Link to: Kickapoo Valley Stewardship Alliance

Ho-Chunk Nation and the future of Badger Munitions

Ho-Chunk to get less Badger land

By Anita Weier
October 25, 2003
the capital Times (Madison)

The Ho-Chunk nation will get a much smaller slice of Badger Army Ammunition Plant land than its leaders had hoped.

The Ho-Chunk had requested 1,500 acres of the 7,350-acre plant site, which has been declared surplus by the Army and is being distributed by the federal General Services Administration.

But the tribe will get only 420 acres.

The Ho-Chunk received a notice from the Bureau of Indian Affairs on Oct. 3 that the GSA is offering that acreage to be held for the benefit of the Ho-Chunk, according to tribal spokesman William Boulware.

The 420-acre site is at the northwestern corner of the Badger plant site, bordering the Baraboo bluffs.

"It has medicinal plants and remnants of effigy mounds that were bulldozed in the 1940s when the plant was built," Boulware said.

The property can be transferred by the Army to various federal departments, in this case the Department of Agriculture, the National Park Service (acting for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources) and the Department of the Interior, which includes the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

"The nation is reviewing the offer of the property. Our official position is that the nation still wants to acquire land at Badger. We would prefer to acquire 1,500 acres, but if we can't, we will accept that 420. I guess we don't have a choice," Boulware said.

"This is very much a disappointment, but any opportunity for the nation to reacquire lands that were part of its aboriginal territory is a celebration."

The tribe plans to use the acreage to restore native plants and expand its bison herd, and to protect archeological sites, he said. No commercial or residential use is allowed, Boulware said.

The Ho-Chunk had previously been offered a different 1,500 acres than they originally requested. The state Department of Natural Resources wanted much of the same land the Ho-Chunk did because the agency wants a recreational link between Devils Lake State Park and the Wisconsin River.

Incentives offered to the Ho-Chunk to compromise included the Stand Rock property at Wisconsin Dells and land next to the tribe's powwow grounds in Jackson County. The full Ho-Chunk Legislature rejected that plan, which had been approved by the state Natural Resources Board.

"We started negotiating with the Ho-Chunk to see if they would modify their request," said Mark Aquino, land services team leader for the DNR's south-central region. "The nation was open to discussion. They were interested in other parcels the state owned outside of Badger. They could still get 1,500 acres in Badger but much of it would have been in the west instead of the east. The full Ho-Chunk Legislature did not approve."

Fear of possibly contaminated land on the offered site was a factor.

The original land split would have been 1,950 acres for the USDA's Dairy Forage Research Center, 3,850 acres for the DNR and about 1,500 acres for the Ho-Chunk nation. Now the DNR will get about 4,700 acres for its Sauk Prairie Recreation Center, Aquino estimated. The research center will get about what it requested, the Ho-Chunk will get 420 acres and a sanitary sewer district will get lesser acreage.

However, acquisition of the off-Badger property is still being negotiated, Boulware said.

"We had a meeting with the DNR secretary in July or August and he and I discussed the incentive. These are relatively small parcels but valuable to the Ho-Chunk. We had pretty much agreed to the incentive package, and then we were given the letter from GSA regarding the 420 acres," Boulware said.

But once federal agencies act on acquiring "excess" property, unclaimed "surplus" property can be requested by other governments. After that, a public auction would dispose of any remaining property. The Ho-Chunk could still request land at the surplus level or try to obtain it at auction, according to Boulware.

"Our original request for 1,500 acres was based on criteria approved by Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt in 1998. We waited five years and now we are told 420 acres," Boulware said. But "we went in knowing that the GSA had complete discretion; whether it is sufficient for our purposes is irrelevant."

Mark Lundgren, head of the GSA property disposal office in Chicago, said there is little chance that the current property plan will change, or that any unwanted property would be auctioned.

"Nothing is final until it is transferred, but at present, I do not expect the map to change. The way it is laid out, there will not be any land left over after the nonfederal governmental bodies. There would be no land left over and I do not foresee an auction," Lundgren said.

"The state of Wisconsin DNR has a request to GSA for all of the land remaining once the BIA and USDA requests are satisfied, so there won't be any extra land. The only exception is the sanitary treatment facility."

When the Ho-Chunk failed to ratify the original plan after drawn-out negotiations, the GSA entered negotiations with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which approved the transfer, Lundgren said.

"I have had a lot of back-and-forth with the BIA. I think they are comfortable with that parcel. The USDA parcels are also firm, after a lot of give and take. They realigned their original site to accommodate the DNR," Lundgren said.

E-mail: aweier@madison.com
Published: 6:42 AM 10/25/03

Badger site deal stalled because land culturally valuable to Ho-Chunk

Despite reaching a tentative deal in December, the state and the Ho-Chunk Nation say they are now at an impasse over what should become of 1,200 acres at the defunct Badger Ammunition Plant near Baraboo.

The Badger plant land was originally granted to the tribe but has caught the eye of the state, which hopes to develop an environmental corridor linking Devils Lake State Park and Lake Wisconsin.

The tribe and the state have a "mutual interest in the same property," said William Boulware, legislative counsel for the Ho-Chunk Nation.

The tribe owns 1,500 acres of the land, 1,200 of which the state wants. The two groups reached a compromise last year, but the tribe later decided the deal did not satisfy their needs. That deal would have given the tribe more than 75 acres, including parcels in the Wisconsin Dells area and Black River State Forest, in exchange for the 1,200 acres going to the state.

