WSN ACTION ALERTS FROM 1997


Public Intervenors Office will be held this Thursday, Dec. 8, in Madison. SB8 will be debated before the Senate's Environment Committee starting at 1 pm in the hearing chambers located not in the Capitol but on M. L. King Drive near the Capitol. The committee is chaired by Sen. Alice Clausing and her office can be contacted for more specifics. This bill is important as it would bring back the independent watchdog keeping an eye on our regulators and agencies making important environmental decisions .
Will Fantle <wfantle@execpc.com>
USA - Sunday, December 14, 1997 at 08:59:43 (CST) 
Having just found this alert page, I call your attention the nearly lost battle to save the Timber Rattler in Wisconsin. See the URL for some amazing quotes from the chair of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee. LATEST NEWS ON WISCONSIN TIMBER RATTLER PROTECTION (See http://www.mpm.edu/collect/vertzo/herp/timber/Conserv.htm for details) Legislative Hearing [October 29, 1997]: The Natural Resources Committee of the Wisconsin State Legislature held a hearing on Wednesday, October 29, 1997, in Prairie Di Chien. The hearing was called by committee chair DuWayne Jonsrud (R-Eastman), to discuss the proposed listing of the timber rattlesnake as a Protected Wild Animal (as approved by the Natural Resources Board with the psuedo-protection language - see URL). Eight people spoke against the protected status, with an additional 12 indicating by ballot that they opposed protection. There were eight people who testified in support of protection, including a courageous 10 year old girl who stated that killing the timber rattlesnake which is good and valuable is simply bad. Many of the eight thought the reporting requirement should be added back into the language and that this was very important if the Department was to learn more about the species and associated killing. Twelve additional people voted in support of protection, although most had originally hoped to see the timber rattler listed as a threatened species. The committee was presented with a petition, totalling 6,309 signatures of Wisconsin residents, supporting the listing of the timber rattlesnake as a threatened species. This number can be compared to approximately 1,000 persons petitioning against the listing in March, 1997. Because the proposal up for vote was only to list the species as a Protected Wild Animal, the petition was presented with a plea to re-instate the reporting requirement (with a 1-800 number), and make reporting mandatory for any killing in self defense (see above arguments). The petition was accepted and the committee promised to consider it in their decisions. The rule is expected to either be voted on by the Assembly Natural Resources Committee or left alone. This committee has until November 18, 1997 to take action. If they do not take action before Nov.18 the rule is effective 60 days after the end of the month (Feb. 1, 1998). WHAT YOU CAN DO Wisconsin residents may call their representitive to express their opinion on this rule, and ask that the reporting requirement be re-instated. You must call before Nov 18, 1997. Note that the overwhelming majority of Wisconsin residents support listing as a threatened species, and that the pseudo-protection provided by the amended Protected Wild Animal rule is inadequate and will likely lead to the imposition of federal protection. The rule is Assembly Clearinghouse Rule 97-020 [An order to create NR 10.02 (9), 27.03 (3) (c) 1m. and 27.06 (5), relating to the timber rattlesnake. Submitted by Department of Natural Resources]. To find out who your representative is, or to leave a message for them, call the Legislative Hotline at 1-800-362-9472. The state legislature web site is at: http://www.legis.state.wi.us/
Gary Casper <gsc@uwm.edu>
Milwaukee, WI USA - Saturday, November 08, 1997 at 21:08:34 (CST) 
We are finally back to discussing Outstanding Resource Water ORW status for lakes and flowages in our state. If you remember there was a extensive and expensive misinformation campaign by Noranda Minerals of Canada, their lobbiest Tony Earl, and Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce back in 1991 and 92 to mislead and confuse Wisconsonites about the true impacts of ORW status on our waters, especially the Willow Flowage in Oneida Co> 

Transfer interrupted!

