HELP US PASS THE RAILROAD CROSSING BILL (SB 734 / AB 876).

The Railroad Crossing Bill would allow hunters and anglers to cross a railroad track that divides two pieces of public lands.  This bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety... but left off the agenda for their upcoming meeting on Tues. Mar. 1.  We encourage you to contact Committee Chair Sen. Wanggaard and ask for the Railroad Crossing bill to be added to the agenda.

HELP US KILL THE HIGH CAPACITY WELL (GROUNDWATER) BILL (SB 239 / AB 874).

We have many concerns with this High Capacity Well (Groundwater) Bill, most notebly the fact that it does not allow for any periodic review (i.e. every 10 years or so) of high capacity well permits.  It's essentially picking winners and losers - first in the ground gets first rights to water use.  It sounds a lot like western water law and we view this as a direct threat to the Public Trust Doctrine, the part of Wisconsin's constitution which declares public rights to the waters of Wisconsin.

The bill has passed the Assembly.  The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Small Business, and Tourism, held a public hearing last October, but has not taken a vote on the bill.  We urge the Committee to take no further action, and instead, focus on comprehensive groundwater legislation that will provide adequate protections for Wisconsin's valuable water resources.