The state @GOP WI Senate has approved a controversial bill to roll back state wetlands protections.
WALKER'S GANG IS DESTROYING WISCONSIN and that is not hyperbole!!
State Senate votes to roll back wetlands protections
http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/state-senate-votes-to-roll-back-wetlands-protections/article_e82f3d6d-ac64-54d4-95a1-b70c58d0b985.html
MARK SOMMERHAUSER msommerhauser@madison.com 3 hrs ago
The state Senate has approved a controversial bill to roll back state wetlands protections.
The bill, authored by Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke, R-Kaukauna, and Senate President Roger Roth, R-Appleton, allows builders to fill, without a permit, certain wetlands currently protected by state law.
The Senate passed it on a party-line vote Tuesday, with all Republicans in favor and all Democrats opposed.
The measure already passed the state Assembly, so it now heads to the desk of a supportive Gov. Scott Walker.
Republicans say the bill is needed because the current wetland permit process can drag on for months, costing developers as well as residents and business owners who ultimately foot the bill for building projects. Powerful business groups such as Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce have championed the measure.
Democrats and conservation groups, including the Wisconsin Wetlands Association and the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, strongly oppose the bill. They say it would enable destruction of tens of thousands of acres of wetlands that serve as wildlife habitat, natural flood barriers and filters for water pollutants.....................