Why Is Wisconsin Picking Iron Ore Over Paper?

Good question, as posed by Denny Caneff, Executive Director of River Alliance of Wisconsin, in a Journal Sentinel op-ed Monday:

The "experts" might say Wisconsin's paper industry is beyond salvation. But a concerted effort for paper, by the same people who insist we need an iron mine, seems so much more sensible than trying to ram an iron mine down the throats of citizens, many of whom oppose it.