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Act
118, which passed in the Wisconsin legislature in early 2004, is possibly
the most anti-conservation policy in our state's history and rolls back
decades of progress in protecting Wisconsin's
air and water.
Right now
the legislature is in the final stretch of adopting the permanent rules
that can minimize the environmental damage from Act 118 and a new set of
decision makers needs to hear from you!
The administrative rules, dictating how the law will be implemented, have
been written and adopted by the DNR and do a fairly good job of protecting
fish and wildlife habitat, endangered species, water quality and the
natural scenic beauty of our lakes and streams. The hearing before the
joint meeting of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Transportation
and the Assembly Committee on Natural Resources represents the last hurdle
to minimizing the negative impacts of Act 118.
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Act 118 Background
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We have issued several Wetland Alerts regarding Act
118, the so-called Jobs Creation Act. Deemed one of the most
anti-conservation policies in Wisconsin history, Act 118 rolled back
decades of progress in protecting Wisconsin's
air and water. From eliminating review of projects that damage streambeds
to putting limits on air pollution standards to removing citizen input
for many environmentally destructive projects, this policy fundamentally
erodes regulations that protect our environment.
Under this
bill, thousands of potentially damaging lake and riverbed projects could
be either exempted from regulation or covered under general permits each
year. This would not give any public notice or allow public input
until the project was completed and the potential environmental damage
done. The administrative rules, dictating how the law will be
implemented, have been written and adopted by the DNR. They do a fairly
good job protecting fish and wildlife habitat, endangered species, water
quality and the natural scenic beauty of our lakes and streams. These
rules were approved by the Natural Resources Board last fall and now the
rules must be passed by the appropriate Senate and Assembly committees.
Wisconsin needs the
committees to pass the Act 118 rules in order to provide needed
protection to our waterways before the construction season starts
this spring. If the committees do not pass the rules, they will be
subject to more review and will not provide the necessary protection in
time!
Click here to link to a previous Wetland Alert
on this issue for more background »
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Sample Letter
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Dear Committee Member:
Because I value fish and wildlife habitat, water quality and the scenic
beauty of our state's wonderful lakes and streams, I am writing to voice
my support of the proposed permanent rules being adopted under Act 118.
I was greatly concerned over those provisions of Act 118 that reduced
protection of the shorelines of our lakes and streams. Wisely the
legislature directed the Department of Natural Resources to adopt rules
assuring the protection of the rights of the public in navigable waters
-- such as those areas that fish need to reproduce and live, that are
needed to protect water quality, and that provide the beautiful natural
shorelines that define Wisconsin.
There
have been many public hearings and hundreds of hours of discussion of
Technical Advisory Groups that have resulted in the rules before your
committee. The discussions included those in the development industry,
realtors, conservationists, land owners and environmentalists. The
permanent rules that were developed in this process go a long way to meet
the needs of all groups. However, the DNR and all of the groups that
participated realize that in a year or two a thorough evaluation of the
rules should be conducted to see if they adequately protect our lakes and
streams and meet the needs of those in the development industry. Please
recognize and reward those stakeholders that worked hard side-by-side to
achieve agreement on these rules. Please adopt these rules and allow the
annual evaluation process to make the adjustments necessary to achieve
the twin objectives of regulatory reform and resource protection.
I ask that you adopt all of the Act 118 rules that are before your
committee. In particular, I request that you fully adopt the
provisions of Chapter NR 1 that set out the fundamental standards that
protect our precious lakes and streams. NR 1.016 sets out the long
standing Wisconsin Constitutional protections that establish all of our
rights to use our lakes and streams and to assure that they will retain
their value for future generations. This policy states the law that
governs how waterways need to be protected in our state.
Also in
need of protection are the "areas of special natural resource
interest" identified in NR 1.05. The lakes and streams identified in
this section are the few most sensitive and fragile lakes and streams in
the state that need an extra level of attention to assure this protection.
This list of lakes and streams has unfortunately been shortened
substantially during the rule development process.
