Blog 03

          There was a lot of interesting information regarding Native American lands in the Keweenaw and how mining  has played a role. Historically, mining companies would start mining on these "unclaimed lands" and force the people living there to move out. They would pollute the land and water and deplete the surrounding wildlife. Thanks to advanced technology and a better understanding of our environment, the polluting methods of mines have been reduced and clean-up activities have been a bigger part of these mining companies. It isn't ideal, but it is much better than it used to be. Fortunately, more regulations have also been put in place to determine where mines can be put as well, although as we found out this last week, there are
still some issues as to where they are being opened up.

          The issues with mining really put into perspective how fragile ecosystems can be. All of these materials and elements are ones that occur on our planet in large quantities, but once these materials are moved around  ecosystems become unbalanced. Ecosystems and micro-environments typically only experience change over long time periods, so when land is completely altered, it affects the plants and animals that inhabit the region.

          It is hard to enforce environmental justice to the old, abandoned mines, when many of the companies don't even exist anymore. But for many of the new mines, the clean-up for their mining operations should be there responsibility. And thankfully that has become a larger part of their operations in the 21st century. It isn't like we can just say that we shouldn't mine anymore; that isn't a viable solution, but it is nice to see that more is being done to preserve the environment.