Rep Scott Krug Exposed for Running Political Interference Against Clean Water Advocates; Ridicules Families for Opposing Factory Farm

In July 2012 at a Saratoga, Wisconsin Town Board meeting drawing 100s of people, State Rep. Scott Krug (R-Nekoosa), a member of the corporatist American Legislative Exchange Committee, was in attendance in the charged environment.

 

The Wysocki Family of Companies had sprung its plans for a massive factory farm sited in central Wisconsin that would work as a hazardous-waste vectoring operation imperiling area groundwater, drinking waters, and surface waters with millions of gallons of liquidized and aerizied cow manure, among disastrous economic effects, (Mal Contends), (John Ikerd). 

 

Eight years of grueling work by 1,000s of clean water advocates prevented the Golden Sands, LLC factory farm from beginning operations, as Krug ran political interference for Wysocki.

Now, Krug is claiming on Facebook that there is no concern for the factory farm starting up, and there never will be in a post ridiculing clean water advocates, despite the town of Saratoga standing ready to file more litigation. 

The tone and substance of Krug's latest dig at clean water advocates puts the lie to his claimed concern for clean water.

Writes Krug in part:

A story that is turning as old as time itself. Much like a campfire story though it’a just a tall tale. There is no CAFO and there will be no CAFO in Saratoga. They already know that too, but can’t resist trying to scare their neighbors at election time.

There has been no public announcement by Wysocki that it intends to abandon its plans for the Golden Sands, LLC factory farm.

Central Wisconsin families spend years of their lives for their families and communities, and Krug ridicules them. 

𝑰𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒂 𝑹𝒆𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆? The actions of our current Representative Scott Krug, say a lot about his...

Posted by Saratoga Concerned on Friday, August 7, 2020

 

Wysocki and other industrial ag interests are heavy Republican Party donors, so Krug offered his fealty at the 2012 event telling a vocal factory farm opponent, Nancy Koch, to "quit your bitching," exemplifying Krug's eight-year hostility to factory farm opponents.

 

Recalled Ms. Koch in 2014, "Early on in this fight when I contacted Scott Krug at his Republican e-mail address I asked for his help with this CAFO issue. In the e-mail, I reminded him who I was ---- that I was the one he told to 'Quit your bitching' at the Wysocki presentation at the Performing Arts Center in Wi Rapids. I never got a response to the e-mail or an apology."

Krug was forced into a political position in which his campaigns were funded by factory farm-advocating Scott Walker and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos who directed money into Krug's coffers in his gerrymandered district, while Krug falsely pretended he too was a factory farm opponent and clean water advocate.

 

Meanwhile, one of the counties the factory farm would harm is suing Wysocki for another of its factory farm's pollution.

 

Time and perseverance have proven clean water citizens rights: Their water is worth for fighting for and Scott Krug is a fraud who ran political interference for Wysocki. Krug has always opposed the efforts of central-Wisconsin families protecting their homes and communities.

Clean Water in Wisconsin Comes in Focus

Clean water activists in Saratoga, Wisconsin fight for
water and oppose the siting of a proposed factory farm.
Clean water activists statewide fear a future where
clean and safe lakes will become a memory.

Madison, Wisconsin — Wisconsin lakes are not bottomless sewers that take in millions of gallons of liquid cow manure and like magic create speaking-clean water safe for swimming, fishing and boating.

Rather, factory farms and other rapacious agricultural practices destroy and poison the water in the land of 15,000 lakes with devastating health, economic, and quality-of-life consequences.

These outcomes are acceptable costs to Big Ag, Gov. Scott Walker (R) and Wisconsin Republicans who run state government for polluting operations.

Congrats are in order for Steven Verburg of the Wisconsin State Journal for his critical reporting on the health of the Yahara lakes in Dane County in an important series this week. See also the related site, the Yahara lakes project.
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This weekend also comes news from 100 miles north of Madison that three factory farm owners — Wysocki Produce Farms, B and D Farms and Okray Farms — "say they have joined together to help supply clean, safe water to residents with high nitrate levels in their wells" in the town of Armenia in Juneau County in central Wisconsin, reports Karen Madden in the Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune.

Wysocki Produce Farms, B and D Farms and Okray Farms are industry suppliers of pathogen, nitrate and phosphorous-laden cow shit to area communities.

After poisoning the private water wells of objecting families, the Wysocki corporation is offering cartons of uncontaminated water in trade. This is widely considered not to be an equatable deal.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is investigating the water poisoning in the region.

Area residents are sounding a skeptical note as they work to stop operation of another proposed massive factory farm in the town of Saratoga in Wood County. The Golden Sands factory farm is owned by the Wysocki corporation.

"I'd feel much better about it had they, (factory farm owners), done it without the EPA and county health officers breathing down their necks. They're trying to get in front of a very ugly situation made public because of citizen pressure from Saratogans and Armenians. The Wysockis didn't do this out of the kindness of their hearts, and it wasn't done because a state Senator or Assemblyman stepped in. This is the result of well-directed citizen activism. Well done my friends!," writes Don Ystad in an email to clean water activists this weekend.

Ystad live in Adams County, some six miles south of the proposed Wysocki factory farm.

Ystad's reference to a "state Senator or Assemblyman" points to central Wisconsin legislators, State Sen. Patrick Testin (R-Stevens Point) and State Rep. Scott Krug (R-Nekoosa), both of whom are politically owned by factory farm interests.

Krug faces presumptive nominee for the Democratic Party nominee for the 72nd assembly district, clean water activist David Gorski, in the general election this November.

These is caution optimism that Wisconsin has finally, after years of citizen action, come to the point where Republicans can be defeated in the gerrymandered legislative districts.

An activist rightwing Wisconsin Supreme Court bent the law to arrive
at a pre-determined decision green-lighting a proposed massive factory farm
in central Wisconsin. Corrupt justices hold a 4-3 majority at the
Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Central Wisconsin Awaits Supreme Court on Factory Farm Appeal for Inflated Property Rights

Popular opposition to proposed massive factory farm
in central Wisconsin faces corrupt state Supreme Court.
Photo by Mary Captain-Braund

Appellate law and vested property rights concern families in central Wisconsin

Update: Examination of the updated Wisconsin Supreme Court website (PDF) indicates the court will hear Golden Sands Dairy LLC v. Town of Saratoga.

