La Crosse County has made significant progress since the County Board adopted a resolution designating La Crosse as an Eco-County and endorsing the principles of sustainable community development in the spring of 2007.

Central to this decision has been the policy guidance to lead by example and expand upon utilization of the four elements of the Natural Step Model:

·         Reduce our dependence upon fossil fuels, extracted underground metals and minerals.

·         Reduce our dependence on chemicals and other manufactured substances that can accumulate in nature.

·         Reduce our dependence on activities that harm life sustaining ecosystems.

·         Meet the hierarchy of present and future human needs fairly and efficiently.

In April 2008 the County Collaboration Conference topic was sustainability, with over 80 government officials, community stakeholders, and local businesses represented. Later that summer the County hired Nick Nichols as the Sustainability Coordinator to help implement the strategic plan developed by the Joint Oversight Committee on Sustainability (JOCS), adopted by both the County Board and City Council.  Nick is available as a resource to speak to groups on a wide range of topics, seeking to enhance community efforts for energy cost savings and conservation. The strategic plan is available for review on the County’s website at www.sustainablelacrosse.com.

Last fall the Sustainable La Crosse Commission was formed including Two County Board members, Two City Council members, the Mayor of Onalaska and four citizen members with specific expertise and interest in this area.  The commission is charged with enhancing progress toward sustainability goals to increase the effectiveness of local government decisions.  To learn more about the work of the commission, go to the following link:

http://www.co.la-crosse.wi.us/Minutes%20and%20Agendas/HmPgsSpecial/SLC.htm

Since adoption of the plan, some of the improvements to highlight include: 

·      The Information Technology Department is saving over $100,000 a year by implementing programs to shut down computers, use virtual servers, and reducing the number of printers and other electronic devices within the County.

·      All County departments have now implemented Office paper recycling, saving $1000’s of dollars per year in disposal costs.  

·      The purchasing department has started to include sustainability practices within their procurement structure and is also asking vendors what their sustainability practices are including the move to recycled paper products and more environmental cleaning supplies.

·      The solid waste department is working on a project to use the landfill gas that is currently flared and sending it to Gundersen Lutheran’s Onalaska campus to be used to create electricity and heat for their buildings.

·      A study was done to see if the County was having any influence in purchasing local foods for the jail and it was revealed that a majority of food was grown locally having a direct impact on our local economy. They’ve also been working on a point purchasing program with the City of La Crosse and the school district; this saves all three organizations expenses.

These and many other efforts are being implemented every day and will have a significant impact on the amount of energy we use. By reducing our use of energy and increasing efficiency we will be as responsible as we can be with the trust that the taxpayers of La Crosse County put in us.

 La Crosse Rail Summit was a great success at Amtrak Depot & Train Station BBQ 

Drawing over 100 from Milwaukee to St. Paul, supporters of high speed rail along the existing Empire Builder Route (Chicago, Milwaukee, Madison, Tomah, La Crosse/La Crescent, Winona, Red Wing, St. Paul) joined the Empire Builder High Speed Rail Coalition and the Minnesota High Speed Rail Commission for a “High Speed Rail Summit” on Thursday, March 18^th. 

Leaders of the Empire Builder HSR Coalition and the MN HSR Commission called for implementation of higher speed and more frequent rail service between Madison and the Twin Cities along the existing Mississippi Route as it is the route with the greatest chance for operational success given the existing passenger level trackage, existing right-of-way to accommodate double trackage which will be critical in maintaining both freight and passenger service simultaneously and the Empire Builder Route is already one of Amtrak’s most successful long distance routes with continual increases in ridership.  The Empire Builder Route also allows the 20% local share of the upfront capital costs and ongoing operating costs to be shared between Wisconsin and Minnesota on a per mile basis, whereas the alternative Central Wisconsin route shifts a greater cost share to Wisconsin.  In addition to high speed service along the existing river route, commuter rail service could also be accomplished between St. Paul and Eau Claire with eventual service all the way to Green Bay.

Calling the meeting “historic” Empire Builder Coalition Coordinator James Hill pointed out that there were elected representatives from 25 communities or counties spanning the Empire Builder route, from Watertown near Milwaukee all the way to St. Paul.  Hill noted that over half the attendees were elected officials including representatives of three US Senators, state legislators and eight Mayors, top officials of two state transportation agencies and representatives of Amtrak.

WisDOT Secretary Frank Busalacchi emphasized that high speed rail build-out will be “incremental”, in both a segment-by-segment approach and moving to higher speeds.  The Secretary also stressed that there must be continuity of funding for high speed rail to complete the whole Midwestern system.  Commissioner Tom Sorel of MnDOT added that a meeting like the one held Thursday may well be seen as “pivotal” when people look back in 50 years.  He noted that the studies that are being undertaken by the two state agencies, considering the various route alternatives, will be completed by the end of the year and that further planning and engineering on the primary route will follow in 2011.

Some members of the MN High Speed Rail Commission and other delegates traveled to La Crosse via Amtrak, symbolizing how meetings like this may well go forward in the future, all along the Empire Builder Route, as higher speed and more frequent service become a reality.

Sharon Hampson

Thank you, Steve Doyle and Steve O'Malley