A state Senate committee passed a bill Thursday that would restrict public access to parts of a proposed iron mining site in northern Wisconsin, while allowing landowners to retain most of their property tax break.
The state’s managed forest law provides property tax relief for landowners who manage land for forestry and public use. The bill would allow Gogebic Taconite LLC, the company that proposed the mine, to close parts of the land from the public until state officials decide on a mining permit for the site.
State Sen. Tom Tiffany, R-Hazelhurst, said in a statement threats to the safety of employees working in the area led him to introduce the bill.
“This legislation is simply about providing all employees, public and private, at the iron mining site in northern Wisconsin the reasonable expectation of a safe workplace,” Tiffany said in the statement.
But state Sen. John Lehman, D-Racine, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel the bill was “overkill” because it would allow the company to close 3,500 acres without interference.
