Nitrates in Wisconsin Waters – A Wisconsin’s Green Fire Policy Analysis
While Wisconsin has among the finest freshwater resources in North America, an increasingly large number of Wisconsin communities, homes, schools, and businesses find their water sources unsafe to drink. The water crisis in Flint, Michigan was a wake-up call about the hazards of water supplies we once assumed would always be safe. The total scope of the water quality crisis in Wisconsin today is much larger however than one community or one region. Wisconsin needs a drinking water solution equal to the magnitude of the problem. This paper lays out elements of that solution.
Read More >Cropland Management and Water Quality – Phosphorus, Pathogens and Manure Management, Antibiotics and Manure Management
WGF releases a series of videos of members presenting on the relationship between cropping practices and water quality in Wisconsin, based on current science. This information draws from the expertise of water quality and public health scientists from DNR and the university system as well as agricultural conservation experience from WI Dept of Agriculture and …
Read More >WGF Comment to WI Public Service Commission on Cardinal Hickory Creek Transmission Project
WGF members have evaluated the application for the proposed CHC high voltage transmission line (hvtl) by the Public Service Commission (PSC) of Wisconsin. WGF requests that the PSC refer to the previously submitted WGF comments regarding the proposed CHC for the draft Environmental Impact Statement for more information, PSC reference number 364009 in Docket 5-CE-146.
We …
Read More >Comment letter for WDNR Draft Inland Trout Management Plan 2020-2029
The issues we have addressed here are significant enough to warrant revision and some restructuring of this plan. Despite these issues, we think the trout plan represents a major step forward for the WDNR trout program and for the management of the inland trout resource in the state. We thank you for the opportunity to comment, and we are happy to discuss our comments with you in detail. We’ve also attached a list of editorial comments and suggestions to improve the content and clarity of the plan.
Read More >WGF Comments SB 252 Flood Risk Reduction Pilot
As a member of Wisconsin’s Green Fire (WGF) and a resident of Ashland County, I write to express my appreciation to the sponsors of Senate Bill 252 for this investment in green infrastructure approaches to flood reduction. Prior to my retirement from the Department of Natural Resources, I worked on several initiatives to reduce runoff in the Lake Superior basin. The demonstration projects that would be funded pursuant to SB 252 would build on a long history of partnerships among local residents, watershed organizations, and government at the local, tribal, state, and federal levels. This investment by state government would be timely and much appreciated.
Read More >Comments to the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service on Proposal to Remove the Gray Wolf from the Endangered Species List
Wisconsin’s Green Fire Comments to the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service on Proposal to Remove the Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife, Federal Register 84 (51):9648-9687 (Docket No. FWS-HQ-ES-2018-0097)
Introduction
Thank you for the opportunity to offer comments on the draft gray wolf delisting rule. Wisconsin’sGreen Fire is a nonpartisan and …
Follow up to WGF Testimony on Senate Bill 169 Related to Wetland Mitigation Banks
Thank you again for allowing me to comment on SB 169 at the hearing on April 30, 2019. I would like to add an additional comment as a follow-up to my testimony.
Both DNR and the U.S Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) are involved in wetland mitigation banking. Wetland compensatory mitigation requirements are specified by USACE-St. …
Read More >WGF Comments to DNR on draft administrative rule NR 119 Phosphorus Site-Specific Water Quality Criteria
These comments from Wisconsin’s Green Fire – Voices for Conservation are specific to the sampling requirements in NR119.06 (1) Site Specific Criteria (SSC) study area (c) for a less stringent SSC for phosphorus on a flowing water system:
NR 119 only very generally addresses study site selection by major stream order and proximity to outfalls. Once …
Read More >WGF Analysis: Nitrogen Pollution and The Need to Develop Nitrogen Criteria for Wisconsin’s Surface Waters
Background: Considerable research – both in Wisconsin and across the county – supports the need to control both phosphorus and nitrogen to adequately manage water quality problems in surface waters. In many lakes and streams, both nitrogen and phosphorus contribute to eutrophication and water quality degradation. However, nitrogen itself may be the most important nutrient …
Read More >WGF Testimony to Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Energy on Senate Bill 31 Regarding CAFO permit fees.
Thank you Chairman Cowles and committee members. My name is Jim VandenBrook and I am here today representing Wisconsin’s Green Fire and am speaking for information only.
In short, Wisconsin’s Green Fire believes that SB 31 is an important step in the right direction toward improving the effectiveness of the state’s CAFO program to protect water …
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