PHOTO: Courtesy of WLUK
DOOR COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – A citizen group challenging DNR work at Potawatomi State Park argues its lawsuit seeking to stop the projects should not be dismissed.
An organization known as Potawatomi Advocates for Trees, Conservation and Heritage (PATCH) filed suit, alleging the state improperly removed trees and rebuilt roads inside the state park. A judge has granted temporary restraining orders, stopping the DNR from removing any additional trees while the case progresses.
The state asked for the case to be dismissed on procedural and other grounds.
In its reply, filed Monday afternoon, PATCH’s attorney says the suit should continue.
Having taken the position that no reviewable agency action occurred, Defendants cannot simultaneously fault PATCH for failing to seek review of a nonexistent order. This case does not challenge a discrete permitting decision. It challenges the Department’s ongoing, self-executing failure to comply with a governing master plan that binds it by its own terms,” wrote attorney Brian Potts.
The motion also cites multiple examples of what is says are factual disputes the court should address. For example: “Whether the Project’s actual scope, once developed through discovery, ultimately falls within or outside the Master Plan’s authorized development levels is a factual question for summary judgment or trial, not one the Court can resolve on the pleadings by crediting Defendants’ declarations over PATCH’s specific factual allegations,” the motion states.
Currently, no hearings are scheduled.
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