Evers presents planning grant to Iron County

By RICHARD JENKINS

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Hurley - Gov. Tony Evers visited Hurley Tuesday to present Iron County officials with a coastal management grant and highlight the importance of protecting Wisconsin's natural resources.

"Whether it's downtown Milwaukee or Iron County, Wisconsin; if we want to continue to have the heritage that we were given around water, we have to protect it," Evers said, while presenting the grant.

The $12,995 grant through the state's coastal management program will help the county rewrite its land and water resource management plan, according to Iron County Conservationist Heather Palmquist.

"That drives our department and it basically acts as our strategic plan for the next 10 years on how to protect and promote water quality and prevent soil erosion," Palmquist explained after the presentation, adding the plan also deals with combatting invasive species.

Evers called protecting the state's water resources, especially the Great Lakes, "One of the top priorities for the state of Wisconsin."

"Just from my vantage point growing up here in Wisconsin, the Great Lakes were important to me just for, frankly, their majesty," he said. "You don't have to think ... very deeply about what Wisconsin is all about standing on either the shores of Lake Superior or Lake Michigan."

Palmquist echoed the importance of water to the area. "Sound water quality is vital to our tourism here in Iron County, which is only second to forestry when it comes to Iron County's economy," she said during the presentation. "Water quality issues have been, and will continue to be, our top priority as we move forward with rewriting our land and water resource management plan.

"With 494 lakes, 222 streams, a large amount of wetlands and 7 miles of Lake Superior coastline; Iron County has a great deal of water resources to protect. Partnerships and grants are critical to us to accomplish these goals and objectives."

The re-write process involves seeking public input regarding their priorities, according to Palmquist, and then the creating goals and objectives that reflect those priorities and a work plan to carry the objectives. She said she hopes to submit the re-written plan for approval - which must be done every 10 years - sometime in the spring of 2020.

The governor said the grant was an example of the importance of the partnership between the state and local municipalities and he said he would work to make sure communities have the resources they need.

"At the end of the day, a lot of the hard work that needs to be done in the state of Wisconsin is done locally; whether it's (counties), municipalities or townships," Evers said. "I promised during the campaign that I would be a good partner, and that's what I hope to continue to do."

Along with discussing the grant and the need to protect the state's resources, the governor used his Hurley visit to praise the Northwoods for its spirit and the role it plays in the state's identity.

"Northern Wisconsin is a really important part of the state - and not just for tourism, it's the attitude and the culture of the people that live here," Evers said. "People always band together and work hard on whatever project it is, and I know they'll do the same thing around water for Iron County."

He also talked about some of the floods the state has faced - including the one that destroyed Saxon Harbor in 2016 and those that have affected other parts of the state this spring.

Although recovery in their aftermath was important, Evers also emphasized a macro approach to mitigation as a way to limit future damage.

"We have to find ways to view water management and flooding from 30,000 feet - it just can't be locality by locality," the governor said. "First, there's just not enough money to do it; and second of all, we don't want to have one solution create four problems downstream.

"So my goal with the Department of Natural Resources and other agencies working with the municipalities is to find long-term solutions to mitigate floods going forward."