But the 1,200 acres in question includes "traditional cultural properties" where medicinal herbs and plants grow, Boulware said, a factor that led to the impasse.

The Ho-Chunk approval was contingent on reaching agreement with DNR officials on which parcels would be turned over. Since the two sides can't nail down the final agreement, the federal General Services Administration will now act as arbitrator to resolve the matter.

The DNR still wants the tribe to honor the agreement made in December, said Richard Steffes, director of the agency's real estate division.

"Our point was this was agreed to once and the department would like the 1,200 acres," Steffes said.

"The state's feeling was that if the state would take on the fairly heavy-duty work of coordinating restoration" of the former Badger Ammunition Plant site, said Steffes, "we needed some incentive for the citizens - and that would be this 1,200 acres."

The DNR is offering the tribe prime Wisconsin River frontage surrounding a popular Wisconsin Dells tourist attraction. The location of that land and the nature of the discussions between the state and the tribe have upset some residents, said Rep. J.A. Hines (R-Oxford). Hines learned of the proceedings only after being contacted by a constituent.

Hines said some residents are concerned that the tribe could do whatever it wants with the land in Wisconsin Dells, river frontage that was designated to remain natural and undeveloped after the DNR took control of it several years ago.

"There's nothing to stop them from putting up a bunch of great big signs promoting whatever they want to promote," Hines said.

A portion of the land includes the popular Stand Rock and a natural amphitheater that the tribe has used for ceremonial purposes for many years. Hines said he supports giving this land to the Ho-Chunk Nation because tribal members have a vested interest in it.

Steffes said the tribe would get 26 acres near Stand Rock, including a parking lot, some river frontage and the amphitheater. The Stand Rock formation itself, a signature image of the scenic Upper Wisconsin Dells, would not be given to the tribe.

Steffes said the land near Stand Rock must remain in its natural state, which means the tribe would not be able to develop it or put signs on it. Also, the Ho-Chunk Nation would not develop Stand Rock or the surrounding area, but would rehabilitate the land and the buildings there, under the agreement.

Oct. 22, 2001
Ron Seely Environment reporter
Wisconsin State Journal

A panel of federal, state and local officials is close to agreeing on the future ownership and management of the Badger Army Ammunition Plant, which is being abandoned by the U.S. Army.

Under a tentative ownership plan, agreed upon by the Badger Intergovernmental Group (BIG), the property of about 7,000 acres near Baraboo would be divided among the state Department of Natural Resources, the Ho-Chunk tribe, and the U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center.

The plan calls for the DNR to own 3,316 acres; Ho-Chunk, 1,629 acres; and Dairy Forage, 2,032 acres.

The panel is also considering a plan under which the property would be managed cooperatively by the landowners - with input from local communities - and would require that the land be used mostly for conservation, recreation and research.

A final recommendation from BIG to the U.S. General Services Administration, the federal agency charged with disposing of the plant, probably won't come until November.

The group coming up with the management plan includes representatives from the General Services Administration, DNR, Ho-Chunk, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Sumpter and Merrimac, the U.S. Army, Gov. Scott McCallum's office, and the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

The panel's work is perhaps the final and most critical step in a years-long process of deciding what is to become of the Badger property, a unique landscape that has not only historic but ecological significance. It is mostly an enormous prairie, dotted with oak savannas, that connects the Baraboo Hills and Devils Lake State Park with the Wisconsin River to the south.

An earlier committee - made up of local residents as well as representatives of the agencies that are likely to end up owning a portion of the property - met for more than a year and came up with a re-use plan that recommended managing the land as a whole and using it primarily for conservation and recreation.

Now the intergovernmental group is deciding how to put the re-use plan into place. The most important discussions so far have been about what agencies will own what portions of the property.

Two weeks ago, the group came up with a proposal that was well received by just about everyone. Most importantly, it calls for more than 3,000 acres to be owned by the DNR and creates a recreational corridor between Devils Lake State Park north of the plant and the Wisconsin River to the south.

Mike May, who represents the GSA on the panel, said getting agreement on the ownership plan was a major accomplishment. "It's a key step," May said.

Last week, the group, which has been meeting each Tuesday this month and is scheduled to meet in Baraboo Tuesday, discussed how the property is likely to be managed. Key to that management plan is a memorandum of understanding under which the owners would operate.

A proposed agreement, presented at last Tuesday's meeting, calls for the property to be cooperatively managed according to recommendations made in the re-plan; that is for research, agriculture, environmental and cultural education and recreation.

The management plan would also emphasize public access, improvement of the natural habitat and protection of historic and cultural resources.

Also, the management agreement would set up a joint advisory board made up of the owners as well as Sauk County and the towns of Sumpter and Merrimac to assist in decisions about the property. But final decisions, according to the proposal, would remain with the owners.

In addition to the management plan, the group has discussed disposal of the buildings, many of them dilapidated and contaminated with explosives, that are scattered across the property.

Joe Gumpert, with the U.S. Army, estimated that the Army will have to spend between $25 and $30 million to tear down about 900 of the 1,400 buildings on the property. That job, he said, could take from 8 to 10 years.

CSWAB UPDATE -- The search for common ground took a remarkable step forward this week. The meeting of the Badger Intergovernmental Group on

October 9 was a profound demonstration of good will and a cooperative spirit on the part of the Ho-Chunk Nation, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and the U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center.

