Also on this page: WisDOT lets invasives flourish. SEWRPC takes issue with Barrett.

No help with invasives from WisDOT in 2005-07

Aug. 15, 2005 -- The Wisconsin Department of Transportation will not resume invasive species control under its new 2005-07 budget, according to the agency.

WisDOT, citing budget woes, dropped efforts to control the harmful and aggressive plants last year.

Local governments and private property owners are left to deal with them as they migrate from WisDOT property.

"The new budget does not restore any service reductions," agency spokeswoman Peg Schmitt wrote in an e-mail. "The budget did provide funds intended to cover inflation and system growth to allow continuation of the existing, reduced service levels."

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WisDOT lets invasives flourish
Directive prohibits control efforts: parks, neighborhoods pay the price

Aug. 8, 2005 -- The State Department of Transportation last year dropped efforts to control invasive plants, and allowed the harmful species to spread to neighbrohoods, parks, and lawns, records show.

The directive to let invasives bloom was renewed on June 1 of this year, just as Wisconsin kicked off its first ever Invasive Species Awareness Month, according to documents obtained through an Open Records request.

Field bindweed overtakes DOT right-of-way at I-94 near the Story Hill neighborhood.

"Do not issue any contracts for noxious weed control for this calendar year," a WisDOT official wrote to other agency employees in July 2004. "If a contract has already been issued, fulfill the contract obligations but keep the work to a minimum. Noxious weed control by county forces should not be done."

Invasives pose a significant threat to the state's economy and environment, experts say. Millions of dollars are spent annually in Wisconsin to control them, according to the Wisconsin Council on Invasive Species.

WisDOT's surrender to invasives undermined those expensive and labor-intensive efforts by public and private agencies.

The order to drop invasive control efforts came from John Kinar, WisDOT chief of winter operations and roadside management.

Gov. Jim Doyle, who has publicly endorsed efforts to battle invasives, issued a proclamation recognizing the awareness month.

DOT officials said budget constraints forced the decision to let invasives bloom. Last month, however, when the agency appealed to the Joint Finance Committee for an additional $15 million in highway maintenance funding, it did not ask for more money to fight invasives. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau simply noted that WisDOT had eliminated funding for spraying noxious weeds.

It could not be immediately determined whether the WisDOT will resume invasive control under the 2005-07 state budget.

Field bindweed and black bindweed on DOT right-of-way just outside of Oak Creek's Falk Park.

The "let 'em grow" edict allowed invasives control efforts only when it improved motorist safety. It applied even to the three plants that WisDOT is required to fight by law, Kinar said in his memo to employees. Those plants are field bindweed, Canada thistle and leafy spurge.

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"Doing what we agree is the right thing is not an option."
----John Kinar, WisDOT official

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"Requests for weed control from the public or from county weed commissioners should be handled by explaining that budget constraints require that we must give safety-related activites higher priority," Kinar said.

When an employee from WisDOT's District 2, which includes Milwaukee County, expressed concern about the widespread invasives problem here, Kinar put him in his place.

"Doing what we agree is the right thing is not an option," Kinar wrote.

He added: "Even if all of the safety concerns (low shoulders, potholes, worn pavement markings, damaged signs) have been addressed in the counties in district 2, that's certainly not the case in other districts. If the wide array of safety related activities have been addressed in district 2, we'll need to reevaluate the distribution of funds to help assure that our priority needs are being addressed statewide".

Invasive species of all types cost the national economy up to about $137 billion per year, mainly due to losses in agriculture, forestry and fisheries, according to the Wisconsin Council on Invasive Species.

"About 42% of the species on the Federal Threatened or Endangered species lists are at risk primarily because of invasive species," the Council said.

 

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SEWRPC takes issue with Barrett
But doesn't address Milwaukee mayor's main points

July 11, 2005 -- Mayor Barrett was off-base in his criticism of the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, a SEWRPC official said in a letter to two state senators.

SEWRPC's letter defended the planning agency and said its environmental justice and community outreach efforts satisfied Bush Administration officials.

The letter, by SEWRPC Executive Director Philip Evenson, parried criticisms Barrett leveled at the agency as he opposed funding for Zoo Interchange reconstruction funding in the 2005-07 biennium.

Many of Barrett's statements "are without foundation or deserving of additional information," Evenson wrote.

Barrett was highly critical of SEWRPC's regional freeway study that called for the expansion of 127 miles of Milwaukee-area freeways, including the Zoo Interchange. Most of the negative impacts, including the destruction of homes and businesses, would be in Milwaukee and Milwaukee County.

SEWRPC "chose to further divide the metro area on transportation issues," Barrett wrote. "The result is a climate in which any freeway project in Milwaukee County will be unnecessarily contentious, resulting in wasted dollars and delays."

Evenson did not address that criticism.

Barrett said there was no need to fund the Zoo Interchange reconstruction studies in 2005-07, a point Evenson also did not address.

Evenson, in his letter to Senate Marjority Leader Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center) and Minority Leader Judith Robsin (D-Beloit) said the freeway planning process was endorsed by supervisors who represent most of the region's population.

SEWRPC's creative combining of distinct governmental units -- its argument is akin to saying the California Legislature represents most of the populations of California and Wisconsin -- already has drawn the wrath of Milwaukee County Supervisory Lynne DeBruin. During testimony before an FHWA panel, she called it "fraudulent, misled the public and state decision-makers and undermined SEWRPC's relationship with Milwaukee County."

In addition, supervisors voted on the plan without having to consider how to pay for it, as the $7 billion SEWRPC proposal did not include a funding mechanism. William Drew, chairman of the SEWRPC freeway study advisory committee, maintained that cost was irrelevant to the planning process.

Evenson also disputed Barrett's contention that the city of Milwaukee is on record against the plan. The city is on record in opposition only to the part of the plan that would widen 19 miles of city freeway, while it supported constructing the freeway to modern design standards, Evenson said.

 

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