How Wisconsin Lost Its Public Legal Advocate For Conservation
As the state eliminates wetland protections and hurtles closer to allowing mining in a watershed known for wild rice harvesting, you might want to read this article (pdf format) about the 28-year legacy of public environmental legal work and public policy advocacy that Tommy Thompson ended during his tenure as Governor.
2 comments:
Having been one of those law student interns, I was dismayed when the office was disbanded. I owe much to Tom Dawson and my experience as an intern for forming my environmental ethos.
UW Law School Grad..1979
p.s. I worked the case of Owen-Illinois v. the Town of St. Germain
Sound familiar:" Sutherland provided written comments to the DNR in April 1994, calling attention to, among other concerns, the fact that up to 2000 gallons of water per minute would have to be pumped out of the proposed mine's shaft in order to prevent flooding of the mine, impacting groundwater and surface water resources:33 With the additional potential release of mine waste water in the amount of up to 3000 gallons per minute into Swamp Creek and downstream to the Wolf River, the Office of the Public Intervenor further cautioned against the harm such discharges would have on fish and, thereby, on Wisconsin's tourist industry in the surrounding counties."
We have lost one more check and balance to prevent environmental rape, burn and pillage.
The sound of croaking frogs and leaves blowing in the wind will be replaced by the sound of ore filled dirt slamming against the cold steal buckets of massive dump trucks spewing diesel exhaust 24 hours a day.
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