The Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition (UPEC) is a Michigan-based environmentalist advocacy organization that has been involved in land use, mining, water protection, and energy-related policy debates in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The organization has been active in campaigns opposing mining projects, infrastructure development, and nuclear waste storage near the Great Lakes, and it is associated with multiple environmental coalitions that oppose nuclear energy as part of their policy agenda. ^{1  2  3  4}

The Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition is organized as a tax-exempt nonprofit founded in 1976 and headquartered in Houghton, Michigan. ⁵ The organization operates under a volunteer board and functions as both an advocacy group and a grantmaking entity. According to UPEC’s 2024 tax filing, the organization relies primarily on charitable contributions, investment income, and grants from other environmental organizations such as the Michigan Environmental Council (MEC). ⁶

Background

Founded in 1976, the Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition operated for several decades as a regional environmental organization focused on conservation and development issues affecting Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Despite its name, publicly available descriptions do not indicate that the UPEC is structured as a formal umbrella coalition composed of distinct organizational member groups. Instead, external volunteer-directory materials describe UPEC as “made up of hundreds of interested individual members,” and the UPEC’s published history similarly characterizes the organization as an individual-membership group governed by a volunteer board. ^{7  8} The UPEC has been active in grassroots debates over wilderness protection, mining regulation, and nuclear-related policy questions in the region. ^{2  9  10}

In 2017, the Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition expanded its anti-mining advocacy through a merger that incorporated the organization Save the Wild U.P. into a new internal program known as the Mining Action Group (MAG). ¹¹ The merger identified MAG as an advocacy arm dedicated to monitoring mining proposals and organizing opposition to mining-related development, with former Save the Wild U.P. leaders, including Steven Garske and Kathleen Heideman becoming part of the UPEC’s initial leadership team. ¹¹

Advocacy

The Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition’s advocacy has focused primarily on opposition to mining projects, land-use changes, infrastructure development, and nuclear energy and nuclear-waste-related proposals in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, often through public education campaigns, coalition advocacy, and engagement with state and federal policymakers.

Opposition to Mining and Development

UPEC has supported campaigns opposing development near Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park through its “Protect the Porkies” initiative. This campaign has been associated as part of UPEC’s broader effort to block mining-related projects and associated public infrastructure funding. ¹²

The UPEC’s Mining Action Group (MAG), the organization’s anti-mining advocacy arm, has been characterized as functioning as a monitoring and public education initiative addressing existing and proposed mining operations. ⁶ Further, a 2024 report on Copperwood Resources, Inc.’s efforts to obtain a $50 million public infrastructure grant in order to begin construction on a copper mine in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula listed the UPEC as helping generate public pressure against the proposal, which was ultimately blocked by the Michigan state legislature. ¹³ The Michigan Environmental Council’s 2024 annual report likewise named the UPEC as a recipient of a $10,000 “ECOprize,” stating that the UPEC used that support in its “Protect the Porkies” advocacy and that the campaign helped block Highland Copper from obtaining support to “ramp up mining efforts” in the Upper Peninsula. ¹⁴

Opposition to Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Waste Storage

The UPEC’s nuclear-related advocacy has focused primarily on opposition to nuclear waste storage near the Great Lakes and participation in anti-nuclear environmental coalitions. In 2020, the UPEC was listed among organizations supporting a Michigan House resolution urging Canada not to store nuclear waste near the Great Lakes. ⁴

Additionally, the UPEC was a signatory to a large national letter coordinated by the Center for Biological Diversity concerning federal energy policy, with the signatory list including numerous anti-nuclear and “nuclear-free” advocacy organizations, such as the Alliance for Climate Education and 350 Bay Area. ¹⁵

Inter-Coalition Advocacy

The UPEC also participates in many regional environmental coalitions. The organization has been listed as a participant in the Keep the U.P. Wild Coalition, which focuses on land conservation and opposition to development in the Upper Peninsula, arguing that federal wilderness designation would help prevent future mining and other industrial activity in certain areas. ¹⁶

The UPEC is also a member of the Michigan Environmental Council, which describes itself as a coalition of more than 70 environmental organizations engaged in broad environmental policy advocacy. ¹⁷ UPEC is additionally listed as a partner organization in the Oil and Water Don’t Mix campaign focused on anti-pipeline advocacy, as well as the Coalition to SAVE the Menominee River, a joint effort with the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin to oppose the Back Forty mining project. ^{10  18}

Media

The UPEC uses recurring newsletters, a website, and livestream programming to publicize environmental issues, promote events, and distribute information about Upper Peninsula conservation disputes. The UPEC’s public-facing activities further include an annual “Celebrate the U.P.” event format, which combines “educational sessions” with “arts-focused programming”. ⁶

Finances

On the Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition’s 2024 tax filing, the organization reported $45,351 in revenue, $67,209 in expenses, and $513,226 in total assets. ⁵ The UPEC’s revenue comes primarily in the form of individual contributions and grants, further supplemented by investment income. The Michigan Environmental Council has publicly reported providing the UPEC with a $10,000 ECOprize grant connected to advocacy related to the “Protect the Porkies” campaign. ¹⁴

The UPEC also functions as a grantmaking organization. As of 2024, disclosures list grants to conservation and environmental groups operating in the Upper Peninsula, including the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve, Citizens for a Safe and Clean Lake Superior, and the Upper Peninsula Land Conservancy, with a $5,000 grant awarded in 2021 to the UPEC’s own Mining Action Group for a freshwater mapping project. ⁶

Leadership

The Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition is governed by a volunteer board of directors and brings together a collection of 15 to 20 environmental organizations focused on advocacy in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. ^{3  19  10}

As of January 2025, Evan Zimmermann is the president of the UPEC and has represented the group in public-facing advocacy, media, and policy settings. ^{5  19  20  21} Prior to becoming the president of UPEC, Zimmerman was the organization’s vice president and a recurring co-host of the group’s livestream programming on regional environmental debates. ²² Outside UPEC, Zimmermann has been active in the community of Marquette, Michigan, including working on the staff of the Marquette Food Co-op. ²³

As of January 2025, Steven C. Garske works as secretary of the UPEC and has been closely associated with the organization’s anti-mining-focused advocacy. ¹⁹ Prior to and alongside his work as secretary, Garske was identified as a member of the leadership team of the UPEC’s Mining Action Group following the 2017 merger that integrated Save the Wild U.P. into the UPEC. ¹¹ Outside of the UPEC, Garske has worked professionally in natural resource management and conservation, including serving as an Invasive Species Coordinator with the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission focusing on invasive plant species and ecological monitoring. ²⁴

As of January 2025, Kathleen M. Heideman is treasurer of the UPEC and has been involved in the organization’s anti-mining-related advocacy for several years. ¹⁹ Prior to this role, Heideman was president of Save the Wild U.P. and later became part of the initial leadership team of the UPEC’s Mining Action Group following the 2017 organizational merger. ¹¹ Heideman has also worked as a writer and visual artist based in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and has participated in artist residencies connected to scientific institutions, including programs affiliated with the National Park Service. ^{25  26}

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18. https://www.upenvironment.org/post/mobilizing-the-grassroots-to-protect-the-menominee-river-may-25-2022
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25. “Kathleen Heideman (Artist-in-Residence, 2008).” National Parks Service. U.S. Department of the Interior, n.d. Accessed January 10, 2026. https://www.nps.gov/isro/getinvolved/air-heideman.htm.
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