State Assembly committee to vote on wetlands exemption near Lambeau Field

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MADISON - The state Assembly’s Natural Resources Committee will vote today on a proposed exemption that allows a major retail project near Green Bay’s Lambeau Field.

It would prevent a DNR review of a major business development planned on three acres of wetlands along Highway 41. Neenah car dealer John Bergstrom wants to put a project there that’s reported to include Bass Pro Shops. A public hearing was held yesterday, where the Wisconsin Wetlands Association said the measure would allow development on a-thousand acres of Brown County wetlands.

Republican committee chairman Jeffrey Mursau of Crivitz said an amendment would be created so that only the Bergstrom project is affected. His attorney said Bergstrom went to Governor Scott Walker’s people after the wetlands’ group held up the project for a year. And Walker responded by including an item in a large regulatory reform bill that would exempt DNR reviews of projects on wetlands three acres-or-less in Brown County only. It’s now being considered separately.

The Wisconsin Wetlands Association says the measure would reduce the public’s ability to challenge wetland construction. The Green Bay Packers said the project would help with their efforts to attract more people to the Lambeau area year-round. Bergstrom is on the Packers’ board.

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