The group tentatively agreed on a foundational map that divides the Badger property into 3 parcels with no unclaimed property that otherwise might be vulnerable to industrial or commercial development.

The announcement underscores commitments made at earlier meetings to preserve and manage the Badger lands as a whole for conservation and agricultural purposes.

The first of four weekly meetings convened in Madison on October 2, bringing together state, local, federal, and tribal government to discuss the future of the Badger lands.

Without exception, all participants at the initial meeting of the intergovernmental group reaffirmed their commitment to the land uses, cleanup objectives, and management policies outlined in Sauk County’s Badger Reuse Plan. There was unanimous support for a draft conceptual proposal from the State of Wisconsin that designated conservation, restoration, and agriculture as the principal land uses.

The State’s interest, like other potential future landowners, is contingent on the satisfactory removal of unwanted infrastructure and cleanup levels that support future land use needs.

Attorney William Boulware, speaking on behalf of the Ho-Chunk Nation, said that the Nation is interested in facilitating legislative initiatives that would secure the highest of degree of cleanup at Badger. Boulware reaffirmed the Nation’s commitment to ensuring land use on properties acquired by the tribe will be a beneficial and complimentary element in the fabric of the Sauk County landscape.

Mike May, representing the federal General Services Administration, emphasized that all stakeholders ? state, federal, and tribal governments ? were voluntarily participating in this initiative.

Although each has sovereignty unto itself, their enduring participation and collaboration demonstrates a resolute commitment to a safe and healthy future for our community and for the Badger lands.

-- Laura Olah, Executive Director
Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger
E12629 Weigand's Bay South
Merrimac, WI 53561
phone (608)643-3124
fax (608)643-0005 alt fax (608)643-2682
Email: olah@speagle.com
Website: http://www.cswab.com

CSWAB
Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger
E12629 Weigandís Bay South Merrimac, WI 53561
Phone (608) 643-3124 Fax (608) 643-0005
www.cswab.com

July 23, 2001

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Contact Laura Olah, Executive Director (608) 643-3124

MERRIMAC -- Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger has learned a Virginia-based consulting firm called BAHR (Businesses of Adams, Hargett and Riley, Inc.) has been under contract with the U.S. Army and Navy since November 2000. BAHR is exploring ways to accelerate the transfer of federal sites like Badger to federal and private conservation groups ? a process that so far has not included a number of important local stakeholders.

According to documents obtained by CSWAB, one of the suggested benefits to the U.S. Army and Department of Defense is a total cost savings on environmental cleanup. BAHRís proposal involves the early transfer authority of multiple excess federal properties to a third party, such as a conservation group, while they are being cleaned up. This ìbundlingî would allow the transfer of numerous sites simultaneously. A fundamental component of this proposition is ìenvironmental insuranceî which would provide liability protection to final or interim landholders.

Part of BAHRís scope of work includes identifying excess and surplus military properties that have high conservation and recreational value on a national basis and might benefit from such a conveyance. Although the site selection process is not entirely complete, Badger is a likely candidate given its significant conservation value, reports Rebecca Rubin, an executive consultant with the firm.

As part of this DoD initiative, BAHR is also working on a study to determine the feasibility of transferring federal properties while they are still ìdirtyî and having the cleanup performed by the recipient. This latter approach has been used numerous times by the Army and Navy and is usually at the request of the future owner, Rubin said. However this would be considered on a case by case basis, she added.

In a separate but related initiative, the U.S. Navy has drafted legislative language in a coordinated effort with the Army, Air Force, Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Park Service. This general conveyance approach would permit the military to convey surplus federal property directly to a nonprofit conservation group, Rubin said. The proposed legislation would give the head of the military department authority to make such a conveyance. "Surplusî federal property has been declared excess by a particular federal agency and is determined by the U.S. General Services Administration to be no longer required by the federal government as a whole.

Under the direction of the Army, BAHR initiated a series of teleconference calls and local meetings beginning in January of this year, Rubin said. The purpose was to brief more than a dozen government and conservation entities about this overall initiative and to explain how it might apply to Badger ? excluded from this dialogue, however, were town and village boards, including the Township of Merrimac and Village of Prairie du Sac, the Ho-Chunk Nation, CSWAB, and other local stakeholders.

The initial Department of Defense contract with BAHR ended in late June and will likely be extended for an additional year, Rubin said. BAHRís recommendations will now go to the Department of Defense for consideration and shared with other key federal agencies such as the Fish & Wildlife Service and National Park Service, she said.

Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger was first organized by neighbors of the Badger plant in 1990. Led by a board of local community members, CSWAB plays a critical role in assuring nearby residents know the extent of local pollution, facilities are adequately cleaned up, and future use does not threaten natural systems. For more information, visit their website at www.cswab.com

May 16, 2001

Last night, May 15, the Sauk County Board approved the Final Report of the Badger Reuse Committee by an overwhelming majority of 21 - 7! The report is the result of a nine-month long process that took literally took thousands of hours to develop. The land uses selected by the committee were agriculture, conservation, recreation, and wildlife habitat.