The Court website reads in part: "Golden Sands Dairy LLC v. Town of Saratoga - When a permit applicant secures vested rights by filing a valid building permit application for a project (Wisconsin's "Building Permit Rule"), does the law protect the applicant's right to both construct buildings and to use the project land in the lawful manner described in the building permit application?"
--
Madison, Wisconsin — In central Wisconsin a fearful, hope-and-see mood describes families awaiting the Wisconsin Supreme Court decision to grant or deny review of a state appellate court April ruling, Golden Sands Dairy LLC v. Town of Saratoga.

Residents want the April state appellate decision to stand because the ruling restricts a massive factory farm from beginning operations under a radical, new conception of corporate vested property rights

The communities' future depends on the high Court decision as the predictable consequences of operation of the proposed Golden Sands factory farm are the pollution and depletion of water and air, devastating parts of four counties in this region, if it began operation.

The Golden Sands Dairy LLC appellate ruling effectively kills the operation of the massive factory farm by disallowing use of a 4,660-acre manure dumping field on which millions of gallons of liquid cow waste would be vectored every year.

The Supreme Court decision on the Golden Sands-Wysocki corporation's petition for review, a legal request of a court to hear a case, is expected around October 12, some six months after the April appellate ruling's date.

The appellate ruling freezes construction plans of the dairy Golden Sands CAFO, Confined Agricultural Feeding Operation, by honoring the current legal delineation of vested property rights.

[Note: For updates the case before the Wisconsin Supreme Court is 2015AP001258. Enter   15ap1258 in the Appeal Number field, leave the rest of fields blank and hit search at bottom-left of the linked Wisconsin Supreme Court page.]

Republican Altering of Health, Safety and Environmental Protection

It's an indication how corrupt Wisconsin government is under Republican rule that residents contacted in Wood and Adams counties believe Republicans on the Wisconsin Supreme Court will vote to hear the Golden Sands Wysocki petition, overturn the appellate decision and radically expand the vested rights of property owners to commit virtually any environmentally and economically destructive act, altering the capacity of local communities to protect their economic and environmental well-being and the safety of families against corporate actors.

Since 2011 Republicans have implemented an unprecedented statutory framework according property rights supremacy over any other competing rights, including public interest concerns.

Notes David Strifling at the Marquette University  Law School:

In 2016, the Wisconsin Legislature [enacted] Wis. Stat. § 227.57(11). The statute provides that a 'court shall accord no deference to the agency’s interpretation of law if the agency action or decision restricts the property owner’s free use of the property owner’s property.'

Though to this point Republicans have worked to change the nature of corporations' property rights vis a vis the public interest function of state agencies, the Golden Sands Dairy LLC v. Town of Saratoga case accords the Republican-dominated Supreme Court a way to expand corporate property rights over the health and safety claims of neighbors and communities.

Wisconsin Supreme Court

Corporate interests, the Wisconsin Farm Bureau and Wisconsin Realtors Association, have filed Amicus, (Friend of the Court), briefs in support of the Court hearing the Golden Sands-Wysocki petition.

Republican Supreme Court members protect corporate interests, and for years have refused to recuse themselves in cases in which the justices' political campaigns have benefited from heavy spending by litigants, (Wisconsin Democracy Campaign), (Wisconsin Democracy Campaign).

Some central Wisconsin residents contacted believe that because the remaining credibility of the Wisconsin Supreme Court as an independent judicial body is at stake, the Court may not overturn the well-grounded April state appellate decision.

Proposed Golden Sands factory farm in central Wisconsin
could turn rural paradise into industrial wasteland.
 Don Ystad of Adams County Wisconsin
who has been promoting tourism and recreation for writes:
"Take a step back from the politics of this
situation and ask yourself, 'what is best
for the state of Wisconsin?  Another CAFO sited, or the
preservation and growth of an existing, vibrant area,
poised to be the 'golf mecca of the Midwest?'
Unfortunately, the Wysocki CAFO has the
political support of local State Rep. Scott Krug,
(R-Nekoosa, Wisconsin) and State Sen. Patrick Testin,
(R-Stevens Point). These politocs have already chosen Big Ag
over everything else, including the Sand Valley Golf Resort.

Wisconsin Supreme Court Case on Vested Property Rights and Zoning Powers Set for Oral Argument, Jan. 11

Proposed Golden Sands factory farm in central
Wisconsin could turn rural paradise into an
industrial wasteland. Don Ystad of Adams County
Wisconsin who has been promoting tourism
and recreation for years writes:
"Take a step back from the politics of this
situation and ask yourself, 'what is best
for the state of Wisconsin? Another CAFO sited, or the
preservation and growth of an existing, vibrant area,
poised to be the 'golf mecca of the Midwest?'
Unfortunately, the Wysocki CAFO has the
political support of local State Rep. Scott Krug,
(R-Nekoosa, Wisconsin) and State Sen.
Patrick Testin, (R-Stevens Point). These pols
have already chosen Big Ag over everything else,
including a new Sand Valley Golf Resort,
multi-generational families and entire communities.

The Wisconsin Republican Party's attempt to transform the legal scope of property rights on behalf of major financial donors is behind a case that could prevent the operation of a massive factory farm, sited in the town of Saratoga in central Wisconsin.

The case is Golden Sands Dairy LLC v. Town of Saratoga. The high court will hear oral arguments on Jan 11, 2018. [Note: For legal updates on the case before the Wisconsin Supreme Court, enter 15ap1258 in the Appeal Number field, leave the rest of fields blank and hit search at bottom-left of the linked Wisconsin Supreme Court page.]

The Wisconsin Supreme Court no longer functions as an independent judicial body as its members have become corrupted and beholden to the Republican-linked special interests that fund some of the Court members' campaigns. Judicial ethics are decided by Republican justices who rejected proposed rules that would mandate justices recuse from cases involving their mega-donors to their campaigns, (Beck, Wisconsin State Journal, Mal Contends, The New Yorker).

Communities and private citizens want an April 2017 state appellate decision to stand because the ruling restricts a massive factory farm from beginning operations, as Republicans and Big Ag work to impose onto Wisconsin a radical, new conception of corporate vested property rights.

The predictable consequences of operation of the proposed Golden Sands factory farm are the pollution and depletion of water and air, devastating parts of four counties in this region.

The April 2017 Golden Sands Dairy LLC appellate ruling effectively kills the operation of the massive factory farm by disallowing use of a 4,660-acre manure dumping field on which millions of gallons of liquid cow waste would be vectored every year. The unanimous appellate ruling recognizes the town of Saratoga used its zoning power in accordance with state law and decades of legal precedent.