Lastly but
most importantly, I ask that you adopt section NR 1.06 that
identifies "public rights features". This is the section that
protects those aspects of our waterways that are most important to Wisconsin citizens. It also provides critical
direction to those who engage in exempt activities or utilize the general
permits in the Act 118 rules. This section is the one that protects
valuable fish and wildlife habitat, that keeps our lakes and streams
clean and assures that future generations have the opportunity to view
the wonderful beauty of our lakes. Without the full adoption of this
section, the value of our lakes will be forever lost and all of the Act
118 rules will fail to meet their Constitutional responsibility. Please
adopt this section as it has been derived through the public
participation process.
Thank you so much for your consideration of this letter and the future of
Wisconsin's
beautiful lakes and streams.
Sincerely yours,
[Include your name and address here]
Click here to read the Act 118 section from the
Wisconsin Conservation Briefing Book 2005-2006 »
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Legislator Contact Information
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Senate Committee on Natural Resources
Senator Kedzie, chairperson
(sen.kedzie@legi
s.state.wi.us, fax: (608) 282-3551)
Senator Stepp
(sen.kedzie@legi
s.state.wi.us, fax: (608) 282-3551)
Senator Kapanke
(sen.Kapanke
@legis.state.wi.us, fax: (608) 282-3551)
Senator Wirch
(sen.Wirch@legis.
state.wi.us, fax: (608) 282-3551)
Senator Breske
(sen.Breske@legi s.state.wi.us, fax: (608) 282-3551)
Assembly Natural Resources Committee
Representative Gunderson, chairperson
(Rep.Gunder
son@legis.state.wi.us, fax: (608) 282-3683)
Representative Moulton, vice chairperson
(Rep.Moulton@l
egis.state.wi.us, fax: (608) 282-3668)
Members:
Representative Ott
(Rep.Ott@legis.stat e.wi.us,
fax: (608) 282-3603)
Representative Pettis
(Rep.Pettis@legis
.state.wi.us, fax: (608) 282-3628)
Representative Bies
(Rep.Bies@legis.sta te.wi.us,
fax: (608) 282-3601)
Representative Krawczyk
(Rep.Krawczy
k@legis.state.wi.us, fax: (608) 282-3688)
Representative M. Williams
(Rep.Williams
M@legis.state.wi.us)
Representative Petrowski
(Rep.Petrows
ki@legis.state.wi.us)
Representative Mursau
(Rep.Mursau@le
gis.state.wi.us, fax: (608) 282-3636)
Representative Black
(Rep.Black@legis.
state.wi.us, fax: (608) 282-3677)
Representative Gronemus
(Rep.Gronem
us@legis.state.wi.us, fax: (608) 282-3691)
Representative Steinbrink
(Rep.Steinbri
nk@legis.state.wi.us, fax: (608) 282-3665)
Representative Van Akkeren
(Rep.VanAk
keren@legis.state.wi.us)
Representative Molepske
(Rep.Molepske
@legis.state.wi.us, fax: (608) 282-3671)
Representative Hebl
(Rep.Hebl@legis.st ate.wi.us, fax: (608) 282-3646)
Find out who your legislators are: click on this
link and then on "Who Are My Legislators?" »
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What You Can Do
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Make your voice
heard!
As a private citizen, your attendance at
the public hearing will have the biggest impact on the legislators.
Hearing details:
10:00AM
Wednesday
February 23, 2005
Room 412
State Capitol in Madison
If you are unable to attend the hearing,
please send a letter to the members of the Senate and Assembly Committees
asking them to adopt these rules in order to minimize damage caused by
Act 118. At a minimum, please send your comments to the committee chairs
and any committee members in whose district you reside. We encourage you
to email or fax these letters because of the short timeframe, and have
provided email addresses (and fax numbers, where available) for the
committee chairs and members. We provide a sample letter at left.
Edited letters will make a greater
impression on the decision makers, so consider taking some time to
describe who you are and why the protection of Wisconsin's lakes and streams is
important to you.
It is important that you respond no later than February 22, 2005.
Thank you so much for sticking with us through this long, arduous
process, and for making your voice heard on this important issue for Wisconsin's
wetlands and waterways.
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