A fundamental component of the Committeeís land-use plan addresses environmental restoration. Recognizing a comprehensive cleanup is the foundation for all other uses, the Committee's report included a number of specific criterion that will ensure cleanup is protective of natural systems, including soil, air, water, and biodiversity. Other communities, without a consensus process and final report, have not fared as well. At Fort McCoy, for example, groundwater beneath its bombing ranges is not safe to drink; the Army contends no one is drinking the water so no cleanup is necessary. At Pennsylvaniaís Army Ammunition Plant, every single site has been ìcleaned upî to industrial standards; this means these sites will never again be suitable for gardening, housing, a playground, or a park. These communities did not have a public consensus process to leverage a better cleanup.

Now approved, the Reuse Committeeís report will be a powerful tool to ensure our community gets the best possible cleanup. The report came too late for the new mercury landfill at Badger. The 20-acre site will forever be fenced; deed restrictions will prohibit future use. This site will never again be suitable for farming or prairie restoration or for a park. However, it is not too late for most of the other contaminated sites at Badger.

For more than 11 years, Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger has worked to get Badger cleaned up and preserved for future generations. More than 9 years ago, CSWAB posted a billboard on Highway 12 -- "Restore the Prairie, not the Ammo Plant!" Today, we are closer than ever to making this vision a reality. The work of everyday community members like you has paved the way for a promising and healthy future, but there is still much to be done. Federal funding and authority must now be secured to implement the recommendations of the committee. Together, we will accomplish this next step. Your support continues to be our strength. Thank you.

-- Laura Olah, Executive Director
Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger
E12629 Weigand's Bay South
Merrimac, WI 53561
phone (608)643-3124, fax (608)643-0005, alt fax (608)643-2682
Email: olah@speagle.com Website: http://www.cswab.com

Public use for ammo plant is favored

April 11, 2001
Wisconsin State Journal
by Ron Seely Environment reporter

A committee studying the future of the Badger Army Ammunition Plant near Baraboo has recommended the 7,300-acre site be opened to the public and used primarily for conservation, recreation and agriculture.

The guidelines approved by the diverse 21-member committee, which has been working on its plan since last July, appear to discourage most commercial or industrial uses.

Most important, according to the committee's recommendations, is that the land, which has been abandoned by the Army, be managed cooperatively as a single unit and that the contamination from years of manufacturing gunpowder be thoroughly cleaned up by the federal government.

"The conversion of the Badger lands provides remarkable opportunities for protection, enhancement, use, restoration and enjoyment of the property's unique natural and cultural features," the report says. "In the past, the Badger lands have too often been a place of division, pain and conflict. It is the hope of the committee that all members of our community may now contribute to a new beginning at Badger, one that honors the past while serving future generations."

The Badger plant occupies one of the most unique ecological sites in the state. It is a huge prairie, complete with rare oak openings, linking the bluffs of the Baraboo Hills with the waters of the Wisconsin River. The report emphasizes the importance of that link, both for wildlife and for recreation.

The committee's report is an important milestone because efforts to decide the fate of the plant have been dogged by the same kind of controversy that has marked the plant's history. A number of farm families were displaced when the plant was built during World War II. And during the Vietnam War, anti-war activists tried to drop a bomb on the plant from an airplane.

But, in one of its more unique recommendations, the committee advised that future uses of the land "contribute to the reconciliation and resolution of past conflicts involving the loss and contamination of the natural environment, the displacement of Americans Indians and Euro-American farmers, and the effects of war."

Dave Tremble, a planning and preservation specialist for Sauk County who has followed the committee's work, said a public hearing is scheduled for April 24 in Baraboo. He said he expects the Sauk County Board to act on the recommendations at its May 15 meeting.

Tremble said he is hopeful the General Services Administration, the federal agency in charge of disposing of the plant, will include the committee's recommendations as its preferred option for future use of the plant property.

The recommendations, Tremble said, are less a specific plan for the property's use than a set of guidelines that set forth the criteria by which proposed uses can be judged.

"The plan offers a lot of flexibility," Tremble said. "It sets up a process by which land use decisions can be made in the future."

Although the committee made no specific recommendations about who should own or manage the property, members did agree that probably the best scenario would be for the state of Wisconsin to own the land.

In evaluating specific proposed uses for the land, the committee ranked conservation and historical and recreational uses very high. Proposals to build a prison, chemical plant or landfill on the site ranked the lowest with committee members.

Wisconsin Conservation Congress
Spring hearings

Monday, APRIL 9, 2001

On Monday April 9th at 7 pm, public hearings will be held in every county in the state of the Wisconsin Conservation Congress (WCC), a unique "town hall" institution to advise the DNR on natural resource questions. All Wisconsin citizens may attend and vote on ballot questions.
For hearing locations see http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/nrboard/springhearings/notice

The Midwest Treaty Network is urging a NO vote on the ballot item Question 75, which supports giving all of the Badger Munitions site to the DNR. Question 75 falsely poses the issue as a choice between state and developer ownership of the site, without mentioning that the Ho-Chunk Nation has also made a claim to part of the site for the protection of sacred burial mounds and other cultural sites, and for the restoration of bison and native plants on the historic prairie.

WCC Ballot Question 75 reads:
"The federal government has offered Wisconsin ownership of the former Badger Ammunition Plant acreage. Other than about 50 acres, where there are presently buildings, the remaining 7,000 acres are an example of what Wisconsin's southern prairie was like. There are concerns that developers, among others, want parts of this property for personal use and personal gain. Should the State of Wisconsin acquire all the acreage of the Badger Ammunition Plant and keep it in perpetual trust for the people of Wisconsin?"