deposit there. We've had several years of a moritorium for new ORW's until we "studied" the criteria, the moritorium was imposed by the Govoner's Natural Resource Board. The findings of our tens of thousands of tax dollars is that ORW is good for communites and all of the hysteria was incorrect.There will be a series of 4 hearings on October 28 and 29 in the Northern counties where 4 waterbodies have been identified as ORW using the new, and very expensive, criteria. Your can get the details by going to the WI Govt link on the Wisconsin Stewardship Network page and going to WDNR and their Meetings and Hearings. Comments can be sent to Ron Martin, POBox 7921, WDNR Madison Wi, 53707 608-266 9270, martid@dnr.state.wi.us.
Jim Wise <ecowise@newnorth.net>
Tomahawk, Wi USA - Sunday, October 19, 1997 at 19:53:08 (CDT) 
On October 13, NASA will launch the space probe Cassini, carrying aboard 72 pounds of plutonium. This is enough to deliver a fatal dose to every person on Earth. While NASA estimates the chance of a rocket launch failure at 1 in 900, others, including John Pike, head of space policy for the Federation of American Scientists, estimate it to be 1 in 10 to 1 in 20. IMMEDIATE CALLS ARE NEEDED TO THE WHITE HOUSE! THE RISK IS TOO GREAT! GROUND CASSINI. 1-202-456-1111
Jan Conley
USA - Tuesday, October 07, 1997 at 18:42:23 (CDT) 
THE LOCATION FOR THE HEARING ON THE MINING MORATORIUM BILL HAS BEEN CHANGED TO THE TRADE CENTER AT STATE FAIR PARK -- THE HEARING IS NOT AT THE FAMILY LIVING CENTER!!! The date and time remain the same -- hearing starts at 1:00; rally outside of the TRADE CENTER starts at 12:00
Harald Jordahl by way of Alex Turner <alturner@execpc.com>
Madison, WI USA - Monday, September 29, 1997 at 11:33:31 (CDT) 
The Assembly will hold a hearing on the mining moratorium bill on Tuesday, Oct. 14 in Milwaukee and the State Fair Grounds (actually in West Allis). The hearing begins at 1 pm and will likely run well into the evening. This is a big opportunity for us to show the depth of public support for the mining moratorium bill and opposition to the expansion of sulfide metallic mining in Wisconsin. A public rally will be held in support of the bill at high noon on the fairgrounds. The bill has already passed the Senate and despite the reluctance of some key Assembly members, we stand a good chance of passing it in the Assembly, but only if we are able to marshall enough support from around the state for it. If you go to only one hearing this year, make this the one. If you want to talk, you will be limited to 5 minutes, and even if you don't want to speak, you can sign the forms at the door indicating your support for the bill.
Will Fantle <wfantle@execpc.com>
Eau Claire, WI USA - Friday, September 26, 1997 at 15:05:59 (CDT) 
Howdy, all. Thought it might interest WSN folks to know this. I just received a press release from North Central Region SARE (the USDA's Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program) reporting on the 1997 grants awarded in the 12-state NCR. Of the $1.9 million in grant monies awarded, Wisconsin projects received $368,305; the next highest amount awarded went to Michigan, $233K. Not that it's a contest, but I believe this reflects the awareness and energy afoot in Wisconsin for sustainable ag-related projects. Let me know if you'd like to know more; I will be happy to forward that press release to you. Wisconsin projects include --using small grains as cover crop alternatives to diversify crop rotations --training and transitioning new farmers --evaluating pasture-based poultry systems --integrated management of apple diseases --organic vegie production workshop --grazing education for educators and bankers --composting for disease suppression --cooperative sheep-milk marketing --using mulch in commercial blueberries to replace chemical weed control peace misha
Michele Gale-Sinex, CIAS <gale-sinex@aae.wisc.edu>
Madison, WI USA - Thursday, September 11, 1997 at 16:31:09 (CDT) 
The Nine Springs Network
"Working to protect and enhance the Nine Springs E-Way"
Nine Springs Network mission statement
Contact: Sandy Lott/Nine Springs Network
2739 Marledge Street, Fitchburg, WI 53711.5217,
Telephone: 277.9207
HSD plat action: August 5, 1997

It is our understanding that action on the Harlan Sprague Dawley plat is to take place at the Tuesday, August 5, Plan Commission meeting.

