Comments closed August 31
Hardrock mineral prospecting proposed for Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest
U.S. Forest Service · Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, Bend Deposit, Taylor County, Wisconsin
- What
- The Forest Service may allow private mineral exploration on public land in Taylor County, Wisconsin.
- Where
- Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, Bend Deposit, Taylor County, Wisconsin, WI
- How much
- Public forest land at the Bend deposit in Taylor County faces industrial mineral prospecting.
- Decided
- Comments closed August 31, 2026. No decision document is on file yet.Date from Forest Service comment page (CARA) ↗, read September 1, 2026.
Where these four lines come from
- WhatOur plain-English read of the Forest Service project page ↗. Check it against the agency’s own words under Case.
- WhereThe places and states the project page names, as PLAN read them.
- How muchThe first sentence of our What’s at risk read of the notice; the whole read is under Case.
- DecidedAugust 31, 2026, from Forest Service comment page (CARA), its “comments are requested through” date ↗. Read September 1, 2026. The decision document is the one on file in PLAN’s record.
- Read from PLAN’s record November 10, 2026.
What the proposal said, and what the decision did
No figure from the proposal has been checked against the decision on this fight yet. What the record does hold is the issues ledger below.
No decision document is on PLAN’s record for this fight yet. When the agency’s decision lands, what it answered goes here.
PLAN's read: high threat
The Forest Service may allow private mineral exploration on public land in Taylor County, Wisconsin.
What’s at risk
If this goes through
Our plain-English read of the official notice ↗. Check it against the agency’s own words below.
In the agency’s own words
Greenlight Wisconsin LLC has applied for a prospecting permit to the Bureau of Land Management for hardrock minerals on the Bend deposit in Taylor County, Wisconsin. The Forest Service is the steward of the federally owned surface and has consent authority for mineral permitting and leasing.
The groups on this fight
4 groups predicted likely to care in Wisconsin
Predicted likely to care is a guess from the group's sourced work in Wisconsin, with no link to this decision. Give straight to them; nothing routes through us.
- Aldo Leopold Foundation
Predicted likely to care · a guess
Works Wisconsin: They work only in Wisconsin.
- Friends of Horicon National Wildlife Refuge
Predicted likely to care · a guess
Works Wisconsin: They work only in Wisconsin.
- Friends of Plum and Pilot Islands
Predicted likely to care · a guess
Works Wisconsin: Wisconsin is one of the 2 states they work in.
- Ice Age Trail Alliance
Predicted likely to care · a guess
Works Wisconsin: They work only in Wisconsin.
Every group above is on STAND for Public Lands, with its court record, its filings and who backs it.
Who signs it
The notice names no signer PLAN could read. PLAN names a decision-maker only when the document names one.
The ground
The window has closed, so there’s no watch to set on it here.
The photograph on this page: Autumn hardwoods along Nursery Road, Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, Wisconsin (Forest Service photo). More Than Just Parks.
In court on this ground
No court case we track is over Chequamegon National Forest and Nicolet National Forest.
Who holds the vote
PLAN’s record doesn’t tie a member of Congress to this fight yet. The scorecard grades the votes and bills that decide public lands; nothing joins a vote or a bill to this decision, so there’s no member to name here without guessing.
See how your members vote ↗Forest ServiceWe track this on the agency’s own system of record, where most on-the-ground decisions live.
Know an open comment period we are missing, or spotted a wrong deadline? .
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