A Little Slice of da Harbor...: 250 Foot Tower on Brockway Mountain? You Decide.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

250 Foot Tower on Brockway Mountain? You Decide.

You are probably well aware that, when you come to da Harbor, your cell phone does not work. Either you love the fact that you can turn it off, so no one can bother you, or you hate the fact that you can't stay connected in case of an emergency. Personally, I like the fact that this area is free from cell tower radiation.

But my opinion is irrelevant because plans are in place to put a couple towers up. Copper Harbor will have cell phone service through Verizon. Possibly by 2013. This fact doesn't really bother me -- technology is inevitable (and hey, maybe the internet will be faster!).

If you click on the photos below, you will see a photoshopped version of what bothers me, and most others who love their unscathed vistas while driving into Copper Harbor and along Brockway Mountain Drive.

Photo 1

Photo 2

If this bothers you too, you can sign a petition to let Keweenaw County know that they should investigate other options besides a 250 tower on one of the historic landmarks of America. A few smaller towers could be used, for example.

Here is the link to the petition. I have signed it myself. Let's help da Harbor keep it's natural beauty!

In the mean time, Let It Snow!

6 comments:

karlaJanuary 25, 2012 at 7:22 PM
no no no no no!!!!
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Bayfieldwis.comJanuary 26, 2012 at 12:46 AM
We are losing our wildness feeling all over the northland. Most lodges have Wifi so you can email and check messages. If you can't turn off your phone for a few days perhaps you should stay home? I hate cell towers but like my I-Phone as much as the next person. What I feel in Copper Harbor is remote and unspoiled. That seems lessened if there are towers.
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AnonymousJanuary 26, 2012 at 9:03 AM
Usgs.gov is free downloads but lengthy.

http://cida.usgs.gov/hqsp/apex/f?p=262:18:5550325399569848::NO:RP::
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AnonymousFebruary 24, 2012 at 9:06 AM
Those pictures are ridiculously out of proportion. Anyone interested can visit the County Offices and see the "to-scale photo simulations".
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AmandaFebruary 24, 2012 at 12:07 PM
Thanks for the update!
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AnonymousJuly 29, 2013 at 6:24 PM
Has anybody thought how the area would grow if cell phone would work and faster internet service was present. I say forward with the tower and forwards with progress.
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Unofficial Overview from a Resident's Point of View

“If you’ve never been there, you wouldn’t understand” is a quote printed above an outlined picture of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula on a t-shirt sold in gift shops in the area. Some people cock their heads in bewilderment of what this could mean. Well, if you’ve never been there (to da U.P.), then you wouldn’t understand.

It’s simple really. Where are you guaranteed to see more trees than people on any drive or walk? Where can you sit in a bar in April and know everybody’s name? Where can you wear flannel and Carharts anytime of the year without a flinch from a passerby? Where can you end most of your sentence with the colloquialism eh, eh? Where can you go to truly get away from the civilized world? If you answered “da U.P.” to all of these questions, why, you must have been there.

Michigan’s Upper Peninsula makes up one third of the state’s land mass, but only 3% of its entire population. It’s no wonder the average number of people per square mile is 19.3. Nineteen people per square mile! Its lack of inhabitants combined with a plethora of wilderness, unique geographical features and an abundance of water is a big part of what makes the U.P. so unique. In fact, it was included in the Sherman Travel worldwide “Top 10 Places to Go in 2005."

And unique in itself, at the most northern tip in the Keweenaw Peninsula sits the little village of Copper Harbor. “Tops in Michigan,” “the beginning of the road” and quite frankly, the hardest place to leave once your soul has found its peace. It’s the least visited and most revisited place in America. Returning visitors make an appearance at least once a year, no matter what gas prices are. And when they’re back at home, they dream of their next visit to the end of the world.

Why would people want to return to a place where their cell phones don’t work and they can’t get a Big Mac for at least 54 miles? Once you drive through the one and only blinking stop light in town, you are 99% guaranteed not to see any authorities. The town can take care of itself for the most part, and people respect each other and each other’s property.

To the local residents and the handfuls of returning tourists (of which some have been adopted), Copper Harbor is the only place where they can be themselves -- completely and shamelessly (at least until the next morning). Fashion does not exist, but comfort is a must. Possessions mean nothing, but attitude means the world. Loitering is encouraged, and talk is ceaseless. Fresh air is plentiful, and serenity is down the block on Lake Superior’s shore. Ahhh.

Only 90 people can bear to live there year-round (good thing because the post office only has 130 mailboxes), but the population peaks around 250 in the busy summer months when people reopen their business or their summer home.

Copper Harbor and the rest of the Keweenaw Peninsula average 270 inches of snow each season. Whether it falls consistently throughout the winter or all in one dump, it’s guaranteed to fall if it isn’t drilling sideways. Only four businesses stay open through these long months because sometimes, there’s just nobody there.

U.S. Highway 41, which runs all the way to Miami, Florida, begins in Copper Harbor, and yes, it gets plowed the whole way up. A half mile north, six miles east and five miles south of this landmark puts you in magical Lake Superior. I know it’s magical because I’ve caught myself and many other people staring, mesmerized by its pure vastness, undulations and crashing waves.

When you can enjoy every breath of Lake Superior air, wear clothing soley for funtion and not mind seeing the same people day after day after day after day, then, my friend, then, you’ll understand.

A Little Slice of da Harbor...

Copper Harbor, That is!

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

250 Foot Tower on Brockway Mountain? You Decide.

6 comments:

Unofficial Overview from a Resident's Point of View

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