On Tuesday, December 17 at 10am, at the Crawford County Administrative Building in Prairie du Chien, the Crawford County Board of Supervisors will discuss and likely vote on a 1 year moratorium on CAFO livestock facilities over 1000 animal units.

Thanks to the Land Conservation Committee for passing the moratorium and sending it onto the Board. This legal moratorium is a prudent effort that would offer the County the opportunity to study the effects of CAFOs on the health, safety, and welfare of all citizens of the County.

Your help in two ways can make this vitally important change happen.

1. Please call your County Board Supervisor (click Here for the the county directory, supervisors listed on pages 3-5) and thank them for their ongoing work, and ask that they support the County Moratorium on CAFOs. Hearing directly from constituents is the most effective way to inform and ask for support of our representatives. 

2. A large showing of concerned citizens at the County Board meeting in support of the moratorium is critical! Please attend if possible.

Thank you for your action! Together we can stop CAFOs.

 

Talking Point suggestions in communicating with your county board supervisor in support of a one year moratorium on CAFOs in Crawford County

Make your engagement with your board supervisor (representative) an open two-way conversation. Some representatives will want to have more of a conversation than others. It is important to listen and give your supervisor time to respond.

Maintain an attitude of politeness and a respectful tone throughout your interaction.
Keep your comments short, respectful, and to the point. Thank them for taking time with you to discuss this matter.

This is not meant to be a script. Rather, suggestions that might be helpful in your interaction with your board representative. Please enter your communication with your representative with an open mind.

*Introduce yourself as a person, let them know you live in their district, ask them how they are doing.

*Thank the representative for his/her work on the county board.

*State your support for the CAFO moratorium and thank the Land Conservation Committee for their decision in passing the moratorium and bringing the ordinance forward to the full county board at their Dec. 17 meeting.

*Ask if they have seen a copy of the proposed ordinance and offer that they can get one from you or from Dave Troester, Crawford County Conservationist, to review.

*The basic idea of the moratorium is to offer the county an opportunity to collect and review science-based research on CAFOs as they pertain to health, safety, and welfare of all citizens. This includes not only Livestock Siting, but road safety, and manure handling, for examples.

*Recognize that there are many economic interests in the county, from residential property concerns to clean water, agricultural needs to the tourism economy (which brings in 124.2 million to the county every year).

*Suggest costs can be kept to a minimum for the county by using volunteers wisely on a study committee appointed by the county.

*Efforts already in process that will help with understanding the needs of the county include the Driftless Area Water Study to be started in 2020.

*The Crawford County Board has resolved that our county is a special sensitive area due to our sensitive karstic geology (fractured bedrock) and the resulting groundwater susceptibility to contamination. The Wisconsin Natural Resource Board is in the process of considering such a designation for Southwestern Wisconsin.

*Crawford Stewardship Project has been participating in the monitoring of surface water quality in Crawford County for a decade. Through this water quality monitoring (WQM) we have seen increasingly disturbing results. Skyrocketing levels of phosphorus and E.coli, which are now routinely measured at levels literally off the charts.

*Increased frequency and severity of extreme weather events means we need to be extra prepared and careful with our land use practices. These now common precipitation deluges show us how a changing climate can negatively impact our ability to prevent runoff and infiltration of nutrients into our groundwater.

*Ask your representative if there’s anything they’d like to ask you or work they’d like from you in gaining more information on the effort.

If you have any questions or please feel free to contact:

Community Engagement Coordinator Eli Mandel, 608-632-4213, or emandel@crawfordstewardship.org