PHOTO: Courtesy of WLUK
DOOR COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A group of citizens has filed a civil lawsuit against the Dept. of Natural Resources, alleging it improperly removed trees and made road improvements at Potawatomi State Park.
The DNR has not responded to the suit, and says it does not comment on pending legislation.
The organization – Potawatomi Advocates for Trees, Conservation and Heritage (PATCH) – filed the suit Friday, seeking a court order “to stop the agency from causing further irreversible damage” at the park.
Among the work it cites as problematic:
- Roads widened by up to 10 feet — from 18-20 feet to 28 feet — to add designated bike lanes;
- A 150-foot clear-cut swath through old-growth forest to ‘straighten’ South Norway Road — destroying a winding, canopied corridor that has defined the Park for nearly 100 years;
- Removal of historic tree medians and road canopy across approximately 1.75 miles of Park roads;
- Tree clearing and soil disturbance within the 200-foot protected buffer zone of the Niagara Escarpment — home to state threatened and endangered snail species; and
- Removal of natural screening trees around parking lots.
The suit contends the DNR did hold the proper public hearings, or get approve from the Natural Resources Board.
No hearings have been scheduled, according to court records.
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