The Money Trail Contributions for Gov. Thompson's and  Lt. Gov. McCallum's Re-election Campaigns, 1990 thru 1997 ---          from PACs and leaders of companies  with mining interests  Donors' Corporations or PACs

Dollars

Ahlgrimm Explosives  Ames Construction  Anderson Consulting (Arthur Anderson) *  Ayres Associates  Bechtel Group Inc.  Oscar J. Boldt Construction (Boldt Group)  Case Corporation  Charleston/Orwig, Inc.  CH2M Hill  Coastal Employee Action Fund *  Coopers and Lybrand *  Crandon Mining Co. (now Nicolet Minerals)  Cummins Great Lakes  Coastal Corporation  Exxon Coal & Minerals  FABCO Equipment, Inc.  Falk Corporation  Fluor Corp. Public Affairs Committee **  Foth & Van Dyke  Gates, Rob ***  General Electric PAC *  GEO Synthetics  Giddings and Lewis  Graef, Anhalt, Schloemer & Associates  Great Lakes Calcium Corp.  Grede Foundries, Inc.  Harnischfeger Corp.  Hentzen Coatings  Hoffman Construction  HSI Geo Trans  Ingersoll Rand Corporation  Johnson Controls  Material Service Corporation  Maynard Steel Casting  Metalworld, Inc.  Michels Pipeline Construction  Michigan Tech Univ. (David K. Reinke)  Mid City P & H  Milsolv  Nicolet Hardwoods  Phoenix Products Co.  Pieper Electric  Rexnord Corp.  Rust Environmental & Infrastructure  STS Consultants  Super Steel Products  Twin Disc  Vollrath  Vulcan Materials  Wisconsin Public Service Corp.  Wisconsin Central Railroad Ltd.  Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce ****  Wisconsin Timber Producers  Wisconsin Utilities Association  Wood Communications Group  Woodward-Clyde  Total Contributions  Source: the Wisconsin Cooperative Campaign Finance Database, a joint project of Wisconsin Democracy Campaign and Wisconsin Citizen Action, funded by the Joyce Foundation.    *    Anti-environmental Political Action Committee   **  Rio Algom construction partner in Argentina    *** Wis. DIHLR Mine Safety Specialist   **** anti-environmental lobbying association

200  3,250  15,547  14,180  1,000  15,750  3,125  100  5,250  10,000  1,100  500  800  5,700  1,150  10,570  1,475  10,000  4,325  1,000  5,000  3,000  2,600  20,130  400  4,000  5,220  300  13,848  100  740  14,950  300  300  2,000  11,140  1,000  125  1,060  18,406  1,500  350  2,000  23,355  2,500  18,200  250  1,000  100  9,005  17,310  2,750  1,500  750  4,550  700   295,471

 
 

Major Lawfirms for  Metallic Mining Companies  Contributions for Gov. Thompson's and  Lt. Gov. McCallum's Re-election Campaigns, 1990 thru 1997,  from lawfirms known to represent mining  companies active in Wisconsin  Donors' Firms	Dollars
Cook and Franke  Dewitt, Ross and Stevens  Foley and Lardner  Quarles and Brady  Whyte, Hirschboeck,and Dudek  Total Campaign Contributions    Source: the Wisconsin Cooperative  Campaign Finance Database	9,535  19,149  53,135  39,005  27,800   148,624

 
 

Crandon Mine Shareholders  Contributions for Gov. Thompson's and  Lt. Gov. McCallum's Re-election Campaigns, 1990 thru 1997,  from shareholders in limited partnerships invested in  theCrandon Mine  Donors' Names

Dollars

Bushman Family  Connor Family (also under Nicolet Hardwoods above)    Catherine C. Dellin  Edward J. Dellin  Curt J. Draeger  Duff Family  Jeffrey R. Evans  Guenther Family  Hilger Family  Michael T. Hunter  Michael T. Hunter II  Richard A. Kjome  Daniel & Dianne Kretz  Patricia Listle  David C. Prange  Phillip Prange  Charles Resch  David A. Schmidt  Thomas A. Stark  Wes Tradewell  Allen M Voelz    Total Campaign Contributions     Source: the Wisconsin Cooperative Campaign Finance Database, and shareholder information on the limiited partners from the Wisconsin Dept. of Financial Institutions.