Concludes an amicus brief in part filed on behalf of local businesses in December 2017:

Over 1.7 million Wisconsin citizens more than 30% of the state’s population reside in towns like the Town of Saratoga. In this case, the Town reasonably evaluated local conditions and zoned its land to prevent harm to property values and businesses, drinking water quality, and local character. By seeking a 6,000-acre exception to this rule, GSD [Golden Sands Dairy] cannot credibly state that expanding the vested rights doctrine does 'no violence' to the Town’s ability to regulate land use. (GSD Br. at 26.)

The Court should affirm the court of appeals’ decision upholding the Town’s lawful exercise of its zoning authority in this case, and reject GSD’s requested expansion of the vested rights doctrine. 

Bottom line: Will the Wisconsin Supreme Court issue yet another corrupt decision on behalf of Republican interests? There is hope.

Two citizen groups, Protect Wood County (Wisconsin) and Its Neighbors and Concerned Rome (Wisconsin) Citizens are urging central Wisconsin residents to await the decision from the Court expected sometime in the Spring 2018.

From Protect Wood County:

Friends and Neighbors,

The date is set, January 11th, 2018, at which time our case against Wysocki will be heard in front of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.  Although this news broke quite a while back, there was the chance for extension requests and/or other delays, therefore, we kept silent on the news until we were positive the date would stick.  It officially appears that January 11th will be our day in court.

Cases in front of the Supreme Court follow a very formal and structured format.  Due to this, Saratoga’s legal team has asked that citizen supporters NOT attend the oral argument proceedings.  We ask all our followers please adhere to the legal teams request and continue to wait patiently for the outcome and judgment decision to be handed down later this spring.  Most likely we will not hear a deciding judgment until March or April of this year. Once again, we have more waiting ahead.

It is important to clarify the basis of the Supreme Court case as we continue to hear many residents misunderstanding what our current case is about.  The case before the Supreme Court is about vested rights to the thousands of acres of land Wysocki purchased in Saratoga.  In a very simplistic nutshell, the court will be deciding if Wysocki can clear-cut and crop the thousands of acres of land he purchased after Saratoga’s zoning was in place.  The court is not determining if Wysocki has the right to build the buildings and/or the CAFO, simply if he has the right to use the land for his identified purpose which is in conflict with Saratoga's zoning.  This battle has been a very complicated web of twist and turns, surely one for the record books.  

We will keep everyone informed as we continue through the next few months.

Updated - Central Wisconsin Proposed Factory Farm Expected to Make Big Decision Today

Clean water activists in Saratoga, Wisconsin fight for
water and oppose the siting of a proposed factory farm.

Updated - Wyscoki factory farm petition filed at Wisconsin Supreme Court. [Note , enter   15ap1258   in the Appeal Number field, leave the rest of fields blank and hit search at bottom-left of the linked Wisconsin Supreme Court page.]
 ---
A proposed massive factory farm in central Wisconsin has until the end of May 15, Monday to file an appeal to an adverse state appellate decision threatening to kill the Wysocki Family of Companies' plan for the operation of the Golden Sands Dairy, (LLC), in the town of Saratoga.

The appeal would be made to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. [Note , enter   15ap1258   in the Appeal Number field, leave the rest of fields blank and hit search at bottom-left of the linked Wisconsin Supreme Court page.]

The case is 2015AP001258, Golden Sands Dairy LLC v. Town of Saratoga, [(Wisconsin Court System), (Mal Contends), (Mal Contends), (Golden Sands Dairy LLC v. Town of Saratoga, (Wisconsin Court System), (Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune), (Mal Contends), (WSAW-TV)].

Sources contacted in Wood County Wisconsin have no idea what the Wysocki corporation will do, and believe a last-minute filing that would not be reflected in the online Wisconsin court system until Tuesday morning is possible. Other sources say the proposed CAFO may be dead, stressing they don't know.

The proposed Wysocki factory farm has caused sleepy central Wisconsin to ignite as communities in Adams and Wood counties have erupted in protest. They fear the operation of the CAFO would pollute waters and devalue property in this entire region.

Following is an April 13 press release from the prevailing parties representing the community of Saratoga and residents opposing the operation of the Wysocki CAFO:

CONTACT

Sarah Botham, Botham, ink.; sarahbotham@bothamink.com or 608.444.1101
Attorney Paul Kent at Stafford Rosenbaum; pkent@staffordlaw.com or 608.259.2665 or
Attorney Remzy Bitar at Arenz, Molter, Macy, Riffle & Larson SC; rbitar@ammr.net; (262) 548-1340

COURT OF APPEALS SAYS WYSOCKI’S BUILDING PERMITS DO NOT AUTHORIZE USE OF 4,660 ACRES IN TOWN OF SARATOGA FOR LAND-SPREADING MANURE
The Town’s 2012 zoning ordinance governs land use off of the site of the diary buildings.

MADISON, Wis. [April 13, 2017] The 4th District Court of Appeals ruled today in favor of the Town of Saratoga, holding that the vested rights that the Wysocki Family of Companies have in a building permit for seven dairy buildings on 98 acres do not authorize them to use more than 4,660 acres throughout the Town for the application of manure, according to Attorney Remzy Bitar, one of the attorneys representing the Town on the appeal.   In so doing, the court overturned a 2015 circuit court ruling in Wysocki’s favor and directed the circuit court to enter summary judgement for the Town. In 2012 the Wysocki Family of Companies proposed the siting of Golden Sands Dairy (GSD), a 5300-cow operation, in the Central Wisconsin Town of Saratoga.

“We are pleased with the Court of Appeals decision, Bitar said. “The circuit court decision was an unprecedented extension of existing vested rights law, which the Court of Appeals refused to adopt.” Today’s decision allows a 2012 Town zoning ordinance that restricts agricultural use because of concerns regarding groundwater contamination, to control the land use for those 4,660 acres.  This decision precludes Wysocki from using the property to land-apply 55 million gallons of liquid manure and 25,000 tons of solid manure generated at GSD.

In an earlier round of cases, the courts held that the Wysocki’s building permit application for seven dairy buildings was valid because the application was filed before the Town completed its zoning ordinance.  In the current case, Wysocki argued that building permits for seven buildings automatically allowed Golden Sands Dairy the right to land-apply manure to 4,660 acres throughout the Town and away from the building site. That was rejected by the Court of Appeals which noted that the Wisconsin vested rights law has not applied to parcels separate from the parcels for which the building permit was issued.