The Ho-Chunk Nation should be included in any decision in the future of the Badger site; the land should be equitably divided between the true stakeholders. ALL THE PROPERTY SHOULD NOT GO TO ONE GOVERNMENT BODY, for at least four reasons:

•   First, the tribe has a long, proven track record in ecological stewardship. It is carrying out co-management with the State and local citizens in the new Kickapoo Valley Reserve, protecting both the environment and cultural sites, and is also restoring bison on other tribal lands. (The tribe does NOT want to open a casino on the Badger site, and could not under federal law even if it wanted to.)

•   Second, while environmentalists have praised the stewardship shown by DNR staff, many have questioned the role of DNR leadership (for example in the controversies over mining, Perrier, and Fox River clean-up).

•   Third, the Badger site would be better protected by a integrated board of agencies that provide a check-and-balance on each other, rather than by any single institution that could later change its land use priorities.

•   Fourth, Question 75's first sentence is misleading. The federal government has not "offered" the State ownwership of the property. Under long established land disposal statutes, the federal General Services Administration (GSA) must first offer excess federal lands to federal agencies--in this case the U.S. Department of the Interior / Bureau of Indian Affairs (for use by the Ho-Chunk as a federally recognized tribe), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It is only after it completes that process that the surplus land can be made available to a state or local government.

Not only would it be a breach of federal law to exclude the Ho-Chunk from the process, but it is an act of "environmental racism" to support the exclusion of the tribe--even if it is an unitended insult. Full DNR control at first sounds like a good deal for the land. But the best guarantee for the future protection of the Sauk Prairie is co-management of the Badger site, with a voice for local, state, tribal, and federal governments. Excluding tribal sovereignty would not only reinforce a double standard, but would leave out a powerful legal force for restoration of the site.

VOTE 'NO' ON 75 (DNR acquisition of Badger)
STAND UP TO ASK YOUR COUNTY TO VOTE DOWN QUESTION 75 , and to contact your representatives to support a positive, inclusive future for a restored and protected Sauk Prairie.

Background on the Ho-Chunk Claim at Badger Munitions (1999)

http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/badger.html

LEGISLATORS' e-mail addresses / toll-free numbers:
http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/wileg.html

Badger RAB Tells Army to Take a Hike!

December 1, 2000
For more information, contact:
Laura Olah (608) 643-3124
Member, Badger Environmental Board of Advisors
Executive Director, Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger

WISCONSIN -- Despite brazen pressure from the U.S. Army including threats of dissolution and discontinued federal funding, members of Wisconsin’s Badger Environmental Board of Advisors (BEBA) defended its legitimacy as one of the nation’s oldest Restoration Advisory Boards and unanimously voted to preserve its community-led structure.

At the November 27 meeting held in rural Sauk City, Gale L. Smith, Public Affairs Specialist with Army Operations Headquarters, denounced the BEBA board saying Army officials at Rock Island will no longer support the current BEBA structure. Smith claimed U.S. Army guidance documents recommend an Army co-chair -- the BEBA has a community chair. Smith also asserted that environmental regulators should have the same voting privileges as community members -- another reason, she said, the Army is disputing the legitimacy of the board.

Smith’s condemnation was surprising given the Badger board has consistently received federal funding and administrative support since its inception in 1993 and has, until now, been recognized as the official Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) for the Badger Army Ammunition Plant. Smith claimed that under Army guidance documents -- written after the BEBA was formed -- the BEBA may no longer qualify as a RAB and therefore will not be eligible for funding, including administrative support and federal TAPP (Technical Assistance for Public Participation) grants.

Over the last seven years, the original membership structure of the board has remained unchanged except for the recent addition of a seat for the Ho-Chunk Nation. Ironically, the U.S. Army came under fire for hand-picking the original 1993 BEBA membership and for not soliciting members through an open public process as recommended by the Federal Facilities Environmental Restoration Dialogue Committee.

In order to reinstate its standing as a RAB, Smith said the Army will require the BEBA to comply with the military’s current guidelines -- changes which will require extensive changes in the BEBA’s by-laws. Smith warned that unless the BEBA amends the role of environmental regulators and Army officials, the Army intends to withdraw funding and organize a new and separate RAB.

If the board intends to appeal the Rock Island decision, the ultimate decision would be that of General John G. Coburn, Commanding General, U.S. Army Materiel Command, Smith concluded.

Undaunted, community members immediately and unanimously passed a motion to maintain the structure and by-laws of the BEBA -- a paradoxical punctuation to a meeting that earlier lauded the BEBA’s role in securing funding for priority cleanup projects at Badger including $5.6 million to remediate mercury-contaminated sediments in the nearby Wisconsin River.

In a parting gesture, board members urged Smith to invite Coburn to the next meeting so he could gain a “first-hand” understanding of the capabilities and efficacy of the BEBA.

On Monday, September 27, Citizen for Safe Water Around Badger (CSWAB) will host a public meeting to discuss strategies to strengthen the role of the community in developing future use, environmental cleanup, and land use planning at Badger Army Ammunition Plant. The meeting is an annual working session when CSWAB invites community members to help prioritize the organization's work for the coming year.

High on the list will be a discussion of the mercury contamination found at Gruber's Grove Bay, public participation in cleanup decisions at Badger Army Ammunition Plant, and the future use of this closing military base.

