From Howie Hill

Darlington

To the Editor and Governor Evers,

Your constituents are counting on you to lead holistically in Wisconsin’s search for solutions to environmental crises. Lafayette and Iowa Counties are home to family farms because the terrain does not lend itself to industrial farming, making them suitable for regenerative agriculture and conservation practices.

Southwest Wisconsin is home to one of the only recovering Little Brown Bat populations in the country. Pattern Energy’s Uplands turbine locations encroach upon the DNR’s recommended setbacks for bird and bat avoidance areas near Yellowstone Lake State Park, which holds the largest maternity colony in the state.  Turbines kill bats by direct strikes and barotrauma. These bats are a keystone species that eat insects, provide essential biological pest control, support natural ecosystems, and help human agriculture.

Lafayette and Iowa Counties rank 3rd and 2nd of Wisconsin counties in private land acreage enrolled in federal conservation programs.  Multi-generational farmers here are your best resource to pioneer regenerative agriculture. They remember what their ancestors taught them about land stewardship, cover crops, and carbon sequestration. There is a growing demand for sustainably produced food, and you have an opportunity to create an ecological restoration economy here.

Forward-thinking financial and environmental stewardship in Wisconsin includes using Lafayette and Iowa counties to spearhead a turbine-free regenerative agriculture incubator.  A holistic vision includes using some Wisconsin lands for alternative energy production and others, like those in the Driftless, to provide positive economics, clean food, habitats for bees, rare bat and bird species, and to sequester carbon.