Greetings,
 
After giving everyone a much-needed break from our correspondences, it's time to saddle up and continue our journey.
 
Firstly, a few updates regarding the proposed Copperwood Mine:

• Despite their quest for a $50 million Michigan-taxpayer funded grant being rejected not once but twice in the last year, the Copperwood crew insists that 2025 will be their year. To quote Marty Fittante, CEO of InvestUP: "While we are disappointed the Senate chose not to take action on the Copperwood Mine project, we are optimistic it will move forward in 2025." According to another article, he states, "Because this is a transfer, it does not need to start anew. It’s part of the budget cycle. The budget extends from October to September, so this is part of that budget cycle that is actually still before the legislature."
   
  Will the third time be the charm? Our campaign will stay vigilante and keep supporters posted. The momentum is certainly on our side: our petition has crossed 400,000 signatures, and over 15,000 people wrote messages to legislators in December, with countless more making phone calls and even visiting in person. What we lack in deep pockets, we'll make up for in People Power and passion for the natural majesty of the Upper Peninsula. For those who would like to go the extra step, consider reaching out to lawmakers to tell them thank you for blocking the grant in December and a request a confirmation that they will vote it down should it ever cross their desks again.
   
• Northern Michigan University president Brock Tessman rescinds support for Copperwood. After originally voicing support for the proposed Copperwood Mine, Mr. Tessman conversed with faculty of the Native American Studies Department and concluded that it was not his place to take such a controversial stand on behalf of an institution whose student body, faculty, and staff hold diverse perspectives. Emphasizing NMU's dedication to the health of freshwater and respect for Indigenous Treaty rights, the letter concludes: "We do not see the Copperwood Mine as the right mine, in the right place, at this time."
   
  That letter was shared privately with InvestUP and the mining company back in July of 2024, but interestingly, the mining company continued to list NMU as a supporter on their social media as recently as on November 21st. If they are deceiving the public on this point, what else might they be hiding?
   
  The NMU letter finally became public earlier this month, thanks to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by Citizens for a Safe and Clean Lake Superior. You can read the full letter here.
   
  NOTE: Michigan Tech University is still listed as a supporter of the Copperwood Project. We know that there are many students, faculty, and staff on this mailing list. Perhaps it is time to ask President Richard J. Koubek if he will join Dr. Tessman in adjusting his actions to be more aligned with the democratic principles of a public institution of learning?
   

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Next, we invite you to join our fight to protect Upper Peninsula nights!
 
Folks, why is it that, although the purest night skies are in the Upper Peninsula, all of the official Dark Sky Preserves are downstate?
 
In fact, Dark Sky Preserves are actively prohibited in the Upper Peninsula due to legislation passed over 30 years ago. If you believe the Upper Peninsula should have the same right to protect its night skies as elsewhere in the state, we invite you to sign our new petition, which eventually will serve as the basis for lobbying legislators to overturn this bogus law.
 
We first learned of this absurdity when we reached out to the Michigan DNR regarding whether the Porkies might be declared as a Dark Sky Preserve. Although we don't often think about light pollution as much as other ecological impacts, mines are 24-hour operations which must be illuminated constantly for the safety of workers. On the western end of the Porkies, where there is currently no source of artificial light outside of the Presque Isle Campground, such a disruption could have a dramatic impact on both the outdoor recreation experience and of course on the habitat.
 
But we were informed by Douglas M Rich, District Supervisor of the Michigan DNR Parks and Recreation Division: "The Michigan DNR must follow state statute as laid out in Michigan's Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act of 1994: "a dark sky preserve shall not be established in the Upper Peninsula."
 
Pure night skies are crucial both for human stargazers and for ecological health. Furthermore, astrotourism is a significant source of revenue in states such as Utah — such revenue could be very valuable in a region like ours which is often described as underperforming economically. How is it that the Pure Michigan campaign is actively promoting dark sky tourism in Michigan while such a prohibition is in effect?
 
Some may make the case: "Nights are already plenty dark in the U.P. There's no need to protect them!" Do you wait to talk about protecting the forest until you find yourself in the middle of a clearcut wasteland? Of course not! As always, we must be proactive. Light pollution is increasing by 10% every year, and the Upper Peninsula is not immune. The quality of night skies has greatly degraded in the U.P.'s urban centers, and the sky glow radiates for many miles into the surrounding areas.
 
Permitting Dark Sky Preserves would not halt economic development in the Upper Peninsula, but it would incentivize thoughtful illumination design. Flagstaff, Arizona — the world's first International Dark Sky City — has a population of nearly four times that of Marquette, and yet, due to intelligent illumination planning, you can see the Milky Way from within city limits. Does that sound so terrible?
 
On a deeper level, creating the designation of "Dark Sky Preserve" is a collective recognition that the night is worth protecting, because it has value, as do all those who depend upon it: the stars, the northern lights, and all terrestrial lifeforms, nocturnal or otherwise, whose biology has been programmed for billions of years according to the binary code of the light-dark cycle. That includes you and me, folks.
 
For more information, please visit our petition.
 
In solidarity,
 
Tom and the Protect The Porkies team
 
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