Sounding (the silent sports) Alarm
Causes for concern & action
Opposed: electric lines on Badger/IAT trail
The American Transmission Co. (ATC) has proposed building a massive high-voltage transmission line corridor through south-central Wisconsin following the converted rail bed of the Badger State Trail/Ice Age National Scenic Trail.
ATC would construct a new 345-kilovolt (kV) transmission line linking Rockdale to West Middleton along the trail corridor from Belleville to Fitchburg, Wisconsin.
The utility company also wishes to place an additional 138kV transmission line down the trail.
Nearing completion, the Badger/Ice Age trail is a family-oriented recreational nature trail for hiking, walking, biking, fishing and snowmobiling.
Fighting the ATC proposal is Save the Badger Trail, a coalition of concerned families, friends, neighbors and trail users. The John Muir Chapter of the Sierra Club, Dane County Ice Age Trail Chapter and the Governor's State Trail Council also
oppose overhead high-voltage transmission lines in state trail corridors.
The Save the Badger Trail coalition objects to the erection of large transmission line structures along the trail because of environmental damage, aesthetic harm to the natural beauty of the are possible health risks and adverse affect on property values that could result. Coalition members also fear ATC will require the clearing of many trees and the building of access roads.
"We feel that recreational land
that has been set aside should be protected and preserved for future generations," the coalition said in a statement.
For more information, go to www.savebadgertrail.blogspot.com. The draft master plan for the Badger State Trail can be read at www.dnr.state.wi.us/master_planning/badgertrail.
Bicyclists to lobby Wis. lawmakers on April 26
The
Bicycling Federation of Wisconsin will hold its first-ever "lobby day" at the state Capitol in Madison on April 26. The BFW's goal is to have a district resident bicyclist visit every one of the 99 state Assembly representatives and 33 state senators.
"The BFW can be a resource and an overall state voice for bicyclists, but ultimately elected officials are servants of their home district constituents. A visit from a constituent is a powerful statement to a state
assemblyperson or senator," BFW Executive Director Marjorie "Dar" Ward wrote in an e-mail to members of the organization.
The lobbying effort has three goals: 1) to let state lawmakers know that bicycling is a major recreational, competitive sporting, tourism and transportation issue; 2) to show support for funding bicycle trails, paths, lanes and educational programs; and 3) to start the Wisconsin State Bicycle Caucus made up of lawmakers who agree that bicycling is good
for Wisconsin.
The April 26 event will include a breakfast training session, a day of visiting offices and an evening reception. BFW will also host an informal gathering on the evening of April 25 to welcome participants from out of town. A limited number of home stays will be available on a first-come basis. There is no charge for Wisconsin State Bicycle Lobby Day, but contributions to defray costs are welcome.
For more information and to register, see www.bfw.org/events/lobbyday_registration.php or call Ward at 608/251-4456.
Court throws out BWCA motor boat quotas
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit on February 15 issued an opinion finding the United States Forest Service's recalculation of motor boat quotas on three chains of lakes and towboat quotas were "arbitrary and capricious" and not consistent with the Boundary
Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) Act of 1978. The Forest Service was ordered to recalculate those quotas.
Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness, the leading plaintiff in the case, welcomed the court's opinion. The friends group argued that there was no record of motor boat use "to justify the excessive increase of quotas by the Forest Service."
The BWCA friends' mission is to protect, preserve and restore the wilderness character of the BWCAW and the Quetico-Superior
ecosystem. The group pledged to work with the Forest Service to ensure that any recalculation of the motor boat quotas upholds wilderness values and conforms to the law.
In 1992, the U.S. Forest Service drafted a new BWCAW Management Plan the first since 1978. In the plan the Forest Service continued to allow unlimited motor boat use of entire "chains" of lakes to homeowners and resort owners.
The BWCA friends sued the Forest Service which responded by increasing the day use
motor quotas from 2,376 to 6,892, on the three chains affected by the decision: Moose Chain (Moose, Newfound, and Sucker Lakes), Farm Chain (White Iron, Farm, Garden, and South Farm Lakes), and Saganaga Chain (Saganaga Lake, Seagull River, and Gull Lake). The friends group and a coalition of others filed suit in federal court to return the quotas to meet the level established by the BWCAW Act.
In 2004, a district court judge agreed the Forest Service had improperly increased the quotas. In
February 2005, the Forest Service appealed.
Last month the court of appeals agreed the Forest Service has the authority to set motor boat quotas but found that the data used used by the agency to do so was "so unreliable and inadequately explained as to make reliance on them arbitrary and capricious."
Friends of Oval trying to raise $500,000
The Guidant John Rose Minnesota Oval is an ice-skating facility in Roseville, Minnesota, where athletes from every
skating discipline train and develop, especially for the sport of speed skating. Last year the Oval was forced to stop making ice because its "chiller" failed. The price tag for the repair exceeded $400,000.
The Guidant Foundation provided the Friends of the Oval with a gift of $500,000 to fix the chiller, then committed itself to advancing an additional $500,000 if that amount can be matched through fund-raising by the friends' group.
Minnesota skating promoter and St. Paul
Inline Marathon co-founder Mike Cofrin has set up a website where donations can be made to the Friends of the Oval Foundation. The website is www.active.com/donate/oval/cofrin.
"I'll circle back with you near the end of the (Winter) Olympics to share the success of this fund-raising effort and to revel in America's success on the ice," Cofrin pledged in an e-mail about the fund-raising effort.
Michigan state park sale proposed, not popular
Former Michigan State Parks Chief Russ Harding has proposed selling 14 state parks to help address a budget deficit, according to Todd Scott, executive director of the Michigan Mountain Biking Association (MMBA).
"There's common agreement that the state park finances aren't in good shape and something needs to be done. However, selling off parks to pay bills isn't a popular idea. It seems Mr. Harding is practically alone on
this one," Scott wrote in the most recent issue of the the MMBA newsletter, "Bent Rim Bugle."
A citizen committee for the state parks is meeting monthly to explore alternatives and come up with a solution. |
