The figures came from the Environmental Protection Agency's first assessment of the amount of mercury released into the air from 1,200 power plants across the country. Wisconsin Energy Corporation's Pleasant Prairie plant near Kenosha was the top mercury air polluter. The EPA can regulate smoke-stack emissions from utilities while states may enact their own reduction plans as well. The U.S. Forest Service held meetings up north in Crandon and Park Falls for public comments on the plan this week. The Timber Producers Association of Michigan and Wisconsin is vigorously opposing any proposed road-building moratorium, saying the public hearings are a sham because Clinton's plan is a done deal.
Environmentalists say the timber industry has destroyed the national forests.
The Forest Service is outlining different alternatives for public comment and will complete a report of its recommendations in March. A public comment period ends Dec. 20. Roads through national forests disrupt animal habitat and migration paths, lead to erosion and other damage and open up areas for motorized use by ATVs, snowmobiles and other use long after the logging is over. The national forests provide our best chance to establish refuges from noise, air pollution and to experience the northwoods in all their natural glory. Some 42 harbors in the Great Lakes, including Milwaukee's, have toxic mud that needs to be moved to keep the channel open for shipping.