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| Wisconsin wetlands are targeted for destruction by Republicans - "Small Wisconsin wetlands are crucial to the health of our land, water, wildlife, and communities," notes the Wisconsin Wetlands Association. |
Madison, Wisconsin — Rightwing Republicans, and only Republicans, who control the gerrymandered Wisconsin legislature are poised to terminate existing state and local protection for wetlands through more environmentally destructive legislation.
"This is the worst conservation bill that I’ve seen in a generation," said Wisconsin Wildlife Federation executive director George Meyer, a former state Department of Natural Resources secretary, (Verburg, Wisconsin State Journal).
The legislation is Assembly Bill 547, (2017-18), and Senate Bill 600, (2017-18).
Republicans control the legislature so passage of the two bills appears a forgone conclusion, after which Gov. Scott Walker, enemy of protections for surface and ground waters, will rubber-stamp the legislation into law.
As reported by the Wisconsin State Journal this morning:
Republican lawmakers are optimistic they will pass a bill opening 100,000 acres of Wisconsin wetland to development. Conservation and hunting groups want builders to continue following state law requiring them to minimize or avoid filling wetlands and to pay for replacement acreage to prevent flooding and purify water and maintain wildlife habitat.
The legislation is supported by rightwing and Big Ag groups.
Clean water and citizen action groups have registered with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission in opposition.
The legislation also eliminates the power of local communities to protect wetlands by zoning, notes the Wisconsin Wetlands Association.
Assembly Bill 547, (substitute amendment 1) "creates an express preemption on local regulation," notes the Wisconsin Legislative Council, a non-partisan research arm of the Wisconsin Legislature.
In practical terms, this removes the capacity of local governments to protect their communities by preserving isolated wetlands from destruction.
Several of the same Big Ag and other rightwing groups supporting AB 547 have filed amicus, friend-of-the-court briefs in a related Wisconsin Supreme Court case now under deliberation, awaiting opinion.
The case is Golden Sands Dairy LLC v. Town of Saratoga, (Appeal Number 2015AP001258). These groups include: Wisconsin Realtors Association, Wisconsin Builders Association, and the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce.
In the Golden Sands case, private Big Ag interests seek judicial codification of a new Republican theory of vested rights in Wisconsin, where an owner of private property becomes an extraordinary, super-interest for whom many environmental, safety, local zoning, and water-protection laws do not apply.
Wetlands Protection Act of circa 1990
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, major water-protection legislation considered included the Wetlands Protection Act, which would have enhanced existing conservation for water. The Wetlands Protection Act was defeated by Big Ag, especially the cranberry growers in Wisconsin, a major lobbying force.
Today, after the Republican transformation of state government in the Lost Decade, (2011-2019), Wisconsin Republicans no longer consider the public interest, but rather work on ways to enhance their relationship with rightwing special interests who fund Republican campaigns.
Wetlands Destruction Act of 2017-18
So the co-author of SB 600, Sen. Roger Roth, (R-Appleton), takes $10,000s from development and other industry interests whose agenda do not include consideration of the people of Wisconsin, (Wisconsin Democracy Campaign and PAC contributions, and individual contributors).
In the state assembly, assembly majority leader State Rep. Jim Steineke, (R-Kaukauna), similarly hauls in cash from virtually anybody, (Wisconsin Democracy Campaign and PAC contributions, and individual contributors).
From the Wisconsin Wetlands Association
The Assembly Committee on Regulatory Licensing Reform voted today to amend Assembly Bill 547 on a party‐line vote. AB 547, as amended, will clear the way for the destruction of hundreds of thousands of acres of wetlands important for providing fish and wildlife habitat, reducing floods, recharging groundwater, and protecting water quality.
The amended bill also promotes sprawl by removing protection of state jurisdictional wetlands in every city and village in Wisconsin, including areas within a one‐mile radius of those municipalities, all sewerage service areas, and in nearly 300 town sanitary districts spread all across Wisconsin. As communities grow, those wetland permit exemptions areas will grow.
Though the authors maintained that no net loss of wetland acreage would result, this amendment removes nearly all wetland replacement provisions included in the original bill. It also removes local authority to protect isolated wetlands through zoning. These provisions will result in a net loss of untold amounts of wetlands across Wisconsin’s urban and rural settings, undermining community‐based efforts to address flooding and poor water quality challenges.
"Wisconsin Wetlands Association is strongly supportive of policies that reduce red tape, promote well‐planned economic development, and protect our wetland resources. This bill achieves none of those goals. It’s incredibly disappointing to see this bill move forward, especially in light of the fact that almost none of the recommendations given by the conservation and sportsmens’ communities were adopted in the amended bill," said Tracy Hames, Executive Director of Wisconsin Wetlands Association. "For these reasons, we remain firmly opposed to the original bill and this amendment."
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