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La Crosse County Department of Land Conservation VISION STATEMENT

The soil, water, and forest resources of La Crosse County are its' greatest natural asset.   These resources sustain a multi-million dollar agricultural and recreational industry.  These resources are the foundation upon which a quality lifestyle is built.

The department recognizes that these resources are finite and are degraded through time by neglect, mismanagement and natural causes.  Therefore, it is in the best interest of the public, both present and future, to insure that these basic resources are used wisely and are not further degraded by poor management decisions.

The department is charged with insuring the wise and perpetual use of these resources through programs and policies that balance the public’s right to clean water and productive soils, with individual rights of land ownership. 

These programs and policies are most effectively implemented when principles of land stewardship are recognized by the public, that stewardship is an inherent responsibility of land ownership, and, that small investments in resource protection and enhancement are far less costly to the individual or public than the loss, remediation, or rehabilitation of that resource.

The Department recognizes that the public vision of appropriate resource use is as varied as the number of land users in a community.   To focus the public vision of appropriate land use, the department is pro-active in identifying areas of excess soil erosion and degraded surface waters through locally developed or approved standards.

The public vision may also be blurred by a disconnected variety of state or national resource programs, each having specific agendas.  To focus this vision, the county will prioritize programs based first on the resource protection needs of La Crosse County.

The department will provide well-trained staff in a variety of environmental sciences.   Technical assistance will be timely, and solutions offered that will be effective within the financial means of the landowner and public.  Staff will have the technical abilities and equipment necessary to enable them to meet the changing requirements of programs and clients.

The department will assist land users to realize the community vision of resource management, from which all the public, present and future benefit.

01-05-04