McMansions on the shore

I found a bit of sad news among my emails yesterday morning. The Alexian Brothers Novitiate property (176 acres) along the Red River, near Gresham, is going to be developed and subdivided into 17 private lots. The property is worth millions of dollars. The mansion/novitiate on the site is the one taken over by the Menominee Warrior Society in 1975. For more information about the history of that takeover and the current impending development, see “Gresham Mansion, land to be sold” in yesterday’s Wisconsin State Journal.

Every kayaker and canoeist who lives in Green Bay knows about the Red. It is where many of us learned to paddle whitewater and was even one of the training grounds for Olympic silver medalist and Green Bay native Rebecca Giddens. Besides being a perfect river for teaching and learning, it offers challenges for even the best paddlers. The Red River is a great place for paddling, tubing, swimming, fishing, just hanging out, (as the “locals” and the “Tuesday night paddlers” know too well), and enjoying the company of other people who appreciate rivers. Some of the best people I have ever known, I met on the Red River. What draws a lot of people to this river is just its simple beauty. The historic Novitiate property, with the burned out mansion at this point still standing, is especially beautiful because it borders “Monastery Falls”.

A few years ago I still had some hope that this area would remain undeveloped. There were rumors that a state assemblyman at the time, DuWayne Johnsrud, was going to introduce a bill to set it aside as a state park. Some DNR employees that I know pursued that idea vigorously. I really do think the area, because of its beauty, historical significance, and recreational uses, is worthy of state park status. However, that idea never did come to fruition. (did i just use the word fruition?)

So now, here come the “McMansions” to the shores of the Red River. The rapids will still be there, but there is no way that this development will be good for the river. Even if this developer is planning a perfectly sustainable environmentally correct development with organic farms and wind mills and solar panels and “green construction”, the river will be harmed. The extraction, transport, manufacture, and use of the materials and fossil fuels needed to build these homes will harm ALL rivers. At the site, there will be soil erosion, nutrient loss, loss of forest habitat, increased runoff, a lowering of the water table, more air pollution caused by increased traffic, and more water pollution caused by fertilizer and herbicide use. -And most importantly to me, the site will become much less beautiful. Downright ugly.

I doubt if any environmental group or land trust or the DNR has enough money to buy this property. However, there still may be hope. I situations like this, I am always looking for what can be done and for the smallest glimmer of hope. Maybe President Bush could set aside the area as a national monument. (Fat chance!) Maybe some government entity could use its powers of eminent domain to set aside this natural treasure, but seeing how Town of Richmond Board Chairman Steve Guerths is salivating over the “increased tax base from new homes” (Is he forgetting about all the services these homeowners are going to demand?) and how the Supreme Court has recently made it easier to grab land for mini-mall development than it is to preserve natural areas, I doubt that this will happen.

Maybe somebody will organize a protest campout, ala Cindy Sheehan. If anyone else starts camping, I will be there. We could get Rebecca Giddens to camp out with us and draw some national attention! We could convince the developer to set aside the land as a conservation easement. We could have a demonstration at the auction.

According to the Wisconsin State Journal article, the 1975 dispute was ended when the Alexian Brothers agreed to sell the land to the Menominee Tribe (whose land it was initially) for one dollar. The dollar was delivered, but the land was never signed over to the Tribe. Maybe it is time for the Tribe to step in and claim their deed, and for the Alexian Brothers to step in and do the right thing. Maybe.

eddy out,
rich