History of DCEC

History

Accomplishments

Publications

RETF

CWE

DCLT

DCEC Board

• DCEC was formed by a group of concerned Fish Creek area citizens.

• DCEC incorporated as a Wisconsin non-profit.

• DCEC granted 501 c 3 tax-exempt status by IRS.

• Involved in Bailey’s Harbor Ridges channelization controversy with the result that plans were modified to lessen damage impact.

• Cooperatively promoted Jackson Harbor Ridges Conservancy on Washington Island successfully with Louise Erickson.

• Marshall’s Point Conservancy agreement with Wisconsin DNR minimizing development and resultant resource damage.  Secured EPA Water Study and Environmental Impact Assessment.

• Claybanks Horns Pier Marina proposal opposition with partial township cooperation and the area became a valuable Historic Township Park area.
• Opposition to Hidden Harbor development in Fish Creek with extensive legal action. The legal action was defeated and the Friedman Estate was replaced with the largest holding tank in the Midwest, the precedent being set for future developments.

• Negotiations with the Hotz family, owners of the Newport Park property resulted in successful DNR purchase and conservation of this wilderness area.

•  Primary force cooperating with Door County Natural Beauty Council and Save Our Soil (SOS) in opposition to plans for a coal-fired generating plant near Sturgeon Bay by Wis. Pub.Svc. Corp. and the utilization of vital farmlands for ash disposal. The effort was successful in stopping the project and disposition of the involved site lands.

• Initiation of Student Scholarships for High School students to the summer workshops at Central Wisconsin Environmental Station.

• Hiring of Dr. James Zimmerman, Madison Ecologist, to act in an advisory capacity for DCEC, and promoted the concepts originated by Dr. Zimmerman for critical resource protection. 
• DCEC began the study of formation of a land trust organization in Door County.  As a result the "Door County Land Trustees" was formed which evolved into the "Door County Land Trust", an independent corporation which is growing in scope and function today.

• Involved as a sponsoring organization for the "Gibraltar Preservation Council" which was dedicated to preserving the rustic status of Highway 42, Egg Harbor to Fish Creek. The effort had limited success with acceptable plans after a compromising effort by a different organization.
• Participated as co-sponsor of Rushwell Kidder presentation at Gibraltar High School.
• Participated in "Globescope 88" conference on sustainability for the Midwest held in Oshkosh, WI.
• Participated in an advisory capacity for preservation of rustic Cherry Road near Sturgeon Bay. Issue was defeated when WPSC mustered corporate support from entire State to counter the Township legal opposition to the eminent domain process, which would have halted the plans for the line.  The end result was that State utilities cooperatively formed the American Transmission Company which controls all major power lines in the State with large legal firm access.

• Began the annual Essay Contest for school students on environmental themes to raise awareness of our ecological responsibilities among young people.
• Began the promotion of Sustainable Agriculture as a tool for farm economic help and water quality improvement in Northeast Wisconsin.
• Applied for and received DATCP grants to hire a consultant and establish a network of concerned farm people with the current emphasis on rotational grazing and limited crop input as necessary. The Sustainable Agriculture weekly seminars in winter months provided lecturers and speakers from far away as New Zealand.
• Influenced the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters (through Dr. Zimmerman) to hold its annual conference in Sturgeon Bay, with the theme. "The Niagara Escarpment". This statewide conference was very successful with secured participants from Canada, (St. Catherines, Ontario) in addition to local panel members and professionals.

• Co-litigated with the Ridges Sanctuary Board to stop the harassment over ultralight flights near the Ridges and shore land wildlife areas.

• Co-litigated the protection of the Three Springs Estuarine Sanctuary with limitations and patrol of an industry located near by.  This was a formal action to force the WDNR to follow their own regulations that have since been modified to eliminate repetition.
• Cooperated in securing the Federal Listing of the Hines Emerald Dragonfly as an endangered specie along with the following State listing.
• Cooperated in the effort to secure a full EIS in the Sister Bay Marina expansion project. A scale model was required and modifications were made to the proposal as a result of the contested case hearing.

• Dr. Frances Hammerstrom (The Bird Lady) engaged as the DCEC Summer Program speaker to full house at the DC Auditorium in Fish Creek.

• Co-operated with objectors in Northport Breakwater project expansion for the WI Ferry Dock. The contested case hearing was lost, but the ramifications as predicted are there, annual dredging is needed to control littoral drift sand.
• Began Environmental Citizen of the Year award with 97 year old Estelle Rondeau first recipient for her battle to save Cave Point Drive ecology.
• Assembled Zimmerman Ecological Maps of Door County made available for Public display.

• Primary force along with the owner in the effort to halt the destruction of the Delwiche Pineries in Southern Door with the plans for Highway 57 expansion. The Wisconsin DOT has agreed to by-pass the Pineries and we are still in opposition to the four-lane plans as being an unneeded duplication of Hwy 42.
• Participated in the lengthy Contested Case Hearing to limit expansion of the Alibi Dock in Fish Creek. The result was fifteen conditions imposed on the development. A cooperative effort with the Gibraltar Preservation Council.

• Involved as co-litigant in the battle to preserve the former Nor-Ski-Ridge property in natural state as a relatively pristine area.  Plans for a huge development complex were challenged in the local zoning processes, appealed to Circuit Court, District Court and finally petitioned for hearing by the State Supreme Court.  The plans were modified and scaled down from the original huge buildings to a more acceptable impact.  The fault of County procedure became evident when duplexes were allowed in over-the-counter permits. The State Court declined our petition for review and the project continues.