“We hope this decision will facilitate a resolution of this on-going dispute,” said Attorney Paul Kent, representing the Town with respect to other issues associated with GSD.
#

Wisconsin Clean Water Supporters Score First Major Electoral Victory

Communities in central Wisconsin await the decision of
the Wisconsin Supreme Court in a case that would
effectually halt a massive factory farm from beginning
operations with the consequences being economic
devastation for an entire Wisconsin region. Clean
water activists fear the decision will be corruptly
decided by five Republican-linked judges on the
seven-member court.

Madison, Wisconsin — Families and communities fighting for fresh water have scored their first electoral victory over Republicans and the industrial polluters for whom the GOP is transforming Wisconsin statutory and administrative law to make it easier to poison water without accountability.

Water is necessary for human life, but the Republican Party dismissive of this fact has not faced an electoral reckoning to this point, (Ecological Economics, Principles and Applications, Water, Mayo Clinic).

A special state senate election from northwestern Wisconsin signals a change that sent political newcomer State Senator-elect Patty Schachtner, (D-Somerset, Wisconsin) into the gerrymandered state legislature this week.

Notes Matthew DeFour this morning in the Wisconsin State Journal:

Some [political observers and environmental activists] ... said voters were tuned into local issues and angered by [defeated the Republican] Jarchow’s sponsorship of bills that have reduced environmental protections and local zoning control.

'We absolutely believe local issues motivated people in this race. All of our communications were very positive about Patty and the impact she can have on the local environment. We heard a lot from our members about Jarchow’s anti-conservation background,' said Staush Gruszynski, political director for the Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters.

Jeff Smith, an organizer for liberal advocacy group Citizen Action of Wisconsin, said efforts to clean up the Red Cedar Watershed have been hampered by bills Jarchow has championed limiting local zoning control.

'There is a lot of angst toward Jarchow because of his anti-environment/pro-corporate stance,' Smith said.

Angst and anger because multi-generational families have children rushed to the hospital after bathing in water poisoned by factory farms vectoring manure into the environment. Consider this, children poisoned from bathing.

The Republican Party has become so pathologically removed from the health of families and communities that its office-holders are willing to see children poisoned in exchange for Big Ag's money.

Writes John Ikerd in Rural Communities of Necessity:

Rural America once had strong communities. It would have been very difficult for anyone who built a CAFO, (factory farm), in a rural area in earlier times. It wasn’t socially or morally acceptable for one person in the community to benefit at the expense of others.

A Wisconsin state senate district signals a return to the days when it mattered if you poisoned your neighbor.

From a piece here from May 2017 on the work of Wisconsin Republicans to methodically vector manure into rural communties, while depelting groundwater for the sole benefit of Big Ag:

Clean water activists in Saratoga, Wisconsin fight for
water and oppose the siting of a proposed factory farm

An impressive feat the last six years during Wisconsin's lost decade is the organization of citizen groups around the state to defend clean and abundant water.

The citizens' worst enemy are the state representatives who should be working for citizens.

In central Wisconsin, local representatives run political interference for Big Ag which pollutes and depletes ground and surface waters. [State Rep. Scott Krug, (R-Nekoosa), threatened this site with a libel suit in 2014 when I noted Krug running this "political interference," a threat Krug dropped after I advised him truth is an absolute defense against defamation actions, among other defects in Krug's threat with respect to libel law, (Mal Contends), (Capital Times), (Crooks and Liars).]

Defiling Wisconsin's waters has the political support of local State Rep. Scott Krug, (R-Nekoosa) and State Sen. Patrick Testin, (R-Stevens Point) who represent the gerrymandered districts drawn to elect Republicans. These legislators also lend their support to the proposed Wysocki factory farm. 

Wysocki and his family bankrolled State Sen. Testin with $10,000 in contributions for his successful 2016 run. Krug's 2016 campaign received heavy funding from Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Ron Vos Gov. Scott Walker and other Republican interests aligned with Big Ag, (Wisconsin Democracy Campaign),

After Krug and Testin helped ram through the Big Ag-supported Senate Bill 76 last week, Krug complained in his current constituent newsletter that, "The misinformation campaign by several area groups make this sound like a massively different bill than it is. I am happy to sit down with anyone and walk through the actual bill."

The groups Krug complains about include: Rome-Saratoga Friendly, Protect Wood County and Its Neighbors, Central Sands Water Action Coalition, Sustain Rural Wisconsin Network, and the Citizens' Water Coalition of Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Senate Bill 76 "is good only for the handful of really large growers, [Big Ag], who have as much concern for their fellow farmers as they have for others who need access to clean and abundant water - none!," notes Saratoga (Wisconsin), Concerned last year, (Facebook).

Of note is the fact clean and safe water groups increasingly work in concert statewide. As noted by Criste Greening in the Green Bay Progressive in late April, clean water citizen groups include the following:
Citizens' Water Coalition of Wisconsin
Sustain Rural Wisconsin Network
Wild Rivers Chapter Trout Unlimited
Friends of the Central Sands
Frac Sand Mining Awareness
Crawford Stewardship Project
Protect Wood County & Its Neighbors
Save The Hills Alliance
Kewaunee CARES
People Empowered Protect the Land (PEPL) of Rosendale
Green County Defending Our Farmland
Central Wisconsin Nature Foundation
Citizen Action Organizing Cooperative
Facing Forward Vernon Our Wisconsin Revolution
Inland Sea Society
From the Earth
Indivisible Fond du Lac
Protect Our Water
Friends of the Kinni
Concerned Rome Citizens
Rome Saratoga Friendly
Indivisible Winnebago
Central Sands Water Action Coalition
Forward Kenosha
Rinehart Lake Association
Farms Not Factories
Spirit Creek Water Protectors
Indivisible Milwaukee ~ South Side
Bad River Watershed Association
Frac Sand Sentinels
Indivisible Solon Springs
Indivisible DeForest
Concerned Citizens of Princeton
Citizens for a Better Environment Lake Mills
Emerald Clean Water For All
Penokee Hills Education Project
Penokee Hills Light Brigade
Water Protectors of Milwaukee
Friends of the Eau Claire Lakes Area
Citizens for Environmental Stewardship
Indivisible Ashland
Heartland Land Creations
League of Women Voters of Ashland and Bayfield Counties
LCO/Sawyer County Dems
Preserve Waupaca County
League of Women Voters Upper Mississippi RIver Region
Crystal Lake Club
Friends of the Tomorrow /Waupaca River
Waupaca Commoners Caucus
Constituents Only
Defending Our Ixonia Countryside
Vernon County Democratic Party
Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger
Gaia Coalition
Concerned Citizens of Easton
League of Women Voters/Greater Chippewa Valley
Clean Water Action Council of Northeast Wisconsin
Organic Consumers Association
Blue Jean Nation
Wisconsin Resources Protection Council
Echo Valley Hope
Madison Action for Mining Alternatives
Reedsburg Area Concerned Citizens

Wisconsin Democratic Nominee for Assembly Hits Supreme Court Ruling on Proposed Factory Farm

 David Gorski, candidate for the Wisconsin State Assembly
blasted a proposed, massive factory farm this week in a
new campaign ad.

