DNR Board Hears Several Topics

By Crystal McNett Assistant Editor
Thursday, August 21, 2008 7:53 AM CDT

The citizen participation session was one of the most popular during the Department of Natural Resources Board meeting last week in Platteville. Wisconsin citizens, local and state government officials brought their concerns forth for the Board to consider.

Habitat designation

State Representative Sheryl Albers (R-Reedsburg) led off the discussion regarding a formal designation of Lake Redstone in the town of LaValle as a “critical” habitat. Areas of the lake were previously designated as “sensitive” and have recently been upped to critical, without a proper distinction between the two, many participants noted.

The DNR does not have that designation authority, Albers believed. However, she felt that the DNR should play a role in local planning meetings to acknowledge the habitat and endangered species. But the DNR needs to understand the difference between sensitive and critical before the process is implemented and everyone should be aware of it, she added.

Additionally, lacking from the designation process is the ability to appeal the designation. Guy Neau, resident on Lake Redstone and member of the LaValle Town Board, is opposed to the critical habitat designation and feels that the lack of ability to appeal the decision is “unconstitutional”. He said that the local government spent two years creating plans for the lake that didn’t get reviewed by the DNR before their designation.

A member of the Lake Redstone Protection District, Jim Mercier, spoke in opposition to the critical habitat designation citing that the future tax base of the local school district will be negatively affected by the designation.

Troy Pauls, who lives in Oregon but owns land on Lake Redstone that has been in his family for generations, make a very important note. Lake Redstone is a man-made lake that was built for development and recreation, he said.

Better neighbor

While appearing before the Natural Resources Board, Albers took on the DNR for maintaining poor communications and even harassing a landowner and small businessman on the lower Wisconsin River for the past several years. Albers, a property rights advocate in the Legislature, believes this matter deserves public attention in order to hold the DNR accountable and bring this matter to a satisfactory close.

A few of the issues that Albers brought to the Natural Resources Board attention include:

- A former DNR Board chair wrote Kevin Iserning, landowner and businessman, on official department stationary in 1994 informing him that a certain parking lot where garbage of users tends to accumulate and DNR oversight is negligible, would be closed. However, that lot still remains in operation today.

- For well over a decade, maps of state land were erroneous, actually urging state land users to come onto Isenring’s property.

- Agency staff who had no surveying credentials or background positioned property boundary line markers on Isenring’s property without notice, came onto Isenring’s property without his permission and failed to him an opportunity to monitor their activity.

- Certain open-records requests made have never been responded to and files produced that were reviewed were found to be missing key information.

- Isenring’s firewood cutting permit was cancelled in October 2006, and requests made subsequently for firewood cutting permits have been denied without proper or reasonable justification.

- A state-land manager, now retired, refused to engage in any communication, though Isenring’s property is surrounded by state-owned land.

“In addition, the DNR is currently paying aids in lieu of taxes on land that Mr. Isenring currently owns and has been paying property tax on for 18 years,” said Albers.

Isenring offered property to the state which has significant aesthetic value. Isenring, who appeared with Albers, noted that the land which belongs to his mother provides a spectacular view of the river.

“Under the proposed exchange, Isenring seeks to own part of the parking lot that was to be closed years ago,” Albers said, “A trade is in the state’s interest, because a new boundary line and new certified survey map would settle the dispute over boundary once and for all.”

Trail project

A recreational trail between Belmont and Platteville has been slated for many years. Lafayette County currently possesses a grant to complete the Belmont-Platteville trail, of which the DNR has agreed to match 20 percent.

DNR representative Lloyd Egan said that in talking with the Lafayette County Board, the exact route of the trail and how to trade with landowners to achieve the trail is in question and being worked out.

Travel management

The U.S. Forest Service has proposed closing 55 percent of roads in Wisconsin’s national forests, including 2,577 miles of access, as part of its Travel Management Plan, explained Bob Welch with the Hunters Rights Coalition.

Welch noted that none of the roads have been evaluated on an individual basis and appear to be arbitrarily designated to be closed. He said that he would support road closures for environmental, social, animal and safety reasons, but until each road is evaluated, those reasons don’t exist.

Welch asked the DNR to take a stand in support of a road-by-road analysis during the U.S. Forests Service’s comment period that ended Aug. 18, so that the Forest Service will make a better informed decision.

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