Legal action
Preventing Harm Caused by Metallic Mining on National Forest Lands
Case Status: Closed
MEA provided legal representation to the Ho-Chunk Nation in a legal challenge aimed at protecting cultural resources and sacred sites from potential harm caused by exploratory mining activities in Taylor County.
CASE SUMMARY
MEA represented the Ho-Chunk Nation in a legal challenge to the DNR’s decision to allow Green Light Wisconsin to conduct exploratory mining operations in the Bend Deposit, a potentially significant copper and gold deposit located within the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest in Ojibwe Ceded Territory.
The lawsuit was filed in March 2025 by the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, who argued that the DNR failed to require an industrial storm water discharge permit for Green Light Wisconsin’s exploratory mining activities.
In August 2025, the Ho-Chunk Nation filed a motion to intervene in the case, arguing that the outcome could have a significant impact on the natural resources Ho-Chunk Tribal members rely on for subsistence, cultural practices, recreation, and more. In September, the Ho-Chunk Nation became a full party to the case when a Taylor County circuit court judge granted their motion to intervene.
In February 2026, the court upheld the DNR’s decision to allow exploratory mining activities to move forward without requiring the appropriate permits. This ruling overlooks serious risks to natural resources and culturally significant resources that Tribal Nations depend on. We remain committed to working alongside the Ho-Chunk Nation and the Lac du Flambeau Band to protect water resources, wildlife and cultural resources from harm.
HISTORY OF TRIBAL RESISTANCE TO METALLIC MINING IN WISCONSIN
Native Nations have long been at the forefront of resisting extractive mining projects that threaten their lands, waters, cultures, and ways of life. In the long battle, dating back to 1975, over the proposed Crandon zinc-copper mine, in Forest County, a number of Tribes—including Mole Lake (Sokaogon Chippewa), Menominee, Forest County Potawatomi, and Stockbridge-Munsee—organized to successfully block its development in 2003.
Tribes also played a key role in the 1998 passage of Wisconsin’s sulfide mining moratorium (the “Prove It First” law), which required mining companies to provide an example of a metallic sulfide mine in the U.S. that hadn’t polluted local watersheds before it could establish a new mine in the state.
The moratorium was repealed in 2017 under a law passed by the Republican-controlled state Legislature. The repeal opened the door to renewed mineral exploration and new sulfide mining proposals. In response, the Ho-Chunk Nation, the Lac du Flambeau Tribe, and other Native Nations continue to engage in legal action, policy advocacy, and grassroots organizing to protect their lands and waters from the harm that sulfide mining would cause.
CASE TIMELINE
February 4, 2025: DNR’s permit decision
DNR permitted Green Light Wisconsin’s metallic mineral exploratory mining project under the construction site stormwater discharge general permit.
March 6, 2025: Lawsuit filed
The Lac Du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians filed the lawsuit in Taylor County Circuit Court.
August 27, 2025: Motion to Intervene
On behalf of the Ho-Chunk Nation, MEA filed a brief in support of the Nation’s motion to intervene in the lawsuit.
September 25, 2025: Intervention Granted
The court granted the Ho-Chunk Nation’s request to intervene, allowing the Nation to participate as a full party to the case.
November 14, 2025: Ho-Chunk Nation’s Opening Brief on the Merits
The Ho-Chunk Nation filed its opening merits brief, arguing that the DNR unlawfully permitted the Green Light Wisconsin’s mining activities and that the agency’s decision harms culturally important resources that Ho-Chunk tribal members rely on.
January 9, 2026: Plaintiffs’ Joint Reply Brief
On behalf of the Ho-Chunk Nation and the Lac du Flambeau Tribe, MEA and attorneys for Lac du Flambeau filed a brief outlining how the DNR’s decision endangers natural resources in the area of the Bend Deposit and threatens to interfere with the Tribes’ rights to utilize those resources.
February 5, 2026
The court issued a ruling affirming DNR’s permit decision. We are disappointed that the court upheld the DNR’s decision to allow exploratory mining activities to move forward without requiring the appropriate permits. This ruling overlooks serious risks to natural resources and culturally significant resources that Tribal Nations depend on.
