This is not a political post, and I'm not interested in debating politics.  Feel free to do so if you like, but I won't be participating in any of that nonsense as this is a place to set that aside, and focus on the issue, IMO.  Division and finger pointing are worthless activities, an are only practiced by people with agendas, IMO.

I received this e-mail from Governor Evers' office this morning in response to and e-mail I sent with my concerns about the Back 40 Mine along the Menominee River between Wisconsin and Michigan:

𝑀𝑦 𝐹𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑊𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑠,

𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑦 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝐵𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑦 𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑒. 𝐼 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚.
 
𝐴𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑔𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑐 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑖𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑔𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑒 𝑅𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟. 𝑁𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑎𝑙 𝑔𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠, 𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑖𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑎 𝐶𝑙𝑢𝑏 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑒 𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑇𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑊𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑛, ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒. 𝐴𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒’𝑠 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑒 𝑅𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑒 𝑅𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟’𝑠 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑎𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝐺𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝐵𝑎𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐿𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑀𝑖𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑔𝑎𝑛.

𝑂𝑢𝑟 𝑎𝑑𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑊𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑠 𝑊𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑛’𝑠 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑎𝑙 𝑔𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠, 𝑛𝑜𝑛𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑓𝑖𝑡 𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑧𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑖𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑎 𝐶𝑙𝑢𝑏 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑔𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑒 𝑅𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎. 𝑊ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑎 𝑀𝑖𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑔𝑎𝑛 𝑗𝑢𝑑𝑔𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑜𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝐴𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑎 𝑎 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑡, 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑎𝑑𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒’𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑠.

𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑦 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝐵𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑦 𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑒. 𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑛’𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑢𝑠 𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑢𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑓 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑢𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒.

𝑆𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑦,
 
 
𝑇𝑜𝑛𝑦 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠
𝐺𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑜𝑟

I'm sure many of you received the same e-mail.

That is, IMO, very much a non-response and identifies no specific, actionable steps being taken.  Nor does it identify any specific actions, contact, negotiations or interactions with Michigan Governor Whitmer's office.

My response:

𝐺𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑜𝑟 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠,

𝐼 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑛𝑜 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑠, 𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑝𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑊𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒.

𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑀𝑖𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑔𝑎𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑀𝑖𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑔𝑎𝑛 𝐺𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑜𝑟 𝑊ℎ𝑖𝑡𝑚𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑒𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑒?

𝐺𝑒𝑜𝑓𝑓 𝑅𝑜𝑧𝑛𝑎𝑘

...and I included my address and phone number.

I'd love to see a ton of e-mails with similar content go back to Governor Evers' office.  What we received is typical government spin and non-action, as such it is unacceptable.

THANK YOU Geoff!
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Here is my interpretation of your received letter:

𝑀𝑦 𝐹𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑊𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑠,

𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑦 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH.
𝐼 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH.

𝐴𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤, BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH 𝑎𝑛𝑑 BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH. 𝑁𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑎𝑙 𝑔𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠, 𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑖𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑎 𝐶𝑙𝑢𝑏 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑒 𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑇𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑊𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑛, ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑 BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH, 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 BLAH. 𝐴𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑑 BLAH 𝑖𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH 𝑀𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑒 𝑅𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟’𝑠 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑎𝑦 𝑜𝑓 BLAH BLAH 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐿𝑎𝑘𝑒 BLAH BLAH.

𝑂𝑢𝑟 𝑎𝑑𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑦 BLAH BLAH BLAHing 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑊𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑜 BLAH BLAH BLAH 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑠 𝑊𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑛’𝑠 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑎𝑙 𝑔𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠, 𝑛𝑜𝑛𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑓𝑖𝑡 𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑧𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑖𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑎 𝐶𝑙𝑢𝑏 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑔𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑒 𝑅𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎.

𝑊ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑎 𝑀𝑖𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑔𝑎𝑛 𝑗𝑢𝑑𝑔𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑦 BLAH BLAH BLAHed, 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑎𝑑𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑒 𝑡𝑜 BLAH BLAH BLAH.

𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑦 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑜 BLAH BLAH BLAH. 𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑛’𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑡𝑜 BLAH BLAH BLAH 𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑢𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑓 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑢𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒.

𝑆𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑦,
𝑇𝑜𝑛𝑦 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠
𝐺𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑜𝑟

Letter template that is sent to everyone. 

I bet if I dropped an email to the governor on this issue, I'd get the same exact reply back word for word.

"Good sirs, although all of my non-fishing views are of the Republican persuasion, I have found an environmental issue that may affect my angling.  Despite the fact that the two parties are diametrically opposed on this issue, as a man of fine principles, because of my high minded nature only, and not because of the difference between the two parties,  I must insist that we dare not speak of politics when discussing this issue of environmentalism that may affect my fishing.  That said, what irritates me most about this issue is that this Democrat did not take the time to send a personal, handwritten letter to ME.