AB 614

Under this bill, the laws under which the Department of Natural Resources

currently regulates metallic mining, other than iron mining, apply to mining for iron

and to mining for nonferrous minerals.

Under current law, DNR regulates mining for metallic minerals. Prior to the

enactment of

2013 Wisconsin Act 1

, the laws under which DNR regulated metallic

mining applied to mining for ferrous and nonferrous minerals.

2013 Wisconsin Act

1

created new laws for regulating iron mining and modified the laws regulating

metallic mining so that they applied to mining for nonferrous minerals only. This bill

changes the laws relating to the regulation of iron mining so that the laws are

substantially the same as they existed before enactment of

2013 Wisconsin Act 1

.

Under current law, certain forested land may be designated as managed forest

land (MFL) under a program administered by DNR. Under this program, the owner

of land designated as MFL makes an annual acreage share payment in lieu of

property taxes. In exchange, the landowner must have a management plan prepared

for the land and must open the MFL to the public for certain recreational activities.

The landowner may designate a portion of the land as closed to public access and

make an additional payment per acre.

2013 Wisconsin Act 81

generally provided

that the requirements with regard to public access to MFL do not apply to an area

of land within a certain distance of a proposed iron mining site.

2013 Wisconsin Act

81

also required an MFL owner to make an additional payment per acre for land

located in a proposed ferrous mining site if the land is not open to all of the activities

for which public access is generally required. This bill changes the laws with respect

to ferrous mining sites located on MFL so that the laws are substantially the same

as they existed before enactment of

2013 Wisconsin Act 81

.