May 25, 2013
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Terry Daulton
3310 N Kein Rd, Mercer, WI
715-476-3530
Iron County Citizen’s Forum Sponsors Program, “Understanding County Forest Withdrawal Process”
On June 5, at 7:00 PM, the Iron County Citizen’s Forum, a newly formed education group, is sponsoring a program on aspects of the county forest and county forest withdrawal process at the Town Hall in Oma on Hwy. 51. The program is free and open to the public. The goal of the program is provide an opportunity to learn and ask questions specific to county forest lands. This program is the first, in what the Citizen’s Forum expects to be a series of focused education programs.
Speakers for the program will include Joe Vairus, Iron County Forest Administrator and Joe Schwantes, County and Public Lands Specialist from the DNR Bureau of Forestry. Joe Vairus will give an overview of the natural resources, history and forestry operations on the 3,000+ acres being considered for lease to GTac under the pending iron mining proposal. Joe Schwantes will address the process of county forest land withdrawals, opportunities for citizen input, and ways that the new ferrous mining law will impact the county forest regulations. Each speaker will give a brief presentation followed by a facilitated question and answer period.
The purpose of the Iron County Citizen’s Forum, is to “Provide Iron County citizens with a venue for learning, discussion and participation relating to activities and events that affect Iron County residents in a significant way, with a special emphasis on natural and cultural resources and sustainable development”.
The Citizen’s Forum first met on April 11th with about 60 people attending. The motivation for the first get together was to bring together people from a variety of perspectives that had an interest in learning more about the pending iron mining proposal. Based on brainstorming from that evening, the group has established a steering committee to develop an outline for the organization’s purpose, methods and goals. During this discussion, the group decided to address a range of issues that might interest Iron County citizens. The group is non-political, and will focus on providing accurate information to Iron County citizens in a non-threatening environment to promote shared discussion and learning.