600 17,406 10,200 500 1,250 250 1,500 250 250 6,500 700 100 1,500 500 1,000 8,375 100 100 150 400 100   51,731

 

Non-Metallic Mining Money  Contributions for Gov. Thompson's and  Lt. Gov. McCallum's Re-election Campaigns, 1990 thru 1997,  from companies with an interest in non-metallic mining.  Several of the largest donors are active  with the Wisconsin Mining Association.  Donors' Companies

Dollars

ACW Sand, Gravel & Rock  Badger Mining Corporation  Baumhardt Aggregate  Central Ready Mixed  Central Sand & Gravel  Cold Spring Granite Co.  Dresser Trap Rock  Ellis Stone Construction  Genesee Aggregate Co.  Halquist Stone Co. Inc.  Janesville Sand & Gravel  Johnson Sand & Gravel  Ed Kraemer & Sons  Lewer Sand & Gravel  Madison Crushing & Excavating  Payne & Dolan  Rock Road Companies  Schmitz Ready Mix  Wingra Stone Co.  Wissota Sand & Gravel    Total Campaign Contributions    Source: the Wisconsin Cooperative Campaign Finance Database  Note:  This is not a comprehensive list of donors from the non-metallic   mining industry and therefore understates total contributions.

600  5,650  100  750  450  2,100  350  850  5,753  8,200  325  198  31,118  2,100  200  20,708  18,213  200  3,375  6,100  107,340

 
 

Front Group Donations  Contributions for Gov. Thompson's and  Lt. Gov. McCallum's Re-election Campaigns, 1990 thru 1997,  from companies and individuals which support  "People for the West" a mining industry front  group which formed a  local chapter  called "People for Wisconsin"  Donors' Corporations

Dollars

American Petroleum Institute  Ames Construction  (also listed under Money Trail)  AVR Inc.  Frelk, Calvin & Arlene (Northern Christmas Trees & Nursery)  Harnischfeger Corp. (also listed under Money Trail)  Moore Oil Co.  Pope & Talbot  Summit, Inc.  Svedala Industries  Johnson Matthey  Goodyear Tire & Rubber (Shierl, Inc.)    Total Campaign Contributions    Source: the Wisconsin Cooperative Campaign Finance Database

120 3,250 500 8,480  5,200 500 100 100 100 500 4,500   23,350

 
 

Money from Claim Holders  Contributions for Gov. Thompson's and Lt. Gov.  McCallum's Re-election Campaigns,  1990 thru 1997, from companies  that  "...have or claim to have a legal or equitable interest in lands within the project area"  according to local agreements between the Towns of Nashville and Lincoln, and Crandon Mining Co. (now Nicolet Minerals)  Donors' Corporations	Dollars
Consolidated Paper   10,501  Kimberly-Clark 1,200  Owens-Illinois 500    Total Campaign Contributions    Source: the Wisconsin Cooperative Campaign Finance Database	10,501  1,200  500     12,201

 
 

 
 
• The Crandon Mining Company, a partnership formed by EXXON and Rio Algom, spent $358,000 in the second half of 1996 and $553,000 in the first half of 1997 on lobbying.
• In the first half of 1997, the Flambeau Mining Company spent $45,000 on lobbying.  In the same period, Harnischfeger Industries, a mining equipment firm, spent $20,000, and Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce spent $145,000.
• According to media experts, Crandon Mining spent over $1 million on television commercials in 1997.  Figures for print ads, radio spots and other media are not yet available.
• The Coalition for Fair Regulation, a fake grassroots group out of Milwaukee supported by Crandon and Flambeau Mining, did mass phone calling around the state urging people to oppose the mining moratorium, at a cost of $160,000.   The phone calls originated from Utah, a state "rich" in its own mining history.   According to Peter Theo, executive director of the Coalition for Fair Regulation "it doesn't matter where the calls come from."
• In the wake of the Valdez disaster, EXXON gave $5 million over 5 years to the UW School of Engineering for the "Center for Study of Human Performance in Complex Systems," where researchers are studying high risk, error prone activities.
• In the UW School of Business, EXXON gave $40,000 to the Center for Urban Land Economics to discredit the notion of "environmental racism" by "proving" that racial minorities actually prefer to live next to its polluting facilities in "Cancer Alley" near Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
• The primary law firm retained by EXXON  is Foley and Lardner.   Michael Grebe, former president of the UW Board of Regents, who was appointed Regent by Gov. Thompson, is a partner at Foley and Lardner.  The lawfirm also happens to have a $35,000 luxury box at the new UW-Madison Herb Kohl stadium.  Current UW Regent George Steil is a partner with the law firm Brennan, Steil, Basting and MacDougall, the personal law firm of Thompson, which was hired to undermine tribal water quality standards at the Mole Lake Reservation --- standards which could have hampered EXXON's bid for a mining permit.
 

The following sections of this report discuss key details:

  Report Overview and Introduction
  The Timeline and Issues
  More Mining Issues
  Conclusion and Recommendations
  Methodology and References