Crawford County has a long history as a beautiful and productive agricultural community, and many of us hope it remains so.
Unfortunately, extreme financial pressures, the result of corrupted government policies and rampant corporate consolidation in agriculture, have been squeezing out small and medium sized farms.
Big Ag promotes large-scale monocultures and concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) as “efficient”, “scientific”, and the only way to make a decent living producing food.
We are told that the emptying of our rural communities and the costs to our water, air, soil and health are simply burdens we, and future generations, have to bear… or these impacts are denied and we are told that the Wisconsin DNR regulations have it under control.
We are told by the powers that be that allowing a 10,000 sow CAFO along a narrow ridge above the Kickapoo River is inevitable.
Fortunately, some of us do not believe everything we hear, and feel the call to protect what we hold dear.
The sinkholes, caves, and springs on and around Harvest Lane show how interconnected the surface and groundwater are, and the stream monitorings already show alarming E. coli and phosphorous levels. Well tests are being conducted by concerned neighbors.
Marietta Township will be holding a special meeting on this topic at 7pm at the township recycling center (Plainview Ridge Rd & Hwy E).
If you live in or around Marietta Township or care deeply about the lower Kickapoo River, feel free to contact us for more information, and please consider attending.
Crawford Stewardship Project will be there to help answer questions, ask a few of our own, and lift up the voices of the local residents and the watershed.
Forest Jahnke
CSP Program Coordinator
fjahnke@crawfordstewardship.
