LOWER WISCONSIN RIVER - The Lower Wisconsin State Riverway Board (LWSRB) discussed two transmission line projects and more at their September 10 meeting. Those two are the BECI 765 kV line, and the 69 kV crossing of the Wisconsin River between Boydtown and Woodman.

“There has been a real groundswell of opposition from landowners, and people concerned about environmental, historical, and archeological impacts, aesthetic impacts, etc..,” LWSRB Executive Director Mark Cupp told the board. “Recently, the Friends of the Lower Wisconsin River (FLOW) Science Team adopted an opposition resolution that was very well written and well researched, and there have been a number of persons in elected office that are now weighing in.”

Board member Dan Hillberry, who sits on the board of the Richland Electric Co-op (REC), had stopped in the LWSRB office a couple of days before the meeting, where the line had been discussed.

“AT REC, we're getting the same information that was presented at those open houses,” Hillberry stated. “We're just as much in the dark as everyone else.”

“It really is going to come down to the Public Service Commission to make this determination,” Cupp observed. “So, we have to just keep vigilant on this. At this point, no specific route has been determined, to the best of my knowledge. One of the southern routes would come near the Riverway, but I can't say for sure if it would be in the Riverway or not because I don't know the road. If there was to be any attempt at a river crossing, the board would have to weigh whether or not a permit could be issued.”

Cupp stated that it is too early to draw any conclusions, but regardless, to have a line of this magnitude going right through the heart of the Driftless Region would be detrimental to at least the aesthetics and more.

“I did attend the developer’s open house in Richland Center, and I did not find it a fruitful use of my time. I hope that some people who attended did find value,” Cupp shared. “They also had open houses in Gays Mills, Baraboo, Columbia County, as well as other places along the line in the central and southern part of the state. We'll continue to monitor it.”

Board member Ritchie Brown, a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation, responded to a query from Cupp about whether location of mounds in the right-of-way easement would have any impact on PSC’s decision on permitting of the project.

“It would be the placement of their tower that would have an impact,” Brown responded. “They just put everything into a database that fits on the cheapest route, and then they try to mitigate, but not a lot.”

In the public input section of the agenda, Steve Simson weighed in on the proposed 765 kV line.

“We no longer need these massive power lines to transport gigawatts of energy hundreds and hundreds of miles,” Simpson asserted. “Why do we suddenly need this? It seems like if we've got dispersed solar and wind energy, maybe what we need to do is just improve our energy storage capabilities, and then we wouldn't need to be building these massive lines.”

Board president Gigi LaBudde replied, “that’s a huge topic I think is important to most of us around the table, and heartfelt. And I would say it's complex,” LaBudde said. “I encourage all of us to go to meetings, not just the meetings by the developers, but also meetings that are questioning the necessity of this through Wisconsin. I encourage all of us to be active because there's so much to learn, and in my opinion a lot to fight about.”

“It's also being built to move solar and wind power from the west to the east , and to go to large urban areas and not Wisconsin consumers,” Cupp pointed out.

“And it would go across some of our most vulnerable and beautiful landscapes,” LaBudde stated.

Dairyland Power

The second transmission line project the board discussed is to replace some poles and reconductor (replace lines) on the 69 kV line running from the Bell Center Substation south to Lancaster. The line crosses the Wisconsin River between Boydtown and Woodman, and after discussion at three board meetings, the board had issued a permit for the proposed project to Dairyland Power Cooperative.

“A member of the project team from Dairyland recently notified me there would be a proposed change to structure 114 on the south side of Woodman Lake. That’s the tower that will go from its current 56.5 feet to 140 feet.

“I told her that we can amend the existing permit, but we need to see what the plans are before we can do that,” Cupp informed the board. “I am not going to move forward on any issuance of an amendment to the permit until we have the board review it.”

Blackhawk War

Cupp said he’s been following a movement to commemorate the Battle of Wisconsin Heights and the 200-year observance of the conflict which will occur in the year 2032. He said that Dr. Patrick Jung and David Gjestson are two scholars of the Black Hawk War, who are leading the effort. They are heading up an informal group trying to design some type of commemorative event. Therefore, anyone who's interested in working on that should contact them. Timm Zumm and FLOW are going to be involved as well. He said they're looking for all kinds of volunteers.

Board member Meredith Beckman asked if the group was going to approach the event from more than just the European perspective?

“Very much so,” Cupp responded. “Mr. Gjestson just completed a book about the pursuit of Black Hawk, and it’s very much sympathetic to the Native American perspective. And Dr. Jung has written two books about the Black Hawk conflict. He's very, very balanced, but also very sympathetic to how this conflict began, and the treaties, and how they were really not treaties at all.”

“It might be good for any signs at the site to be published in more than one language,” Beckman suggested.

“Right – absolutely true,” board member Ritchie Brown agreed.

In other business

In other business, the board:

• discussed which virtual meeting platform would best protect the board against cyber attacks
• learned the long vacant ‘at-large’ seat on the board had recently been filled by migrating board member Meredith Beckman into the slot, leaving the Dane County seat on the board open. Beckman recently relocated to northern Wisconsin
• learned that Cupp recently attended the FLOW Annual Meeting, and heard him thank the group for everything they do to promote safety on the river and serving in a role that the Riverway Board, as a state agency, can’t. He also said he was pleased that his grandson Henry Cupp received this year’s Riveryway Youth Champion Award
• heard that Cupp had extended or issued eight timber harvest, management, or structure construction permits in Crawford, Grant and Sauk counties since the last board meeting
• heard that in recent weeks, the Lower Wisconsin River levels at the Muscoda Bridge had been running low due to the extreme drought conditions in central and northern Wisconsin, with no relief in sight any time soon.