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The Clementses, Heidels and Visger are members of Kind's Citizen River Advisory Board, or CRAB. They, along with 17 other CRAB members, met in an Onalaska conference room Monday morning to discuss the Comprehensive Conservation Plan for the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge.
The plan would make sweeping changes in the management, public access and land use of the 240,000-acre refuge, used annually by more than 3.7 million hunters, anglers, boaters, birders and campers, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Kind began Monday's meeting by asking Don Hultman, refuge manager, about the future of waterfowl hunting in the refuge.
"We have marching orders from Congress to keep hunting open along the refuge," Hultman said. "Balanced with that, however, is the need to keep up the waterfowl populations that hunting relies on."
Sandy Heidel then voiced concern about the plan's lack of specificity. "The Fish and Wildlife Service hasn't done the hard, detailed planning that we need to see before we can provide useful feedback," she said, adding that she's read the 610-page plan twice.
"It's just a framework," Hultman replied. "To get to that level of detail, do you know how large the plan would be?"
Visger, president of the Friends of the Upper Mississippi River Fishery, then spoke in favor of the plan.
"Right now, the Fish and Wildlife Service has too little authority over the refuge," he said, "and we support giving them more." He pointed out the refuge's unique value to the region, and applauded the plan for its "courage" in defending the habitat and natural resources.
But Byron Clements, whose family has run a fishing barge and bait shop in Genoa, Wis., since 1937, talked of the economic cost of fishing restrictions proposed.
"If you curtail fishing, Genoa's going to be a ghost town," he said. "It's an economic impact the area can't afford."
His son, Mark, said he was skeptical about plan's unspecified user fees on anglers, hunters and boaters.
"The fees are going to come out of the blue," he said. "People don't realize the cost because there's no details about them."
Toward the end of the meeting, Fred Kusch, a 27-year resident of the area and member of the Friends of the Upper Mississippi River Fisheries, defended the FWS.
"I'm darn tired of hearing about government trying to screw us over," he said. "They're working for us, and we have to have a little bit of trust on this."
Hultman said the diversity of opinions — and occasional heated exchanges — reflects the central role the river plays in the region.
"There's great passion on the river," he said. "People love it and love to use it. However, we have finite resources, and an increasing population. We can plan for conflicts now, or we can wait and face the consequences later."
The service is asking for public feedback on the plan through a series of meetings this week, and at its Web site. Deadline for input is Aug. 31.
RIVER REFUGE MEETINGS
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is holding public hearings and workshops in the region this week about the proposed conservation plan for the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge. Each session will include an open house from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., a presentation on the plan from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., and a question-and-answer period from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.
Today: Stoddard, Wis., American Legion Post 315, 414 Broadway
Wednesday, May 25: La Crescent, Minn., American Legion Club Room, 509 N. Chestnut St.
Thursday, May 26: Onalaska, Wis., conference room at Stoney Creek Inn, 3060 S. Kinney Coulee Road.
Tuesday, May 31: Winona (Minn.) Middle School auditorium, 1570 Homer Road, Winona, Minn.
Wednesday, June 1: Wabasha/Kellogg High School cafeteria, Wabasha, Minn., 2113 East Hiawatha Drive.
To view the plan or post comments, go to www.fws.gov/midwest/planning/uppermiss/index.html