David Gorski, the Democratic Party nominee for State Assembly (72nd dist) in central Wisconsin, vowed to oppose the Republican-crafted Supreme Court decision against the town of Saratoga and a proposed factory farm that would would be sited in his district.

Saratoga and other communities have been fighting the proposed massive factory farm sited in Saratoga since 2012.

"One-hundred percent of my loyalty on this issue is with the property owners of Saratoga (Wood County) and Rome (Adams County)," said Gorski in the ad. "Because we all need to be good neighbors. And noone should profit while their neighbors lose. And I believe every community has the right to protect the health and wealth of their residents."

Gorski is a Democrat and member of the Progressive Caucus. He is a retired counselor and drug-and-alcohol prevention specialist for the Nekoosa School System, living in the town of Grand Rapids.

Gorski will face State Rep. Scott Krug (R-Nekoosa) who is seeking his fifth term after breaking his promise to only serve two terms.

David Gorski's video is below:

Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules for Proposed Factory Farm over Communities

Madison, Wisconsin — The Wisconsin Supreme Court held for a proposed massive factory farm in a widely anticipated decision released this morning.

Updates and links follow this morning.

Here is the link to 2015AP1258 Golden Sands Dairy LLC v. Town of Saratoga.

The decision is five-to-two in favor of Wysocki Golden Sands factory farm.

This is a decision by Republican justices for Repulbican interests, against communities and families. The majority opinion was written by out-going Justice Michael J. Gableman who is retiring from the Court on July 31.

A naked act of results-aimed corruption in the judiciary, Gableman's decision upends the doctrine of vested property rights and towns' ability to protect families and the community.

After today's decision all a corporate interest has to do to manage destructive operations is conceal its aims in a Building Permit Rule application and include a vague reference to land.

Writes Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson joined by Justice Ann Walsh Bradley in dissent:

Today,  the majority  expands  the  Building  Permit  Rule  to  create  vested rights  to  particular  uses  of  land  so  long  as  the  land  is 'specifically identified' in the building permit application.

This ill-advised expansion of the Building Permit Rule sacrifices  the  important  public  policies  that  the  Building Permit  Rule  was  designed  to  encourage,  namely,  'predictability for land owners, purchasers, developers, municipalities, and the courts.'

The  majority's  expansion  of  the  Building  Permit  Rule transforms what was once an easy-to-apply, bright-line rule into a  rule  requiring  a  case-by-case  analysis  of  the  applicant's specificity  regarding  both the  description of the property included within the scope of the building permit application as well as the property's proposed use.

Tears, anxiety and a resolve to keep fighting describe the central Wisconsin communities' mood this morning.

One Saratoga resident reached by phone said she has slept only two hours in the last two days awaiting the Court decision and opinions.

Another resident, Criste Sullivan-Greening of Saratoga Concerned, writes in Facebook:

The Wisconsin Supreme Court is a lawless institution and its Republican justices will find a way to rule in favor of Republican interests no matter the damage to Wisconsin communities, residents and the Court as a functioning branch of government.
 ---
Below is a column written in 2017 on what the Wisconsin Supreme Court has become after Republicans and Republican justices worked to transform the Court into a tool for Republican interests.

Pictured is Wisconsin Supreme Court at the state capitol. Inside
this iron door deliberation dies, and Republicans reign ascendant.

Madison, Wisconsin — The Wisconsin Supreme Court no longer functions as an independent judicial body.

A corrupt institution, Court justices, (five of the seven), elected to 10-year terms rely on $ millions from rightwing interests to keep the judges in their offices where Republican interests are jealously protected by the subsequent conduct of the justices.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court is part of the Republican political machine, a turgid and pretentious cog spewing out reliably Republican case opinions for the benefit of Republican interests.

The justices' ethics are decided by Republican justices who rejected proposed rules that would mandate justices recuse from cases involving mega-donors to their campaigns, (Beck, Wisconsin State Journal). The law of the land in Wisconsin for the judiciary is: Fund my election, and I'll vote your way if you come before my court, (Mal Contends, The New Yorker).

So it was no surprise that the Wisconsin Supreme Court voted to hear a case this month from central Wisconsin concerning the plans of a polluting, industrial agricultural outfit, the Wysocki Family of Companies, that proposes to build and operate a massive factory farm based in Saratoga, Wisconsin that would devastate parts of four counties. The case is Golden Sands Dairy LLC v. Town of Saratoga.

Residents in central Wisconsin are scared, so scared that nobody wants to go on the record and speak the truth about Wisconsin has become, specifically about what the Supreme Court has become. Who can blame these people?

Their communities, homes and small businesses are at stake in Golden Sands Dairy LLC v. Town of Saratoga and bad-mouthing the Supreme Court is considered risky.

As noted in these pages, it's an indication how corrupt Wisconsin government is under Republican rule that residents contacted in Wood and Adams counties believe Republicans on the Wisconsin Supreme Court will vote to hear the Golden Sands Wysocki petition, overturn the appellate decision and radically expand the vested rights of property owners to commit virtually any environmentally and economically destructive act, altering the capacity of local communities to protect their economic and environmental well-being and the safety of families against corporate actors.

Since 2011 Republicans have implemented an unprecedented statutory framework according property rights supremacy over any other competing rights, including public interest concerns.

No one is surprised the Wisconsin Supreme Court is corrupt. Certainly not James Wysocki, chief financial officer of the Big Ag outfit that will devastate central Wisconsin.

Reports Karen Madden in the Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune, quoting Wysocki:

'Golden Sands is gratified, but not surprised, that the Wisconsin Supreme Court has taken this case. It will provide the court the opportunity to clarify the law of vested rights in Wisconsin for all businesses that create jobs in the state and to rectify the unfair process by which the town of Saratoga sought to deprive Golden Sands of its vested rights.'

Numerous agricultural and real estate groups filed motions with the Supreme Court that supported the court taking the case. Those groups were concerned that other communities could change the rules after property is purchased, Wysocki said. 

