counties, which now exist solely for historical and regional demarcation purposes. Michigan DeTour County: to be formed from portions of Chippewa and Mackinac counties, including Drummond Island. Lac Vieux Desert County: to be formed from portions of Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon counties. Washington County: to be formed from western Marquette County. Minnesota Residents of Florence Township began a petition to secede from Goodhue County over plans to locate a nuclear waste disposal site in the area. There appears to have been a proposal to split Pine County in 2000 in an attempt to reintroduce Buchanan County, which prompted a change in county formation laws. Nevada Residents of Nye County, mainly in Pahrump and Tonopah, have pushed as recently as 2001 for a north-south county split, perhaps with the northern portion merging with Esmeralda County. While laws making it easier to form new counties have passed since then, this split has not occurred. Nye is the largest county in Nevada and the third largest in the entire U.S., although over 90% is federal land. New Jersey The municipalities of western Essex County have discussed secession from the county, to create a new West Essex County, spurred mainly by a belief that tax laws benefit the eastern portions of the county at the expense of the western municipalities. Currently, this idea is essentially a dead movement. Musconetcong County, to have been formed from parts of Hunterdon and Warren Counties. New Mexico Rio Grande County, proposed in 1927 to be created from parts of Catron County and all of Socorro County. It failed when the proposal was deemed unconstitutional. South Valley County, proposed in 1995 to be created from Bernalillo County. It then failed in referendum. New York Adirondack County, to be formed from northern Essex and southern Franklin counties. Brookhaven County, to be formed from the Town of Brookhaven in central Suffolk County. Peconic County, to be formed from the rural eastern portion of Suffolk County. Salmon County, to be formed from the eastern half of Oswego County. North Carolina Hooper County, to be formed in 1851 from Richmond County and Robeson County. It then failed in referendum. Lake County, to be formed from northern Mecklenburg County. Lillington County, proposed in 1859, to formed from New Hanover County. Failed in referendum. Providence County, to be formed from southern Mecklenburg County. Ohio In 1818, residents of the Barnesville greater area petitioned the state