Reporting On Baraboo/DNR Open Space Plan Omits Context, History

There's a piece in The Baraboo News Republic about a meeting to discuss the redevelopment of the abandoned Badger Army Ammunition Works property - - and the report has a significant omission.

What's missing is any acknowledgment of the 13 years of planning already developed by stakeholders in favor of converting the land to low-impact public uses - - you can get a sense of it in this local government file, here - - and not for the louder options like ATV trails and target shooting that Scott Walker's special-interest-driven DNR began to push after his election to unwind the work already done.

As I wrote last year:

The public is learning what happens when the Wisconsin DNR, beholden to special interests, allowed certain lobbies to change an agreed-upon land use plan:
      This blog has been following this for a while:

At the heart of the dispute: Should the new Sauk Prairie Recreation Area include a shooting range and space for all-terrain vehicles to rumble across the property? 

Both are under consideration. So are other plans for hiking trails, wildlife watching and habitat restoration. 

Another possible plan is to simply leave the land alone.

The possibility of the shooting range and ATV trails has come up relatively late in the planning process. 

A 2001 plan that had the input of the DNR, local government, citizens and others made no such recommendations, but instead emphasized restoration of the land and uses such as hiking and bird watching.

Walker's DNR wants to unwind a 12-year-old, all-stakeholders' consensus agreement for so-called low-impact recreation activities on land making up the now-closed Badger Ammo complex near Baraboo.