Under the new Republican theory of vested rights in Wisconsin, an owner of property becomes a extraordinary, super-interest for whom environmental, safety, zoning, and water-protection laws do not apply.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court will vote in Wysocki's favor 5-2 sometime in 2018 in Golden Sands Dairy LLC v. Town of Saratoga. Don't be surprised.

Central Wisconsin Clean Water Group Endorses Rebecca Dallet for Supreme Court

Proposed Golden Sands factory farm in central
Wisconsin could turn rural paradise into an
industrial wasteland. Don Ystad of Adams County
Wisconsin who has been promoting tourism
and recreation for years writes:
"Take a step back from the politics of this
situation and ask yourself, 'what is best
for the state of Wisconsin? Another CAFO sited, or the
preservation and growth of an existing, vibrant area,
poised to be the 'golf mecca of the Midwest?'
Unfortunately, the Wysocki CAFO has the
political support of local State Rep. Scott Krug,
(R-Nekoosa, Wisconsin) and State Sen.
Patrick Testin, (R-Stevens Point). These pols
have already chosen Big Ag over everything else,
including a new Sand Valley Golf Resort,
multi-generational families and entire communities.

Rebecca Dallet is our Supreme Court candidate, says Saratoga Concerned in Republican-dominated central Wisconsin

"Rural America once had strong communities. It would have been very difficult for anyone who built a CAFO facotry farm in a rural area in earlier times. It wasn’t socially or morally acceptable for one person in the community to benefit at the expense of others."
 —John Ikerd, Rural Communities of Necessity
 --
The communities of Saratoga and Rome, in central Wisconsin say the Wisconsin Supreme Court race is personal.

The April 3 race featuring candidates Rebecca Dallet, (a mainstream rule-of-law Milwaukee County judge), and Michael Screnock, (extremist rightwing Sauk County judge) will determine if rightwingers control the Wisconsin Supreme Court for the next nine years.

The stakes are high, but even more so for central Wisconsin where Republican interests and Big Ag are trying to use a local case awaiting decision from the Supreme Court to obliterate local control and codify corporate property rights in a radical and novel interpretation that is dreaded by families.

In Golden Sands Dairy, (Wysocki corporation),  LLC v. Town of Saratoga case, the Wisconsin Supreme Court will decide whether some 1.7 million Wisconsin citizen, some 30 percent of the state living in towns, can act locally to protect local conditions, property values, families, drinking water quality, and local character.  [For legal updates on the case before the Wisconsin Supreme Court, enter 15ap1258 in the Appeal Number field.]

The case was argued Jan 11, 2018.

It's personal because 1,000s of families in Wood, Adams and Juneau counties who have spent generations building lives, security and opportunity for future generations will see dreams shattered and security gone if the Wysocki corporation's badly polluting factory farm begins operations.

The proposed massive factory farm, a CAFO or Confined Animal Feeding Operation, would leave the region an economic moonscape.

That's fine with Wisconsin Republicans, and Supreme Court candidate Michael Screnock whose campaign runs for and is funded by Republican special interests. Screnock in fact is a former attorney for Big Ag against virtually everyone else in Wisconsin.

A major group fighting for entire communities and central Wisconsin families just came out for Supreme Court candidate Rebecca Dallet, and against Screnock.

The group, Saratoga Concerned, is awaiting word from the Supreme Court on Golden Sands Dairy. They are nervous and frightened. Who came blame them?

Today, according to an email, Saratoga Concerned endorsed Rebecca Dallet over Michael Screnock.

From Saratoga Concerned:

As we are all aware, politics are dirty. It doesn't matter the party or the platform, each side spins false innuendos and statements at the other in the hopes of having you simply dislike the other candidate more. The race for Supreme Court is no different even though it is supposed to be a nonpartisan position.

We encourage everyone to vote on Tuesday, April 3rd but instead of voting by your political party leaning, we encourage you to vote the issues. Let's face it, the Wisconsin Republican and the Democratic party are not what they used to be years ago. Voting the issues is the only way to get folks in office who are going to truly represent your interests. We all need to be willing to put our political partisanship aside and vote on the things that are important to our fight.

Saratoga Concerned leadership team has identified our issues  1) Clean water  2) Protection of our Natural Resources and 3) Protecting local control. When looking solely at these three topics we feel strongly Rebecca Dallet is our candidate. Her challenger, Michael Screnock, has repeatedly represented CAFO owners in court against the average citizen and denies their civil right to clean and plentiful water. Not to mention his work with the Michael Best and Friedrich law office that is retained by Wysocki. We cringe just thinking about what may happen if he earns a seat on the bench.

We encourage you to vote the issues on April 3rd.

Our Saratoga fights need a Justice like Rebecca Dallet on the bench.

Wisconsin Factory Farm Polluter and Republican Donor Dead in Plane Crash

A Google Earth view of Pagel's Ponderosa factory farm in
Kewaunee County, Wisconsin. The late owner, John Pagel, was
a member of the Kewaunee County Board and chair of
the county's Land and Conservation Committee. Pagel has
acknowledged that large factory operations such as his
can contribute to groundwater pollution but said industry can
 lead the way toward a solution. From Wisconsin Watch

"I have never killed any one, but I have read some obituary notices with great satisfaction," wrote Clarence Darrow in his 1932 autobiography, The Story of My Life, (p. 92).

Darrow, were he living today, could be referring to the death of factory farm polluter, John Pagel, killed when a Cessna 441 Conquest Turboprop plane crashed in a muddy field in Carroll County, Indiana on Feb. 22, (WSAW).

Pagel is a major poisoner of families and an unrepentant polluter of communities in Wisconsin's peninsula.

"It would have been fitting if Pagel drowned in a million-gallon vat of cow shit, instead of falling from the sky," said a Door County citizen this weekend. "You want a quote, how about, 'you reap what you sow,' John Pagel."

That is fitting.

Pagel did had other pursuits besides poisoning area families by vectoring cow manure into their water wells.

Pagel gave $1,000s to Scott Walker and other Republicans who in return transformed Wisconsin water pollution law and regulations so Pagel and factory polluters could get away with poisoning children, Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.

Wisconsin media ran statements this weekend saying Pagel left behind a "legacy."

Wisconsin needs no more such legacies.

"Safe drinking water is a prerequisite for protecting public health and all human activity," reads the Unites States Department of Homeland Security, (DHS), website on our Water and Wastewater Systems sector.

Don't think John Pagel died knowing the value of water for human life and public health.

I note with satisfaction that Pagel may have died with an appreciation for gravity.