The recent announcement by the Army that Badger is no longer needed for ammunition production has heightened community interest in the future of the area, and CSWAB believes the community should play a leadership role in developing the future of the prairie now occupied by the Badger plant.

"Careful planning of Badger's future use must protect adjacent proper ties and the ecological treasures they support including Devil's Lake State Park, the Ice Age Trail, and Parfrey's Glen," said Laura Olah, Executive Director of the group. "The foundation for building a sustainable future is a comprehensive environmental cleanup."

The Badger plant itself lies primarily on the terrain of the former Sauk Prairie and oak savanna grasslands south of the quartzite bluffs known as the Baraboo Hills. Sixteen remnants of natural communities including prairie, oak savanna, dry forest, southern hardwood swamp and sandy meadow have been identified. The base is also home to a wide variety of animal species including some that have been classified as rare, endangered and threatened. These are the resources CSWAB wants to protect.

"CSWAB's goal is to secure a sustainable future will benefit ourselves and the generations to come," Olah added. "The potential negative impacts of unrestrained industrial development are overwhelming; escalated rail and heavy truck traffic, increased sanitary and industrial wastewater discharges, degradation of air quality, and cumulative harm to delicate ecosystems exemplify the need for careful and comprehensive consideration of alternatives to reindustrialization."

The public meeting will be at the Sauk City Library on Monday, September 27 from 7 to 9 pm in the downstairs meeting room. The building is wheelchair accessible from the back of the building.

ARMY DEMANDS HO-CHUNK HAVE EQUAL VOICE IN BADGER CLEANUP

WISCONSIN -- The U.S. Army has issued a letter urging members of Badger's Environmental Board of Advisors (BEBA) to grant the Ho-Chunk Nation full representation and voting rights - challenging the board's decision last month to offer the Nation a seat, but no voting rights.

"The Ho-Chunk Nation is a prominent stakeholder whose opinions are valuable to me in making informed cleanup decisions at BAAP," wrote Colonel William R Pulscher, Chief of Staff Industrial Operations Command headquartered in Rock Island, Illinois. "In the interest of ensuring that the diverse views of the community are represented on the Restoration Advisory Board, I have determined that the Nation should be granted full representation on the BEBA, with equal status to other community members."

On May 3, a majority of the BEBA members rejected a motion by Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger (CSWAB) to include the Ho-Chunk Nation as an organization with a voting membership on the board, giving the Nation the same rights as other local government. Sauk County, Township of Sumpter, Township of Merrimac, and Township of Prairie du Sac currently all have voting positions on the board. CSWAB protested the board's action by suspending its membership last month.

"We are hoping the Army's letter will encourage board members to reconsider their vote," said Laura Olah, Executive Director of CSWAB. "With this additional information in hand, I am confident they will do the right thing."

The Ho-Chunk Nation has a vested interest in the cleanup at Badger as it is a stakeholder and may eventually own part of the property. The Nation has requested the transfer of a portion of the Badger land in trust for restoration as prairie and bison habitat and for the preservation of historic and cultural sites. The land comprising the Badger plant lies within the territory that the United States recognized historically held by the Ho-Chunk Nation. Ho-Chunk has patiently waited since June 1998 for a vote on its petition for membership on the BEBA.

The BEBA is a federally-funded Restoration Advisory Board formed in 1993 by the Army to provide independent advise to environmental regulators and the Army on environmental cleanup activities at the closing 7,354-acre Badger plant. Badger was one of the first bases in the country to establish a Restoration Advisory Board receiving more than $80,000 of support from the Army.

The board has 18 voting members, seven representing local government, labor, and community organizations. The remaining ten (10) voting members are area residents. The Army, regulatory agencies (WDNR and EPA), and Sauk County Environmental Health Department representatives are non-voting members of the BEBA board.

The next meeting of the BEBA board will be on Monday, June 7 at 7 pm at the Sauk City Village Hall. The meeting is open to the public.

SAUK CITY -- A majority vote blocked a motion to allow the Ho-Chunk Nation to become a voting member of the Badger Environmental Board of Advisors (BEBA), a federally-funded Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) formed in 1993 by the U.S. Army at Badger Army Ammunition Plant, prompting one board member to suspend her membership. Badger Army Ammunition Plant was one of the first bases in the country to establish a Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) receiving more than $80,000 of support from the Army.

A motion to change the BEBA by-laws, allowing the Ho-Chunk Nation a seat on the BEBA, failed in a five (5) to three (3) vote at a special meeting on Monday evening, May 3, 1999. Opposing votes included Town of Sumpter supervisor Kenneth Meier and Sauk County Board representative Darlene Hill. Hill cited disagreements between Sauk County and the Nation on other issues as a reason she opposed their participation as a voting member. "We were all born as citizens of this country; no one government should have more power than another," she said.

Other board members explained that the Nation has a vested interest in the cleanup at Badger as it is a stakeholder and may eventually own part of the property. The Ho-Chunk Nation has requested the transfer of a portion of the BAAP land in trust for restoration as prairie and bison habitat and for the preservation of historic and cultural sites. The land comprising the Badger plant lies within the territory that the United States recognized historically held by the Ho-Chunk Nation. Ho-Chunk has patiently waited since June 1998 for a vote on its petition for membership on the Badger RAB.