If you have any signed petitions, please make copies and see that both the copies and the original petitions are returned to Sandy Lott (277.9207; 2739 Marledge Street/Fitchburg 53711.5217) before August 5. (It is important to have copies of the names on the petitions for future networking.) Otherwise, please bring the originals and the copies to the August 5 meeting.

We urge you to attend this important meeting. Action taken at the August 5th Plan Commission meeting represents the focal point of what many, many individuals have been working toward for the past several weeks. Based upon the information we have, this is the deadline for action on the HSD plat.

Our presence is critical.

Please meet at 7:00 P.M. in front of the Fitchburg Community Center (corner of South Fish Hatchery Road and Lacy Street). We will gather in front and proceed into the Plan Commission meeting in order to deliver the petitions to the City of Fitchburg. For individuals who which to speak during the Public Hearing portion of the meeting, there will be a sign-up sheet at the back of the room. We encourage you to voice your opinions.

See you on Tuesday, August 5!!!

Alex Turner for Sandy Lott <Chaiya492@aol.com>
Madison, WI USA - Tuesday, August 05, 1997 at 12:05:20 (CDT) 
Letters to Governor Thompson are needed by July 30th or sooner asking him to weigh in against the Akron water diversion request. This is a dangerous request as it totally ignores any water conservation planning, encourages unsustainable urban sprawl and opens the door for the possiblility of other water diversion requests from Great Lakes states. THere is a good chance to stop this as it takes only the opposition of one state. Please email or write the Governor today!
jan conley
USA - Tuesday, July 22, 1997 at 07:47:21 (CDT) 
Apparently the media is misreporting the story of the arrests up in Crandon, saying it is an outsiders vs. locals conflict when of course 1000 locals marched in Crandon just last year.

Following is an email from Zoltan Grossman with excellent talking points to use to try to break the media out of their constructed "story" inherited from their blinkered take on the struggles on the West Coast.

--Alex

----------------

Date sent: Tue, 08 Jul 1997 09:14:26 -0600
From: MTN 
Organization: mtn
Send reply to: mtn@igc.apc.org
Subject: EF! media coverage
To: wisc-eco , pw-list 

To wisc-eco folks,

I've been following the media coverage of the arrests up at Crandon. As Wisconsin EF! has said before, it is amazing that the southern Wisconsin media would ignore 1000 local people demonstrating in Rhinelander last year. The media chooses to focus all its attention on the drama of arrests, rather than the community organizing that built the movement in the first place. Then the TV news has the nerve to portray the event as an outsiders vs. locals conflict!

I think it is very important in interviews and talk shows today to remind listeners of the LOCAL OPPOSITION to the mine--this is not an issue imported by some national group. The media is used to the type of environmental conflict we see in the Western U.S.-- urban young middle class white environmentalists coming into a local community that supports a harmful project (like strip-logging).

What we have in Wisconsin is very different and virtually unprecedented. The rural property owners, tribal governemnts/members, retired people, sportfishers, and others around the mine site (downstream and downwind) are opposing this mine together! Earth First is welcomed because it is one component of this larger movement, and respects the work of the local people. When the media calls, please direct them also to some of the local people along the Wolf and Wisconsin rivers who are opposing this mine (see our web site for a few phone numbers). Then we can lessen the kind of locals vs. outsiders propaganda that enabled the Ladysmith mine to be built.

*Remind people that Crandon is eight miles from the mine; Nashville and Mole Lake are on top of it. It should properly be called the Crandon/Mole Lake mine.

*Remind people that Nashville voters threw out their town board when it signed an agreement with Exxon.

*Remind people of the rally in Rhinelander, and the dozens of town and county resolutions against the mine and pipeline along the Wolf and Wisconsin rivers.

