Take a few minutes and read Dom Noth's superb takedown of the Walker budget's threat to UWM's Downer Woods, and by implication, to the public's land, water, air and peace of mind statewide:
The growing community anger over Gov. Scott Walker’s effort to delete conservation and architectural protection for Downer Woods -- a beloved nature haven and historical beacon of the UWM campus-- could quickly radiate statewide.
Legislators in 71 counties outside Milwaukee are only now becoming aware of serpents within the thousand or more deletions and adjustments in Walker’s two year budget proposal. But their own residents are already there in blogs and bothersome questions to local editors and officials. They are worried about their own backyard, from absence of regulation on frac sand mining to manure dumped directly into nearby rivers.
That search for their own hidden “Downer Woods” problem is engaging citizen researchers, the everyday citizens who more quickly uncovered the assault on Downer Woods.
I used to walk my dog in the woods. It was a great place for for him to do his business and, since we were away from prying eyes, I never picked up any feces and always assumed his urine made a healthful contribution of nitrogen to the growth of fauna.
ReplyDeleteMy dog hasn't been with me for a long time now, but I often reflect on how peaceful it was listening to the birds, watching for other animals, and admiring the pristine habitat all inside of the city.
Often, we would find students relieving themselves the same way my pooch would daily (well, I assume they did not come to the woods to urinate or defecate daily, at least, I never seemed to see the same faces and bottoms twice).
Scott Walker is taking something away from us that is more precious than our rights and the money he loots for his financial backers. He is taking away an affordable retreat and, what once was a great place to sneak your dog into for an unauthorized adventure and biological needs.
This is a good post. I am glad you are writing about this. Everyone across Wisconsin should be wary of Walker's budget. Your woodlands will be next.
It will become necessary for an entity like the Wisconsin Budget Project to cut through the budget and spell out in readable terms all the cuts, guts and eliminations that Walker has in store for Wisconsinites. With that information in hand letters to local editors can then alert the public as to specific losses in their backyard. I suspect protests at the Capitol reminding the Republican lap dog legislators that 2016 is approaching and we can't get rid of Walker but we can end their job!
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