Polluters' Toady for State Senate in Central Wisconsin, Patrick Testin

"We need to protect our natural resources
without limiting their use in Central
Wisconsin's agricultural economy," writes
Big Ag toady, Patrick Testin, in typical
polluters and poisoners' twaddle.
.

Patrick Testin has a mandate for his campaign for Wisconsin's state senate, district 24.

Do whatever the polluters, in particular the Wysocki corporate interests, want. Testin is well-paid for his efforts.

One problem facing Testin is he has no idea what the issues are as central Wisconsin's natural resources—aquifers, streams, lakes, (and to be candid property valuations)—are under assault by polluting factory farms.

Testin's incoherence on these critical issues is on display.

Have a look above-right at Testin's recent thoughts on the proposed massive factory farm by the Wysocki polluters in Saratoga, Wood County Wisconsin.

"We need to protect our natural resources without limiting their use in Central Wisconsin's agricultural economy," opines Testin.

What?

This is apparently Testin-talk for central Wisconsin should be a repository for millions of tons of liquid cow manure.
---
Golf resort designer Mike Keiser wants to build an environmentally friendly golf resort, Sand Valley Resort, sited along the bottom of the ancient Glacial Lake Wisconsin, a can't-miss recreational and tourism project.

Unfortunately for Keiser and Adams and Wood counties, the resort, now under construction, is adjacent to, and just south of a massive proposed Wysocki factory farm, halted for now.

If residents can't stop this polluting operation, it won't be just the residents of Wood, Adams and surrounding counties being poisoned, an enterprise protected by Testin and Wisconsin Republicans including Wisconsin's Republican attorney general and governor.

A stiff north wind carrying the stench of millions of tons of liquid cow manure would quickly educate golf enthusiasts on some the unsavory aspects of a Wysocki factory farm. If they breathe deeply, golfers will understand with a precision central Wisconsin residents are working to avoid.

Drink the area's well water, and it is advisable golfers are aware of the area's hospitals as well as tourist destinations.

As for Patrick Testin, he's looking for more money for his campaign and pushing hard for a tax-payer-funded gig in the Wisconsin State Senate.

Wisconsin Supreme Court to Release Decision on Proposed Factory Farm, Local Govs and Communties on June 5

Updated - Madison, Wisconsin — The Wisconsin Supreme Court is not an impartial judicial body anymore.

That's not what the state's high appellate court is in business for. The Court serves special interests.

But the Court announced that on June 5 the decision and opinions in 2015AP1258 Golden Sands Dairy LLC v. Town of Saratoga will be released. See Supreme Court of Wisconsin, Release of Supreme Court Opinions. Find the case on June 5 at Wisconsin Courts.

In the Golden Sands Dairy LLC v. Town of Saratoga case, the Wisconsin Supreme Court will decide whether some 1.7 million Wisconsin citizens, some 30 percent of the state living in towns, can act locally to protect local conditions, property values, families, drinking water quality, and local character through zoning, (p. 14. Brief of Amicus Curiae - Local Business Amici. Filed by Christa Westerberg).

The Golden Sands factory farm is seeking a new and novel interpretation of the state's vested property rights doctrine to render a town's capacity to protect itself virtually non-existent. [For legal updates on the case before the Wisconsin Supreme Court, enter 15ap1258 in the Appeal Number field.]

In April 2017, "the 4th District Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the Town of Saratoga, holding that the vested rights that the Wysocki Family of Companies have in a building permit for seven dairy buildings on 98 acres do not authorize them to use more than 4,660 acres throughout the Town for the application of manure ... ," (Apr 13, 2017; 015AP001258; Golden Sands Dairy LLC v. Town of Saratoga; District 4; Wood County,).

Stopping this massive application of manure could be a mortal blow to the business operation of this proposed factory farm, Golden Sands Dairy LLC.

The case was argued before the Supreme Court Jan 11, 2018.

No central Wisconsin resident contacted this weekend expressed confidence the Wisconsin Supreme Court would follow existing doctrine on corporate property rights and municipal authority. Anything is possible as powerful interests are parties to both sides of the case. Facts, law, long-observed doctrine and arguments are irrelevant in the Court's proceedings.

In action related to this case, since 2011 Republicans have implemented an unprecedented statutory framework according corporate property rights supremacy over any other competing rights, including public interest concerns.

Notes David Strifling at the Marquette University  Law School:

In 2016, the Wisconsin Legislature [enacted] Wis. Stat. § 227.57(11). The statute provides that a 'court shall accord no deference to the agency’s interpretation of law if the agency action or decision restricts the property owner’s free use of the property owner’s property.'

Though to this point Republicans have worked to change the nature of corporations' property rights vis a vis the public interest function of state agencies and local governments, the Golden Sands Dairy LLC v. Town of Saratoga case accords the Republican-dominated Supreme Court a way to expand corporate property rights over the health and safety claims of neighbors and communities.

Wisconsin Supreme Court

Corporate interests, the Wisconsin Farm Bureau and Wisconsin Realtors Association, have filed Amicus, (Friend of the Court), briefs in support of the Court hearing the Golden Sands-Wysocki petition.

Republican Supreme Court members protect corporate interests, and for years have refused to recuse themselves in cases in which the justices' political campaigns have benefited from heavy spending by litigants, (Wisconsin Democracy Campaign), (Wisconsin Democracy Campaign).

Some central Wisconsin residents contacted believe that because the remaining credibility of the Wisconsin Supreme Court as an independent judicial body is at stake, the Court may not overturn the well-grounded April 2017 state appellate decision in Golden Sands.
 ---
From Saratoga (Wisconsin) Concerned Update

6/1/2018

Special Announcement:
Supreme Court - Golden Sands Dairy -vs- Town of Saratoga
Decision coming on Tuesday, June 5th, 2018

Earlier this morning the WI Supreme Court posted the list of cases whose decisions will be announced next week.  Saratoga's case is on the list for release on Tuesday, June 5th.

It is important to remind our followers the decision in front of the WI Supreme Court is NOT about whether Wysocki can build his CAFO in Saratoga, but specifically what he legally can do with the land he eventually purchased in 2015.  The decision ahead will either allow Wysocki to clear-cut the parcels for cropland or uphold Saratoga's current zoning ordinance which was in place before the land was purchased.

Although a win at the WI Supreme Court level would be cause for a huge celebration, it does not necessarily end completely our battle with the Wysocki's.  It would, however, be a significant roadblock for him moving forward with his proposed CAFO. 

The minute the decision is made public on Tuesday we will immediately break down the information and blast it out via our Newsletter and Facebook pages.  Please be thinking positive thoughts and keep your fingers crossed for a verdict in our favor.