*Remind people that the tourism industry downstream from the mine overwhelmingly opposes the mine and pipeline, and is being joined by the tourists themselves.

*Remind people that the Senate overwhelmingly passed the Moratorium Bill, and to call their Assembly reps.

*Remind people that the Milwaukee steelworkers threw out their local president who appeared in Exxon ads.

*Remind people that this is NOT a typical environmental mainstream coalition like elsewhere in the country, but a historic, rural-led multiracial grassroots alliance that we in Wisconsin can point to with pride. Exxon and Rio Algom are the meddling outsiders.

*Don't be scared off by the radical baiting. If anything, what happened Monday is a very mild version of what is around the corner if the permits are granted. Then Exxon will not just be dealing with Earth First, but with very angry local people.

When the dust settles from the EF! arrests, we will send out some new information in the media: The Wolf Watershed Educational Project has launched a new statewide speaking/organizing tour. The Circle Tour will go around the edge of the state, away from the two rivers, where sulfide mining has not yet become a big issue, and where Assembly reps are still undecided on the Moratorium Bill. The 1996 Upriver Tour along the two rivers drew about 1100 people, and resulted in a proliferation of local groups and resolutions. We hope to have the same result in communities in eastern, southeastern, and western Wisconsin, especially on the Exxon mine as a foot-in-the-door for a regional mining district.

It is this type of brass tacks (slow, patient) community organizing that sets the stage for the kind of earthquake we are now seeing in northern Wisconsin. Just ask any Third World group-- change comes from the bottom up, and from where you least expect it.

FREE THE CRANDON 2000!
Zoltan Grossman

Wolf Watershed Educational Project
c/o Midwest Treaty Network
731 State St., Madison WI 53703
Tel/Fax (608) 246-2256
mtn@igc.apc.org
http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/wwep.html

Alex Turner <alturner@execpc.com>
Madison, WI USA - Tuesday, July 08, 1997 at 12:33:52 (CDT) 
Save Recycling Program! Call Your Legislator Today! The state budget is now before the Senate and the Assembly for action! Don't let the Legislature and the Governor end Recycling! The powerful Joint Finance Committee removed all the teeth from Wisconsin's model recycling law by: *ending state funding for local recycling programs after 2000 *ending all funds for market development *deleting state standards *deleting all state staff which now provide technical assistance, enforcement and oversight of local programs. Unless we change the budget, communities will be allowed to abandon their current committment to recycling. Industry will react by abandoning markets for recyclables. Recycling is Important for Wisconsin's Economy and Environment! Restore Recycling Funding! Limit Out-of-State Wastes by Restoring Recycling Standards! Call the toll-free Legislative HOTLINE 1-800-362-9472 (Wisconsin) Write to Governor Thompson--P.O. Box 7863, Madison, WI 53707 For information, call Caryl Terrell at Sierra Club (608) 256-0565
Citizens for a Better Environment <cbewi@igc.org>
Milwaukee, WI USA - Wednesday, July 02, 1997 at 09:37:27 (CDT) 
Tonight I got a call purporting to be a survey on the mine moratorium bill. The young lady asked me my opinion pro or con on the issue. She gave a statement of the pro moratorium position and a statement of the anti-moratorium position. I told her I favored the moratorium. Suddenly the interview ended. I asked who she was calling for she said "Coalition for Fair Regulations." I asked who she was working for. She said "Western Environmental Community Center." I asked where she was callig from. "Utah." What do people in Utah care about a mining bill in Wisconsin? She said she didn't know but gave me an 800 number to call for more information. The number is 800-533-0537. The recording says it is the Coalition for Fair Regulations. I left my name and address and asked them to send more information. I doubt it will ever arrive. Dean Paynter, Janesville 6/24/97
Dean Paynter <dpayntr@aol.com>
USA - Tuesday, June 24, 1997 at 19:06:22 (CDT) 

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