DODGEVILE - Belligerent, antagonistic, confrontational. Some might argue Richard Moore's new book How the DNR Stole Wisconsin is all that and more.
My first bemused thought as I read the title of the book was to pose this question. How did they manage to haul off such a massive chunk of real estate?
Seriously, was Moore just another conspiracy theorist hell bent on undermining a responsible and respected state agency? After all, if we disbanded the Department of Natural Resources today, we would have no choice but to create a similar agency tomorrow.
No doubt, Moore conveys a strong message about what he means by theft - that the Wisconsin DNR has, among other things, violated the public trust by arbitrarily seizing control of vast tracts of land across the state, restricting its use and demonizing the very concept of privately held property.
Moore is touring the state speaking to audiences ranging from several hundred in Green Bay to approximately 75 at the Dodger Bowl Lanes in Dodgeville last week. An investigative reporter for The Lakeland Times in Minocqua, he has spent half a lifetime covering issues involving the DNR, primarily in the northern part of the state. The book is a compilation of 31 essays written over five years (2002-07).
Moore appears to strike a resonate chord with a broad range of people with varying interests. Some have had run ins with conservation wardens whom they believe were overly aggressive in pursuing their enforcement prerogatives while others are more concerned about the agency's alleged arrogant and overly-aggressive execution of environmental laws.
Moore chaffs at the rise of "radical aesthetisists" who, he contends, have formed an unlikely alliance with corporate interests to undermine the common good. Ironically, Moore maintains, big business and the aesthetisists have something in common. "Neither one cares about the environment."
Does the agency act independently of legislative oversight? Moore thinks so. He claims the agency bypasses the legislative process through the use (or misuse) of administrative rules. Elections hardly matter, Moore argues. "Lawmakers come and lawmakers go, while bureaucrats, with their handy administrative rules, stay forever."
Through the exercise of administrative rule making authority, declares Moore, "A landowner was no longer a citizen with inherent property rights but merely a greedy individual with personal interests and privileges to protect. Private property was now a personal commodity, not a public interest."
Under this assessment, people are no longer capable of taking care of their own belongings. The radical aesthetisists have demonized property owners, Moore asserts, as "wantonly destroying the very land on which they live."
Moore sets out to prove the DNR has "appropriated thousands of acres of private property, and rendered thousands more useless in an unprecedented government taking of land." Lakebed determinations are the primary culprit, he maintains.
No one argues that lakebeds are part of the public domain, says Moore. If surrounding wetlands now considered private property were ruled to be public lands, however, the impact on local governments and landowners would be a financial disaster.
Listening to Richard Moore is time well spent. Moore speaks with conviction and courage, refreshing even among those who would disagree on some issues. He clearly states his intention to prompt a grass roots effort to reform the DNR, not only in northern Wisconsin, but also throughout the state.
According to Moore, "Now is the time to boost that movement, to expose the aesthetisists completely and to isolate them politically, and it is the goal of this book to do just that."
Whether judged as an imaginative conspiracy theory or a commendable disclosure of governmental wrongdoing, the book offers a unique perspective on the social contract between citizens and their government. It should be on every citizen's short list of must-read material.
- Contact Lee Fahrney at (608) 967-2208 or at fiveoaks@mhtc.net.
My first bemused thought as I read the title of the book was to pose this question. How did they manage to haul off such a massive chunk of real estate?
Seriously, was Moore just another conspiracy theorist hell bent on undermining a responsible and respected state agency? After all, if we disbanded the Department of Natural Resources today, we would have no choice but to create a similar agency tomorrow.
No doubt, Moore conveys a strong message about what he means by theft - that the Wisconsin DNR has, among other things, violated the public trust by arbitrarily seizing control of vast tracts of land across the state, restricting its use and demonizing the very concept of privately held property.
Moore is touring the state speaking to audiences ranging from several hundred in Green Bay to approximately 75 at the Dodger Bowl Lanes in Dodgeville last week. An investigative reporter for The Lakeland Times in Minocqua, he has spent half a lifetime covering issues involving the DNR, primarily in the northern part of the state. The book is a compilation of 31 essays written over five years (2002-07).
Moore appears to strike a resonate chord with a broad range of people with varying interests. Some have had run ins with conservation wardens whom they believe were overly aggressive in pursuing their enforcement prerogatives while others are more concerned about the agency's alleged arrogant and overly-aggressive execution of environmental laws.
Moore chaffs at the rise of "radical aesthetisists" who, he contends, have formed an unlikely alliance with corporate interests to undermine the common good. Ironically, Moore maintains, big business and the aesthetisists have something in common. "Neither one cares about the environment."
Does the agency act independently of legislative oversight? Moore thinks so. He claims the agency bypasses the legislative process through the use (or misuse) of administrative rules. Elections hardly matter, Moore argues. "Lawmakers come and lawmakers go, while bureaucrats, with their handy administrative rules, stay forever."
Through the exercise of administrative rule making authority, declares Moore, "A landowner was no longer a citizen with inherent property rights but merely a greedy individual with personal interests and privileges to protect. Private property was now a personal commodity, not a public interest."
Under this assessment, people are no longer capable of taking care of their own belongings. The radical aesthetisists have demonized property owners, Moore asserts, as "wantonly destroying the very land on which they live."
Moore sets out to prove the DNR has "appropriated thousands of acres of private property, and rendered thousands more useless in an unprecedented government taking of land." Lakebed determinations are the primary culprit, he maintains.
No one argues that lakebeds are part of the public domain, says Moore. If surrounding wetlands now considered private property were ruled to be public lands, however, the impact on local governments and landowners would be a financial disaster.
Listening to Richard Moore is time well spent. Moore speaks with conviction and courage, refreshing even among those who would disagree on some issues. He clearly states his intention to prompt a grass roots effort to reform the DNR, not only in northern Wisconsin, but also throughout the state.
According to Moore, "Now is the time to boost that movement, to expose the aesthetisists completely and to isolate them politically, and it is the goal of this book to do just that."
Whether judged as an imaginative conspiracy theory or a commendable disclosure of governmental wrongdoing, the book offers a unique perspective on the social contract between citizens and their government. It should be on every citizen's short list of must-read material.
- Contact Lee Fahrney at (608) 967-2208 or at fiveoaks@mhtc.net.