• Engaged in litigation to bring about effective zoning and enforcement in Door County.  Suit against the County to force adherence to State Statutes for Subdivisions and to establish the proper recording and definition of these same subdivisions. Involved in promoting proper land use and expedient zoning in the other townships of Southern Door with limited success.
• Final program in the Sustainable Ag. Series featured Ed Minihan, an authority on development right options from Town of Dunn near Madison.  After the presentation the opposition began working in Liberty Grove to cause the PDR/TDR proposal to be voted down in that Township

• Began a focused effort to secure regulation and supervision of holding tanks as a method of choice for wastewater treatment in Door County.  Sanitation Department personnel from Sauk County gave presentations at our summer program outlining the methodology used in their County. 
• The DCEC Board gave approval to begin an ultimate ban on holding tanks in the County.
• Stephen John (wastewater expert from Illinois) was contracted to do the necessary research and development of a manual describing the long-range effect of the use of holding tanks.

• Summer program and final meeting of the Sustainable Ag. Series for the year dedicated to problems associated with population growth and its effect on quality of life and resource protection in the County. 
• State of Wisconsin DOT again agrees not to involve the Delwiche Pinery in the highway plans for Hwy 57 in Union. 
• Stephen John report draft completed and approved for printing.

• Stephen John report made available and copies distributed to all counties in Wisconsin and officials at State, Federal and local levels.
• Nina Leopold Bradley (eldest daughter of Aldo Leopold) was the highlight of DCEC summer program with a family legacy presentation on the anniversary of Aldo Leopold’s untimely death.
• DCEC began presenting information on Created Wetland systems for homeowners as an option to mound systems.

• DCEC began the focus on phosphorus as the nutrient responsible for the green "stuff" algae on our beaches with information on Cladophora as the plant primarily responsible. 
• Began a campaign with assistance from Alliance for the Great Lakes to promote and urge support for the Charter Annex (precursor to the Great Lakes Compact).
• DCEC maintains a position in support of an alternate shorter route as Wisconsin DOT revealed new plans for Highway 57 that create a four-lane route with high impact to the entire Union Town.

• Ahnapee River Watershed Alliance made up of citizens from the entire river watershed area began through cooperative efforts of DCEC, John Slaby and Patrick Robinson.  Goal is to protect and maintain the integrity of the Southern Door/Kewaunee County watershed through stewardship. 
• DCEC is engaged in publicly calling attention to the nutrient releases of municipal Sewage systems that are operating under State and Federal requirements. This will be an on-going effort to eventually lower the requirements for discharge to zero. Municipal wastewater must be eventually discharged into natural filtration areas rather than our surface waters or be entirely free of nutrients, chemicals, and toxic elements.
• Stephen John commissioned to create a manual for "Homeowners Wastewater Systems" to be given to the public as an aid in making proper wastewater decisions.

• Promotion of phosphorus control through; proper disposal of animal waste, excessive farm run off, and municipal sewage treatment. 
• Created awareness of nutrient levels and oxygen depletion in Green Bay waters as a direct result of upstream and Fox River flows and the impact on Door County, with the nutrients contributing to the "green stuff" problem. 
• Summer program addressed the problem with Vicky Harris of UW/GB Seagrant Institute. 
• Stephen John homeowner manual available to homeowners and officials.

• DCEC involved in litigation to force Wis. Pub.Svc. Corporation to remove the Mercury discharge from the Pulliam Generating Plant in Green Bay. The facility has been out of compliance with State and Federal regulations every quarter since 1999. The resultant court decision ordered compliance with the regulations.
• Endangered Hines Emerald Dragonfly habitat survey work is proceeding as a result of cooperative litigation with the Center for Biological Diversity and Natural Resources Defense Council

• Cooperative effort with the Door County Land Trust to conduct a comparison study of land uses and resultant costs.  Dr. Mary Edwards of U/I Urbana completed the study and the revealing results were given to all town officials and made available to the public. The study is available on line at www.dcec-wi.org/cocs_dcec.pdf for download.
•  Summer program addressed the municipal wastewater discharge to our lakes and rivers which is a major contributor to the phosphorus/nutrient problem.
• Established a dedicated DCEC website with valuable information for public use including the Zimmerman Maps and other documents available for download.
• Began promotion of wind energy through the DCEC Renewable Energy Task Force with meetings at Maplewood and other locations.  The new independent organization Community Wind Energy  was formed as a result of high interest in wind generation and began using wind-monitoring towers  to locate best wind generation sites in the County.
• Summer program on entire invasives problem with presenters addressing aquatic and terrestrial invasives.

• Began a series of seven public summer seminars on subjects relative to environmental issues at Crossroads at Big Creek.
• Summer program was dedicated to Great Lakes Water Wars with cooperation by Alliance for the Great Lakes presenter, Frances Canonizado.
• Renewable Energy Task Force sponsored several events and tours promoting green building and energy conservation.

• Continuation of the public seminars at Crossroads at Big Creek on: energy conservation, water quality maintenance, created wetlands for homeowner wastewater. 
• Annual summer public program with Peter Annin, former Newsweek reporter and author of The Great Lakes Water Wars.
• DCEC began working with officials and installers to expedite the inspection/correction process for failed wastewater systems. The DCEC Water Committee has formulated plans for further exploring solutions to create a more rapid inspection and to assist homeowners in voluntary updates to failed systems. 
• Organizations involved with DCEC in the Hines Emerald Dragonfly habitat have again proceeded with litigation to correct the areas left out from designation, both segments of the Hiawatha National Forest in Upper Michigan.
• DCEC is currently challenging the DNR removal of a major portion of natural tree growth in Potawatomi State Park to construct a large group motor home camping facility.  Alternative locations exist within the Park that already have been cleared.  The funding for this project is to come in part from the Wisconsin State Stewardship Fund (hardly can be construed by anyone as stewardship). This project is already outdated with high fuel prices and the effect of large low-mileage vehicles on global warming.