Hiker Group Says Rio Tinto Claim Is False

According to Woodland Road LLC, a group trying to get a new mine and timber hauling road developed in a remote section of western Marquette County, a local hiking group has given its blessing to the controversial plan.

A “Transportation Plan for the Proposed Woodland Road,” distributed by the group’s Chief Operating Officer, Ken Wooley, makes the claim that “A local hiking group called “North Country Trail Hikers” supports the new road as it will provide better access to the North Country Trail.”

North Country Trail Hiker’s President, Lorana Jinkerson, says that statement is an exaggeration.

“We’re neutral regarding the mine and road,” says Jinkerson. “We did not do any endorsing.”

According to Jinkerson, NCTH met with Rio Tinto, the sole financier behind the Woodland Road project, “quite a long time ago.” The group was concerned that a new road crossing the North Country Trail could have negative consequences for the trail system. Jinkerson says her group requested that, if a road would be built, the company should install a parking area near the trail, so hikers could safely access the trail without parking close to the heavy industrial traffic.

Jinkerson says the only benefit to building the new road, from NCTH’s perspective, would be to provide “quicker access” to portions of the trail for volunteers performing maintenance work.

The NCTH maintains the North Country Trail from the Rock River Road, in Alger County, all the way to Long Lake, just west of Craig Lake State Park. Jinkerson says her group stays out of politics and “controversial issues” that don’t directly affect portions of the trail her group maintains.

At public hearings and in their reports, Rio Tinto has presented the Woodland Road as beneficial to recreation in the area. Their transportation plan claims that “access to lands open to public use by fishermen, hunters, berry pickers, mushroomers, bird watchers, hikers, and sightseers will be facilitated and improved by Woodland Road.