01/30/2020- A federal appeals court panel will not review a decision by the EPA and US Army Corps of Engineers giving Michigan permitting authority over the proposed Back Forty Project in Menominee County. The ruling was communicated to the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin this week following their 2018 lawsuit against the pair of federal agencies claiming the state should not be solely responsible for reviewing the wetlands permit for the mine. Despite the ruling, a judge on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel did note the tribe “ran into a legal labyrinth and regulatory misdirection” and was given the “runaround” by the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers as the tribe sought to protect their cultural heritage. And, another judge pointed out there may be “substantial issue” as to whether the delegation of permitting authority given to the State in 1984 remains valid. The legal battle over the mine is far from over, though, as the tribe continues to contest Michigan’s decision to grant a wetlands permit for the mine before the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy.