In 1926 Dorothy A. (Bellows) Tyra was born in Oak Park, Illinois to Dr. Marion E. and Edna V. Bellows. In 1949 Dorothy accepted a job as a Registered Nurse for a Forest County physician, retiring in 1990. Tyra was a founding member of the Pickerel/Crane Lake Protection and Rehabilitation District in 1983 (the Bellows family had vacationed annually in the Pickerel, Wisconsin area), as well as the Nashville Chapter of the Wisconsin Resources Protection Council during the same year and served as its secretary/treasurer. Tyra was also involved with the Wolf River Watershed Alliance. In 1995 Tyra signed on to the Wolf Watershed Educational Project, a coordinating body formed by the Midwest Treaty Network, and engaged in a very successful speaking tour. She was also heavily engaged in writing letters to the editor, circulating petitions, and corresponding with politicians on environmental and other issues.
Dorothy Tyra's husband, Warde Tyra (1919-1998), was involved with the Pickerel/Crane Protection and Rehabilitation District, as well as the Nashville Town Zoning Commission. Warde was a lifelong resident of Pickerel, Wisconsin. Tyra's Resort on Pickerel Lake was founded in 1912 by Ward's grandfather. Warde co-founded the Whitetail Sportsmen's Club with Dr. Marion E. Bellows during the 1950s. The club was noted for its active involvement in conservation issues. The next section will give more specific information on the Crandon Mine controversy and the important organizations and people mentioned in this collection.
Crandon Mine Overview
In 1975, Exxon Minerals discovered a zinc and copper ore mass near Crandon, Wisconsin and officially proposed construction of a mine in Crandon in 1978. The company withdrew from the project in 1986 citing a depressed global market; however opposition groups cite their activism as the real reason for the withdrawal. In 1988 the Wolf River was declared an Outstanding Resource Waterway by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, which created more stringent pollution standards for the river. In 1993 Exxon Minerals, in conjunction with Rio Algom, formed a limited liability corporation known as Crandon Mining Company in another attempt to begin mining at Crandon. In 1995 Governor Tommy G. Thompson's budget cut the Public Intervenor's Office, the state's environmental watchdog, which resulted in a huge backlash among environmental groups. Local agreements to allow mining were passed by the Nashville town board and Forest County in 1996. Anti-mining activists then organized a successful campaign to elect a new Nashville town board the next year. In 1998 Exxon Mineral sold its shares to Rio Algom, which then proceeded forward under a subsidiary called Nicolet Minerals Company (NMC). On Earth Day of 1998, Governor Thompson signed the Sulfide Mining Moratorium Bill into law, which created another layer of difficulties for NMC. The struggle continued to be fought through local and state governments, as well as the press, until the Mole Lake Sokaogon Chippewa and Forest County Potawatomi purchased the proposed mining site in 2003.
Organizations and Personalities
The Wolf River Watershed Alliance (WRWA) was founded in Green Bay, Wisconsin by Robert Schmitz in 1976. The organization was founded shortly after the discovery of an ore deposit in the upper area of the Wolf River watershed out of fear of the environmental damage mining could do to the region. The WRWA was active in raising awareness of environmental issues statewide through writing campaigns and speaking engagements. The organization persists to the present, now under the title Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance (FWWA).
The Mole Lake Sokaogon Chippewa Community figured heavily in the opposition to the mine. The proposed mine was located on land that had been promised by treaty to the Mole Lake Sokaogon Chippewa in 1855. The tribe was also very concerned about pollution from the mine and potential water table drawdown on local waterways, including Skunk Creek, and Mole and Rice Lakes. Wild rice, which grows on these bodies of water, is vital to Chippewa culture. The tribe viewed a potential mine as a major threat to both their way of life and sovereignty. The struggle against the Crandon mine ended in 2003 when the Mole Lake Sokaogon Chippewa combined with the Forest County Potawatomi to purchase the mine for the sum of $16 million.
The Midwest Treaty Network (MTN) was founded in 1989 to coordinate both Native American and non-Native groups in response to a crisis over spear fishing treaty rights in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Other key issues for this organization include mining, cultural respect, and sacred rights. The key figure in this organization is Zoltan Grossman. Under this organization's auspices the Wolf River Educational Project began in 1995, bringing together members of environmental groups, sportsmen, and Native American tribes in a speaking tour during April and May of 1996. Dorothy Tyra was a featured speaker during these programs.
The Wisconsin Resources Protection Council (WRPC) was founded by University of Wisconsin-La Crosse sociology Professor Al Gedicks in 1982. Gedicks is a prominent anti-mining activist and indigenous rights advocate. The primary goal of this organization is the dissemination of environmental information concerning mining. This statewide organization is comprised of local chapters, with the Pickerel chapter being founded in 1983. Al Gedicks also figures in the collection through his involvement in the Center for the Development of Alternative Mining Policy (CDAMP), although to a much lesser extent. Gedicks has written two books which contain chapters dealing with the Crandon mine struggle.
Roscoe and Evelyn Churchill were groundbreakers in the grassroots organization of anti-mining groups in Wisconsin. In the mid-1970s the Churchills formed the Rusk County Citizens Action Group (RCCAG) in response to a proposed mine in Ladysmith, Wisconsin owned by Kennecott Copper Company. The initial proposal was defeated. However in 1988 Kennecott was successful in opening the mine. By the time of the Crandon mine struggle, the Churchills were seen as elder statesmen of the anti-mining movement, and continued to interact with and influence anti-mining groups. When the Sulfide Mining Moratorium was signed in 1998, environmentalists began referring to it as the Churchill law. Roscoe Churchill authored a book on the Ladysmith mine entitled The Buzzards Have Landed.
