About

Forest County Potawatomi Community

The Forest County Potawatomi Community are very involved in a number of significant environmental initiatives both to lighten their own environmental footprint while also working with others to significantly reduce environmental impacts within Wisconsin.

The environmental advocacy efforts of the Forest County Potawatomi Community include:

Successfully opposed the Crandon Mine

For decades, the Forest County Potawatomi Community has worked with tribal and other partners to raise concerns regarding the proposed Crandon Mine in Forest County, Wisconsin.

The Crandon ore body is one of the largest zinc and copper deposits in North America and is located in one of the most pristine and water-rich areas in the world. It is also one of the most difficult ore bodies to mine safely, since it contains approximately 95 percent sulfidic material. This fact, combined with the water-rich resources that surround the ore body, makes it highly likely that any mining of the site using present technology would result in tremendous environmental impacts, including the certain contamination of billions of gallons of groundwater and the inevitable contamination of surface waters in the area. The proposed Crandon Mine would have also significantly impacted hundreds if not thousands of acres of pristine wetlands, as well as alter water levels and water quality in Little Sand Lake and other nearby water levels.

The Tribe was a leader in raising concerns regarding the proposed mine. In 2000, when the Tribe first obtained substantial financial resources from its gaming facilities, it invested those resources in scientific expertise to examine the likely impacts of the proposed mine.

Because of the concerns raised by the Tribe and others, BHP Billiton – the largest mining company in the world - gave up on its plans to mine the ore body and sold its rights to the owners of a local forestry company. The Tribe continued to raise environmental, cultural, economic and other concerns identified by its experts.

On October 27, 2003, the Tribe's effort culminated in the historic purchase of the over 5000-acre proposed mine site with the Sokaogon Chippewa (Mole Lake) Community. The Potawatomi and the Sokaogon Chippewa Community continue to work together to protect this pristine area of the Wisconsin Northwoods.

Successful re-designation of Tribe's reservation as a Class I area

Due to the Tribe's strong commitment to protecting both air and water quality, in 1994 the Forest County Potawatomi Community requested the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to re-designate the Tribe's Forest County reservation as a Class I area under the Clean Air Act. A Class I designation helps to protect the reservation's air quality, as well as the air quality throughout much of the Northwoods, since it limits the allowable incremental impact from major air pollution sources.

After fourteen long years of determined effort, the EPA issued its decision granting the Tribe's re-designation request on April 29, 2008. This resulted in the first tribal Class I designation since 1992.

Tribe's successful efforts to protect all Class I areas from proposed rules that would weaken protections

Under the Bush administration, the EPA proposed rules that would dramatically alter the analysis of impacts to Class I areas from major polluting sources. The Tribe worked closely with the National Tribal Environmental Council to submit comments and met with officials at the EPA and the Office of Management and Budget regarding these proposed rules. Fortunately, as a result of significant efforts by the Tribe and others, such as the National Parks Conservation Association, the Bush Administration decided to give up on its proposed Class I rules. This decision resulted in the continued protection of all Class I areas, including National Parks and Wilderness Areas, ensuring they can be enjoyed for years to come.

Tribe funds research regarding impacts of mercury and sulfate deposition

Clean water is critical to the Tribe's culture, religion and way-of-life. Significant methyl mercury contamination of fish in waters on the Tribe's reservation and throughout Wisconsin and the nation has led the Forest County Potawatomi Community to take a leading role in examining the causes of methyl mercury formation. The Tribe has entered into cooperative agreements with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) under which the Tribe has funded significant research efforts by Dr. Carl Watras, a DNR scientist and one of the world's leading researchers of the causes of methyl mercury formation in inland waters.

Significant Tribal involvement in state and federal rules to limit mercury emissions

The Forest County Potawatomi Community has taken a leadership role in the development of both federal and state rules regarding mercury emissions and methyl mercury formation.

On the federal side, the Tribe submitted comments objecting to the "CAMR" rule, which would have allowed for significant mercury deposition "hot spots" to occur and mercury emission levels considerably higher than required to protect human health. As a result of the comments submitted by the Tribe and others, as well as follow-up litigation, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia recently overturned the CAMR rule as contrary to federal law.

On the state side, the Tribe submitted comments in favor of Wisconsin's new mercury rule, which appropriately requires 90 percent reduction in mercury emissions from power plants. The Forest County Potawatomi Community's funding of research by Dr. Watras was also instrumental in adding incentives to the rule to not only reduce mercury but also sulfate and other emissions.

Tribe's participation in Governor's Task Force on Global Warming

The Tribe's Attorney General participated as a one of 27 representatives on the Governor's Task Force on Global Warming. The Forest County Potawatomi was the only Native American tribe on the Task Force.

The Task Force worked for over one year to develop actionable policies to reduce Wisconsin's proportionate share of greenhouse gas emissions while creating jobs and growing the State's economy.

The Tribe was among the most active participants on the Governor's Task Force, serving on the majority of the work groups that developed policies included in the Task Force's Final Report. The Tribe is now working on implementing these policies to allow the State of Wisconsin to be a leader on climate change solutions.

Tribal energy efficiency, green energy and overall carbon reduction initiative

To be a leader in reducing its own greenhouse gas emissions, the Tribe is implementing an overall energy efficiency, green energy and carbon reduction initiative. This initiative includes working closely with Focus on Energy to audit all of the Tribe's buildings with significant energy usage. Based on these audits, the Tribe is implementing measures to improve its energy efficiency, thereby reducing its carbon emissions.

In addition, to ensure that the Tribe can monitor and reduce its energy use, quarterly reports will be prepared analyzing energy usage and associated carbon emissions per square foot of building space.

As a part of its carbon reduction efforts, the Tribe has also converted to a four-day work week, which not only provides opportunity for energy savings, but significantly reduces the carbon footprint from employee travel. It is expected that this initiative will reduce approximately 170 tons of carbon per year from employee travel alone.

Incorporation of energy efficiency and other environmental features into the Tribe's casino operations

The Forest County Potawatomi Community is very dedicated to ensuring that its businesses and buildings, including its two casinos, incorporate energy efficiency measures and other environmental features into their design and operation.

Potawatomi Bingo Casino in Milwaukee has recently undergone a substantial expansion. Energy efficiencies were incorporated into the casino construction both in the initial design and through an additional review of the project with the assistance of Focus on Energy. These important steps have allowed the entire expanded casino to use significantly less energy per gross square foot and to have a significantly-reduced greenhouse gas footprint per gross square foot than the original facility, which was built less than ten years ago.