The Department of Defense informed the Ho-Chunk Nation at the DOD Defense Environmental Restoration Task Force (DERTF) Meeting in February 1999 that the Tribe's participation is required under the RAB protocols and DOD guidance on consultation with tribal governments. The BEBA was originally formed according to the recommendations of the Federal Facilities Environmental Dialogue Committee (FFERDC), a federal advisory committee formed by the EPA in 1992. The stated goal of the FFERDC was to improve the process by which federal facility environmental restoration decisions are made, such that these decisions reflect the priorities and concerns of all stakeholders, including tribal governments.

It is unclear whether BEBA is organized under the Federal Advisory Committee Act. Yet the 1996 Final Report of the FFERDC recommended maintaining balanced membership, open meetings and public notice. BEBA is to serve as the site-specific board of advisors for environmental restoration at Badger Army Ammunition Plant. RABs are intended to focus on the protection of human health, cleanup, waste management and technology development issues and should reflect the full diversity of views, ethnicity, race and income in the affected community and be composed primarily of people who are directly affected. According to FFERDC, tribal governments have standing as stakeholders in federal facility environmental restoration activities in instances where tribes are affected. FFERDC specifies "tribes and tribal members have interests that are equivalent to those of any other affected stakeholder."

Assist Secretary of Defense Environmental Security, Sherri Goodman, was advised of Ho-Chunk's petition for membership in July 1998 at the Skokie, IL DERTF meeting by William Boulware, Ho-Chunk Nation Attorney. Mr. Boulware provided testimony at the DERTF meeting in San Francisco in February 1999 and received a letter from Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army, Raymond J. Fatz recognizing the potential impact clean-up would have on the cultural resources and the Ho-Chunk Nation's interest as a stakeholder. Now, the BEBA and Ho-Chunk are faced with the dilemma. An Indian tribe and stakeholder has been affirmatively denied the opportunity to participate in light of the Presidential Executive Orders on Environmental Justice and the RAB regulations.

Boulware stated that "This was supposed to be an opportunity for people to be unified behind cleaning up contamination left by the Army and Olin Corporation. Now, this vote distracts from the real issues and the real work, i.e. protecting the land and our health. People sometimes forget, that it is not "us and them" or "you people," it is genuinely we, as a collective working improve our lives in a community that owes its existence to the ceding of lands by the Ho-Chunk Nation to the United States. The Nation is not asking to be the sole decision maker, it petitioned BEBA in order to be a part of the process."

Following the failed motion, Laura Olah, Executive Director of Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger (CSWAB) immediately stepped down from the board. "CSWAB’s board voted unanimously to suspend our participation in the BEBA until this is resolved; continuing to participate is completely contrary to CSWAB’s by-laws and our environmental justice principles."

WDNR representative Mike Degen emphasized the important contribution the Ho-Chunk Nation has made to environmental cleanup and funding issues related to Badger over the past year but was noncommittal on whether or not the Nation’s participation should be approved. "I don’t have strong feelings one way or another," Degen said. The Army reported EPA representative Robert Egan, absent at the Monday meeting, was also neutral on the issue saying the BEBA "should decide membership issues themselves."

After Olah took her seat in the audience, all remaining board members but one voted to offer the Ho-Chunk Nation a non-voting seat on the board. Mary Carol Solum, an at-large member of the BEBA, dissented. "The Nation is government entity -- as is the Town of Sumpter, Town of Merrimac, Village of Prairie du Sac, and Sauk County. They have standing as a sovereign nation and therefore should be a voting member as a governing unit."

The board has 18 voting members, seven representing local government, labor, and community organizations. The remaining ten (10) voting members are area residents. The Army, regulatory agencies (WDNR and EPA), and Sauk County Environmental Health Department representatives are non-voting members of the BEBA board.

The following is from CSWAB:

Letters may be sent to:
Ms. Sherri Wasserman Goodman
Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Environmental Security
3400 Defense Pentagon, Rm. 3E792
Washington, DC 20301-3400

Courtesy copies to:
William Boulware, Jr.
Ho-Chunk Nation Department of Justice
P.O. Box 667
Black River Falls, WI 54615

Laura Olah, Executive Director
Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger
E12629 Weigand's Bay South
Merrimac, Wisconsin 53561
olah@speagle.com
Phone (608)643-3124 Fax (608)643-0005
Website http://www.speagle.com/cswab

Congressman Scott Klug (R-Wis.) has written special legislation to determine Badger Army Ammunition Plant reuse. And although the legislation is currently under negotiation in the U.S. Senate, opposition to Klug's plan is beginning to mount.

Klug's legislation calls for state ownership of about two-thirds of Badger's 7,354 acres, for a total of 5,664 acres. Of this acreage, the state would be required to use 1,400 acres for prairie restoration and conservation. The legislation recommends that the state use the remaining 4,264 acres for conservation purposes, but according to Ho-Chunk attorney William Boulware the language doesn't prohibit other uses. The governor would have the sole discretion to decide which state agency or agencies would oversee the state's land.

The remaining 1,690 acres, which contain all of Badger's "asbestos-laden" buildings, would be left for the General Services Administration to dispose of. The legislation would limit the GSA's role in Badger reuse; without it the GSA, which is the federal government's real estate agency, would be responsible for deciding the fate of the entire plant.

But who won't own land at Badger is also significant. Neither the Ho-Chunk Nation nor the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture has been named as a landowner in Klug's plan. Both have made formal requests for land ownership through the GSA.

