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 Swords to Plowshares – 1 In 1942, the U.S. Army’s Badger Munitions Plant was built on 7,354 acres in Sauk County, Wisconsin. Just one of many industries that sprang up to support the fighting during World War II, it continued its production through the Korean and Vietnam wars. In 1997, the U.S. government declared that it was no longer needed and the plant was closed. In the wake of the closure, the Sauk County Board of Supervisors established a local planning process for the reuse of the land that had been the Badger Plant. Beyond the land that actually contained the plant buildings, the property included the remnants of the vast Sauk Prairie which had once stretched for tens of thousands of acres. It was the land of Baraboo quartzite, some of the oldest rocks on earth, and glacial formations and moraines from several waves of glaciers. It had been home to native peoples and the farms of early European settlers. There was no shortage of ideas for the use of the property: a landfill, dog-racing track, auto-racing track, a prison, a shopping mall. But the local citizens who came together to form the Community Conservation Coalition for the Sauk Prairie had a different vision. They saw the historic opportunity for a conservation program that would protect the natural, historical and cultural value of the land. The group, which incorporated in 2002 as the Sauk Prairie Conservation Alliance, was instrumental in the adoption of the Badger Reuse Plan. Under the plan, the Army will complete a clean-up of the plant and then will transfer ownership of the land to three groups: the USDA Forage Research Center, which has been leasing some of the land for years; the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources; and the Ho-Chunk Nation, which intends to graze bison on the land. A Board will have oversight of the land, to coordinate the use of it as a whole. The Sauk Prairie Conservation Alliance wants a seat on that Board, to continue to encourage prairie preservation, invasive species control, use by schools and community groups, and trail building. The Conservation Alliance is a broad coalition of community groups: environmental organizations, local community groups, churches, recreation enthusiasts. They have been at all the meetings throughout the eight years of the planning process; they have not gone away. Board President Mimi Wuest told Orion Magazine, “One thing I love is that it seems to be a triumph of the greater American way over the lesser one. Not ‘how much money can we make off this land and how fast?’ but ‘What’s the greater good for the future of the state, the country, our species, and others?’.” This is a story of a journey from munitions production to recreation, education, conservation – from war to peace. One of the explicit values of the Badger Reuse Committee was “the desire to reuse the Badger property in a way that contributes to reconciliation and the resolution of past conflicts.” It is also a story of people who spoke up for their values and passions, of those who did not give up and go away, of those who won a victory for harmony among peoples and nature. It’s a story that reminds us that it is happening in every country all the time. Sources: |
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