Sincerely,
Saratoga Concerned Leadership Team

National Groups Support Family Farmers' Legal Fight in Minnesota

By Don Ystad

This is what it takes - key citizen groups and environmental groups banding together to form a lobby of millions of people, much greater than any Big Ag lobby.

While these greedy CAFO operators masquerade as family farmers, the real family farmers are being driven out. These huge CAFOs suck the life out of the soil, pollute the water and air, and gobble up the subsidies meant for family farms.

These nationally recognized citizen groups have stepped forward with their millions of members to support this family farmer suing to protect themselves from a CAFO in Minnesota. An example of the power of a collective voice and an incentive for our communities.

See also Hannah Sayle's Big Ag is conquering Minnesota like a noxious, unkillable weed:

Minnesota's water quality — our state's greatest natural asset — has become a sacrificial lamb to Big Ag.

The industry has rapidly but quietly taken control of the state legislature, affixing Minnesota with a new slogan: the Land of 9,000 Lakes and 1,000 Cesspools. 

Case is Lowell Trom and Evelyn Trom v. County of Dodge, Dodge County Board of Commissioners, and Masching Swine Farms, LLC, (Minnesota Court File No. 20-CV-15-17).

From the Law Offices of James P. Peters, PLLC:

Law, Science, and Citizen Action Back Family Farmers

St. Paul, Minnesota - A coalition of the nation’s leading public health and environmental groups, in an unprecedented action, joined a lifelong family farmer’s legal efforts to address the negative impacts associated with factory farms.

Professionals at the Center for a Livable Future at Johns Hopkins University, the Humane Society of the United States, Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (“MCEA”), Environment Minnesota, and Food and Water Watch on July 25 filed formal requests in the Minnesota Court of Appeals to participate in an appeal filed by Lowell and Evelyn Trom of rural Dodge County, Minnesota against a large corporate factory farm and Dodge County, Minnesota. The Troms sued Dodge County and a large corporate factory farm operator, Masching Swine Farms, LLC, following approval of the 11th swine factory farm, or feedlot, within a 3-mile radius of their home.

Given the public nature of the Trom’s lawsuit, these groups, representing millions of members throughout the United States, filed requests for amicus with the Minnesota Court of Appeals, where the Troms’ case is currently being reviewed. A request for amicus (or friend of the court) is filed by individuals or organizations who, while not a party to a lawsuit, have a strong public interest in or knowledge in the subject matter. The intent is to provide the Court with information regarding the effects of a decision beyond the parties involved in the case.  The Court of Appeals must approve the requests.

According to the request filed by Johns Hopkins University professionals, they will assert a public interest.  “The Dodge County Ordinances at issue in this case required compliance with U.S. and state environmental laws, and the permit at issue in this appeal has broad implications for Dodge County, other counties in Minnesota and rural areas across the U.S.” The Center for a Livable Future at Johns Hopkins will “provide interpretation of relevant scientific evidence regarding the public health and community impacts of industrial-scale swine production, “ including the spread of infectious diseases to communities; groundwater and surface water pollution, and associated health impacts on communities; and air pollution, odors, and associated health and social impacts on communities.

In a joint request filed by the Humane Society of the United States and Animal Legal Defense Fund, these groups will specifically discuss “the burgeoning threat of antibiotic-resistant bacteria to animal welfare and public health, exacerbated by antibiotic overuse and confinement conditions at concentrated animal feeding operations.”

In a third request filed by MCEA, Environment Minnesota and Food and Water Watch, these public interest groups are dedicated to protecting the environment and public health.  These organizations “have particular expertise and experience in animal feedlot regulation that is distinct from the experience of any other party in this appeal.”  MCEA has participated in administrative rulemaking proceedings concerning the regulation of pollutants discharged to surface and ground water from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (“CAFOs”).  MCEA has a distinct interest in ensuring that local regulations preserve and respect procedural rights in order to protect the natural resources of this state.  Environment Minnesota, with its commitment to protect our rivers, lakes streams and water resources, is “deeply concerned by the water pollution impacts of industrial livestock operations.”  Food and Water Watch (“FWW”), which champions healthy food and clean water, advocates for safe, wholesome food produced in a humane and sustainable manner.  FWW is also concerned about the cumulative harmful impacts of the many feedlots already in the immediate vicinity including by contaminating surface waters with nitrogen, phosphorus, bacteria and pharmaceuticals.

Appellant Lowell Trom stated that “We have known for a long time that our lawsuit is not just about our family.  If our family loses, we all lose.” 

Copies of the requests for leave to file amicus briefs are posted online at the website for Dodge County Concerned Citizens.  www.dodgecc.org.

Descriptions of the groups:

The Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future (“CLF”), with its global expertise, works with students, educators, researchers, policymakers, advocacy organizations and communities to build a healthier, more equitable and resilient food system.  CLF’s work is driven by the concept that public health, diet, food production and the environment are deeply interrelated and that understanding these relationships is crucial in pursuing a livable future.  Factory farming (or industrial food animal production) is an area of high-priority.  www.jhsph.edu.  This is the largest school of public health in the world.  Ranked #1 by U.S. News and World Report since 1994.  First institution of its kind worldwide.

The Humane Society of the United States is the nation’s largest and most effective animal protection organization.  On behalf of its several million members and constituents, The Humane Society is the leading animal advocacy organization in the U.S. and is driving transformational change around the world by combating large-scale animal cruelties such as factory farming.  www.humanesociety.org.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund’s (“ALDF”) mission is to protect the lives and advance the interests of animals through the legal system.  ALDF’s groundbreaking efforts are instrumental in pushing for change in the U.S. legal system to end the suffering and unnecessary killing of animals.  ALDF is active in public advocacy and education regarding animal suffering and environmental degradation caused by concentrated animal feeding operations (“CAFOs”).  www.aldf.org.

Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (“MCEA”) uses law, science and research to protect Minnesota’s environment, its natural resources and the health of its people.  MCEA is the leading legal voice protecting Minnesota’s environment, with deep organizational expertise that includes some of the foremost environmental law and policy professionals in the state. www.mncenter.org.

Environment Minnesota is the state affiliate of Environment America, which is dedicated to protecting our air, water and open spaces.   Environment Minnesota believes there is something special about Minnesota – something special about protecting and preserving for future generations.  www.environmentminnesota.org.

Food and Water Watch champions healthy food and clean water for all.  They stand up to corporations that put profits before people, and advocate for a democracy that improves people’s lives and protects our environment.  www.foodandwaterwatch.org.