For more info, here is the complete article.

Klug writes legislation for Badger http://www.shopperstopper.com/shopper/badger/future/klugleg1.htm

Tribal Attorney William Boulware, Jr. wrote:

It has come to the attention of the Ho-Chunk Nation that Congressman Scott Klug has been able to include his proposal to dispose of the excess federal property known as Badger Army Ammunition Plant, in circumvention of the current GSA disposal process, in the omnibus spending bill.

The Ho-Chunk Nation, joins the General Service Administration, in its opposition to circumvent the existing federal process that does not provide for the protection of traditional cultural properties, natural resources, and environmental clean-up.

The issue of most concern is that Congressman Klug's proposed legislation precludes the participation of the Ho-Chunk Nation. The legislation does not provide any method by which the Ho-Chunk Nation may assert a claim of aboriginal title, as is afforded under the existing GSA process is title 40 U.S.C. 484, and Title 25 U.S.C. 450j. Additionally, the proposed legislation misleads the public by suggesting that the state and the local community will have park of 5,664 acres, when it fact the legislation provides only that 1400 acres shall be used for wildlife and conservation and the remaining land uses are left without restraint for future uses.

This language is blatantly inconsistent with the many voices and opinions expressed at public meetings and by the Ho-Chunk Nation.

The Nation seeks your support in having this amendment or proposed legislative language removed from the omnibus spending bill.

Thank you.

William Boulware, Jr.
Tribal Attorney

We also oppose the proposed legislation. As you know, CSWAB's role is to mobilize and empower rural residents living near Badger Army Ammunition Plant; our goal is to secure a sustainable future which will preserve, and where possible, restore the integrity of natural systems ?

including soils, water, air, and biological diversity. The Klug legislation is contrary to our shared objectives for conservation, environmental protection, and community participation.

Calls should be made to President Clinton TODAY! The phone number is 1(202)456-1414.

Urgent Environmental Justice action on Badger Munitions, Wisconsin!

BACKGROUND: Sometime prior to Thursday June 4, Congressman Mark Neumann (member of the House Appropriations Committee), at the direct urging of Congressman Scott Klug, wrote a letter to the Chairman C.W. "Bill" Young (R-Florida) of the National Security Subcommittee (of the House Appropriations Committee) requesting Young offer an amendment to the Defense Appropriations Bill that would directly transfer 5,600 acres of Badger Army Ammunition Plant to the State of Wisconsin (reportedly the DOA, and note, NOT the DNR), 1200 acres to the US Dairy Forage Research Center, the remaining 554 acres would remain with the Army and be eventually excessed through the GSA process (existing federal process for disposal of excess federal lands) and presumably be sold to the highest bidder.

By late Thursday, June 4, it was reported by several sources that the amendment was NOT offered by Young. The amendment could still be offered by the larger Appropriations Committee or from the floor, however this is, according to Klug's staff, much more difficult.

HOWEVER, Congressman Klug and Neumann are AGAIN, according to reports late today June 5, attempting to offer the same amendment -- this time through the Military Construction Appropriations Subcommittee. The amendment could be offered as soon as Tuesday, June 9! The Chairman of the Military Construction Subcommittee is Congressman Ron Packard (R-California).

The proposed Klug/Neumann amendment is disastrous for many reasons, including:

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: If the amendment is passed, it will override the existing federally-mandated process for disposal of excess federal properties (GSA process) and effectively shut out the Ho-Chunk. Under the existing process, Ho-Chunk (formerly Winnebago) Nation has an opportunity to gain ownership of part of Badger. According to the Nation's application for ownership of Badger lands, the general basis for the tribe's claim is title 25 U.S.C. 450j(f)(3) of the Indian Education and Self-determination Act. There is also other independent authority for which the Secretary of the Interior may acquire, purchase, assign, gift, or lease property for the benefit and use of Indian tribes. The Ho-Chunk Nation has relied on most of them as applicable. If the ammendment is approved, only the final 554 acres will be excessed according to GSA; Ho-Chunk will presumably have to compete with other interests for this property.

INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT: The proposal lays the groundwork for an industrial chemical complex bigger than all of Sauk County9s existing industrial parks COMBINED. There will be no limitations on the type of development - anything from a paper mill to a prison to a paint factory could be allowed. According to existing State Statute, if excess federal lands are sold in this state for private development, compliance with local and County Planning and Zoning ordinances is NOT required! The primary and secondary impacts of such a proposal -- to the adjacent Baraboo Hills and Devil9s Lake State Park, taxes, hospitals, housing, schools, property values, transportation, air quality, water quality - are unknown and assuredly disasterous.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: The GSA recently announced a public process, facilitated by the Sauk County Planning and Zoning staff, would be initiated including 6 to 8 months for public meetings and information gathering, followed by a comprehensive Environmental Impact Study to identify the cumulative and long-term implications of considered land uses at Badger - a process anticipated to take anywhere from 18 to 36 additional months. The Klug/Neumann proposal is made without the benefit of public input and, moreover, a comprehensive analysis of how their proposal will impact our communities and our natural resources.

Congressman Mark Neumann
Phone 202-225-3031
Fax 202-225-3393
E-mail: mneumann@hr.house.gov

Congressman Scott Klug
Phone 202-225-2906
Fax 202-225-6942
E-mail: badger02@hr.house.gov