We protect what communities depend upon.
Crawford County is a specific place — specific geology, specific water, specific farms, specific people. When something is proposed that could change what makes this place work, CSP pays close attention.
CSP organizes to protect the resources we all depend upon — approaching this work not as battles to be won, but as opportunities for communities to come together around issues that impact us all, as good work over which to put our heads together for lasting solutions.
We work to support local planning processes so that communities can define the futures they want and encourage the kinds of development they wish to see. Much of this work is in direct response to large-scale outside operations that threaten local quality of life in multiple ways: by depleting shared natural resources, polluting water and air, exporting wealth away from the local economy, lowering property values, and putting traditional small and medium-scale farms and businesses out of business.
We make sure neighbors have the information and tools they need to participate in decisions that affect them. We connect people to experts. We facilitate dialogue among stakeholders. We stay at the table.
CSP is not neutral — we believe the human and natural communities of Crawford County deserve protection. We are donor-supported, not government-supported. That means we can say what the data shows without biting our tongues.
What This Work Looks Like
We compile and translate information. We review public filings — permit applications, nutrient management plans, regulatory documents — and turn them into plain-language summaries our neighbors can actually use. We bring in technical experts when the question requires expertise we don't have.
We make sure neighbors can be heard. We alert affected landowners and community members to public processes. We provide tools — templates, guides, timelines — so that anyone who wants to show up can do so effectively.
We stay present in local government. CSP attends county and township meetings regularly. These relationships matter. We are neighbors, not outsiders.
We support grassroots groups. When community members organize around a local concern, CSP can provide information support. Groups we work with operate under their own name and make their own decisions — our role is to make sure they have what they need.
Recent Work
Gruber Livestock permit applications, 2025
When two new industrial-scale hog facility applications were filed in Crawford County, CSP went to work. We reviewed the Nutrient Management Plans, compiled a community information document, and made sure neighbors understood what was being proposed and how the process worked.
The result: 40 neighbors testified at the public hearing. 85 submitted written comments. The county raised its level of accountability on Nutrient Management Plans.
The permits were approved and construction is underway in 2026. But a community that showed up, understood the process, and made its voice heard — that matters beyond any single vote.
MariBell 765kV Transmission Line, 2025–present
Dairyland Power has proposed the largest transmission towers ever built in Wisconsin, cutting through farms, homes, springs, and some of the most sensitive karst terrain in the state. Dairyland is expected to file with the Public Service Commission in 2026 — the window for community input is now open.
When this proposal became public, CSP quickly compiled resources and made them available. More than 2,500 people visited that page. We mailed letters directly to affected landowners, broadcast an informative local radio episode, and produced templates that any township can use to formally request more information from Dairyland.
CSP also helped catalyze the formation of No765, a local grassroots group that has taken the lead on community organizing around this issue. No765 is an independent group making its own decisions — CSP provides information resources that anyone can use.
Connecting with decision-makers
In 2025, CSP met with State Representative Travis Tranel — seated next to a karst sinkhole in a local orchard, over apple pie — to discuss the importance of local control in tailoring policies to fit unique places. One of CSP's educational karst posters now hangs in Tranel's Madison office.
This is the work: authentic, place-based, personal. Reminding decision-makers that this is a real place with real neighbors.
MariBell 765kv Transmission Line
Dairyland Power has proposed a new high-capacity transmission line cutting through Crawford County. The scale of what's proposed is unlike anything Wisconsin has seen in this area:
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Existing line: 161kV, on 70-foot wooden poles, 100-foot cleared easement
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Proposed line: 765kV, on 200-foot metal lattice towers, 250-foot cleared easement
The new towers would be the largest transmission towers in Wisconsin — roughly the height of the Statue of Liberty.
There are alternatives. Elsewhere in the midwest, similar long-distance lines are being buried underground (Iowa SOO line). Or the route could follow existing industrial corridors — interstates, railways — rather than cutting through homes, farms, and natural areas. These alternatives exist and have been used.
Local people are concerned about the current proposal for many reasons: impact on homes and property values, the visual impact on a landscape that draws tourism, additional seizure of private land, effect on wildlife, and the towers' potential instability in our karst geology. There is also serious disagreement about whether the line needs to be built at all.
Where things stand: Dairyland is expected to file with the Wisconsin Public Service Commission (PSC) in 2026. Once filed, the PSC process begins — and that is when and where community input matters most. Local communities that want to be heard should be preparing now.
If Dairyland has knocked on your door: Utility representatives have been offering landowners $500 to sign a consent agreement allowing them to survey properties. Read any agreement carefully before signing. If you refuse, the utility can fill gaps using LiDAR data. If you are treated unprofessionally, you can file a complaint with the PSC.
Resources for community use (compiled by No765 and Rob Danielson):
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Township resolution template — any town board can edit and use this to formally request more information from Dairyland
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Landowner letter template — Dairyland Power, west of Bell Center
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October 2025 podcast episode — Rob Danielson on how transmission lines get sited, why this proposal is unlike anything Wisconsin has seen before, and what concerned landowners can do
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Karst & Water — why our underground geology makes tower siting a particular concern here
→ No765 — a local grassroots group organizing community response to this proposal [add link when available]
→ Wisconsin PSC — the regulatory body where this will be decided
Additional Resources
On industrial agriculture and CAFOs:
On local governance and public process: