Michigan Strategic Fund Approves Copperwood Funding

On Tuesday, August 25th, 2026, the Michigan Strategic Fund (MSF) approved $50 million in taxpayer funding to the proposed Copperwood Mine project in Gogebic County. Our team at Citizens for a Safe & Clean Lake Superior is extremely disappointed by this decision and the threat it poses to the health, safety, and economic welfare of the Upper Peninsula and Lake Superior watershed. 

This funding, most of which will go directly to the inexperienced and Canadian-owned mining company Highland Copper, is being redirected from already-allocated funds from the MSF's Strategic Operating and Attraction Reserve (SOAR) Fund. As a result, this decision will not require approval from the Michigan Legislature. State legislators have rejected Highland Copper's plea for taxpayer funding three times in the past two years, and this is a slimy and undemocratic attempt to avoid another rejection.

Wakefield Township in Gogebic County, where Copperwood is proposed, has lost over 15,000 acres of historic wetlands to date. Highland Copper continues to add to that; having already destroyed 60 acres of wetlands near the Porcupine Mountains to construct the tailings pond that will hold 40 million tons of toxic mine waste for generations to come.

Citizens for Superior will continue to monitor the Copperwood project, advocate for the Upper Peninsula's wetlands, and work to protect the Lake Superior watershed. For more information about the Copperwood Mine, and how to take action, visit our friends at protecttheporkies.com.