their officers: "We’ll show them that the smell is not so bad." WMC is railing against those who would follow in the footsteps of Aldo Leopold, George Vukelich, Roscoe Churchill, Warren Knowles, Chuck Stoddard, John Muir, Jim McDonald, Kathleen Falk, Tom Dawson and Gaylord Nelson. These "radicals" think that Wisconsin should control its own resources, preserve our family farms, protect our forests and wetlands while WMC stands behind the notion that any multi-national that wants our precious resources should take ‘em. Dr. Tom Gelhaus from Owen was one of the "radicals" opposing the Crandon mine. He said, "I never marched in a protest before. It was my first picket sign. I’m just your average dad and husband; 46 years old, four kids…We are working to fight injustice." Well, if Dr. Tom Gelhaus is a WMC radical, so are many, many Wisconsinites who live here because of our high quality of life, clean environment and, until recently, our well-respected public sector. In Crandon, Rio Algom and Exxon remain poised to move the bulldozers and trucks in to steal our resources and our State government stands ready to help. In New Hope, the Swiss conglomerate Nestle, operating as Perrier, would take 500,000 to 1,000,000 gallons of groundwater per day while running 300 trucks a day past three schools. What would they pay for this treasure? Nothing. It’s only water. Their equipment would be exempt from taxation under the M&E exemption and their sales will be outside Wisconsin. The water will go through a mobile pipeline known as trucks to be sold in the Mid-West but not in Wisconsin. And those trucks will rip up our roads, pollute our air, and disturb children in the schools they pass. Ah, but the Department of Commerce says, it is all worth it because "they will create as many as 200 jobs." This must make this project 10 times more important than Porter where only 23 jobs were killed. Gaylord Nelson started Earth Day. Isn’t it time we started Wisconsin Day? Come all you radical environmentalists, let’s listen to the brook, watch the birds, drink our water from the tap not the bottle, help our family farms, keep our resources. Selfish? Or radical? Somehow "On Wisconsin" sounds better than "On Perrier, On Rio Algom, on Holsum Dairy." Proud To Protest Against Injustice Letter to Wisconsin State Journal, May 10, 2000 The April 29 evening news on television featured a protest march ending at the Capitol in Madison. The protesters has various issues they were concerned with, most notably the Crandon Mine and the proposed 350,000-volt Arrowhead-Weston Transmission Line. The television reporter ended the coverage with an interview of a representative of the mining company. This representative's comment was "these people (protesters) are against everything." Well, I was one of those protesters. I had never marched in a protest before. It was my first time ever carrying a picket sign. I'm just your average dad and husband: 46 years old, four kids, ranging from first grade to college, married 25 years.... There was one commonality of all the people I met at the march. They are working to fight injustice. They are not "against everything." They oppose pollution like sulfide mining produces with the tons of cyanide...... They oppose electrical pollution that causes sickness and death in animals and humans. They oppose big power companies flooding out the Cree Indian Nation of northern Manitoba and ruining the Crees' mother earth in the name of profit. They oppose corruption in politics and government. And they were willing to give up a day out of their lives to express this opposition. We need more people like this. I was proud to be among them. --Dr. Tom Gelhaus, Owen, Wisconsin For more information On the proposed... Crandon mine at Mole Lake: http://www.nocrandonmine.com Duluth-Wausau transmission line: http://www.wakeupwisconsin.com Perrier bottling operations: http://www.friendsofthemecan.com

Dear Mr. Buchen, I am one of those "radical environmentalists" who demonstrated at the Capitol on 4/29/00. We can't seem to escape the monotonous opposition mantra of "Wisconsin has some of the toughest mining regulations in the country". According to a 1990 report from the Mine Waste Task Force of the Western Governor's Association, which included Wisconsin information, Wisconsin is not even in the top 10. It is considered to be about average. Certainly Montana is setting precedents with the banning of cyanide. Since its passage in 1978, there have been very few modifications to the state's mining codes that have placed burdens on mining companies, just the reverse, the codes have been relaxed. In 1981, Wisconsin eliminated its non-degradation standard, 1983 mining companies were granted an exemption from clean groundwater standards and foreign corporations land investment cap was lifted. Since 1989, Gov. Thompson has twice vetoed bans on mining in our state forests and park land, meaning these recreational areas are not safe. In 1996, a request was made to Gov. Thompson for research that compares present Wisconsin laws regulating metallic sulfide mining to laws regulating sulfide mining in other states and to my knowledge there has been no response to that request. If you evidentiary information that proclaims the mantra of "toughest laws" to be true, I would certainlyappreciate an opportunity to review. Until I am assured that every effort will be made to protect our waters, air and environment, I remain sincerely, "Radical Environmentalist", Bonnie E. Mayer