By The Associated Press
Eau Claire Leader-Telegram. December 13, 2023.
Editorial: Trail designation is an encouraging development
The addition of Wisconsin’s Ice Age Trail as part of the National Park System is clearly a boost for the state. The move should open up additional resources that it simply wouldn’t have access to otherwise.
The addition of one of Wisconsin’s premiere outdoor trails was announced earlier this month along with two other trails: the New England and North Country trails. National Parks Service Director Chuck Sams said the combined lengths of the new trails is more than 5,500 miles, and the designation will “increase public awareness and use of these amazing pathways.”
Wisconsin’s trail skirts the northern part of the Chippewa Valley, tracing the edge of the last ice age glacier that covered much of North America. There are some 700 miles already blazed for hikers to enjoy, but that’s not quite 60% of the planned total. Another 500 miles remain for completion, and that’s where the National Park System could be a significant gain.
The remaining work largely involves connecting segments of the trail that are already completed. That means looking at back roads and rural highways, options the federal government is well positioned to assist with. That’s especially true for the financial side of the equation.
National Scenic Trails are a lesser-known part of the NPS. The official website lists 11 across the country, including the Ice Age Trail. Only six are part of the National Parks System, though. The others are administered by the U.S. Forest Service.
The best known trail is probably the Appalachian trail, which runs some 2,190 miles through an ancient mountain range that may once have been as high as the Himalayas are today.
But the Appalachian trail isn’t the longest in the system. That designation belongs to a trail much closer to home. One of the other newcomers, the North Country Trail, winds 4,600 miles through portions of Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Wisconsin.
The shortest trail is a comparatively scant 65 miles in Mississippi, the Natchez Trace trail. It’s still more than most people would want to hike in a single trek, but it’s possible.
Why are trails like this worthwhile? Aside from offering the chance to see impressive regions of natural beauty, several highlight the intersection of geography and history. Think for a moment about how important the Appalachians were in the colonial era. While hardly the barrier they once were, they posed a significant challenge for the initial stages of westward expansion.
The Potomac Heritage Trail takes users through a region that was of critical importance both during the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. formative events for our nation.
The Ice Age Trail is a little different in that respect. It invites people to consider not the events of the past 300 years or so, but how the region was shaped by prehistoric shifts. The glaciation of northern parts of the continent means there are no barriers to polar winds that sweep into the central U.S. during the winter. That, in turn, shaped the plant and animal life, irrevocably altering the approach humans need to take to live here.
If you think that’s an exaggeration, take a look at Europe. Rome is at roughly the same latitude as New York City. The biggest difference is that the Alps can keep cold air bottled up over northern Europe, rather than letting it spill south the way it does in North America.
It’s also a reminder that the United States pioneered the very concept of national parks. No nation had previously set aside portions of the land as areas to be preserved for the public. That decision has changed how Americans view our country, and the addition of these trails will continue to do so.
Kenosha News. December 17, 2023.
Editorial: Common sense wins in new regents’ vote
Common sense prevailed Wednesday when the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents flip-flopped and voted 11-6 to agree to a compromise deal with Republican legislators to limit diversity positions on system campuses in exchange for money to cover staff raises and construction projects.
It was a reversal from their narrow 9-8 vote a week ago Saturday when the regents rejected the compromise on diversity, equity and inclusion programs at the universities negotiated by Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, a vote that would have inflicted short-term pain on university employees and long-term consequences.
That was a foolish decision and the regents should be commended for righting the ship.
The UW System and the Madison campus had much to gain and Vos predictably reacted to the initial regents’ vote by saying there would be no more negotiating.
“We’re not changing one thing in this deal,” Vos said, “We are not going backwards. If anything, I’d prefer to go forward. But a deal is a deal, you’ve got to keep your word.”
These are some of the results of the regents’ approval of the compromise:
An estimated 35,000 system employees will now get their 4% cost of living pay increases that were supposed to go into effect July 1.
The UW-Madison will get $200 million from the state for construction of a new engineering building on the Madison campus, a project that has had the backing of business leaders across the state.
The UW System will be allowed to keep some revenue that comes from the Minnesota reciprocity program that has previously gone to the state’s general fund.
By some estimates, the Vos-Rothman compromise will net the UW System some $800 million.
And what will be the “cost” to the UW System’s DEI programs?
Not much.
Under the deal, the number of DEI positions will be frozen for three years and about a third of those positions — 43 — will be redirected to focus not on historically marginalized groups but on academic and student success more broadly.
Republicans will get the plum of a new endowed professorship in “conservative thought.”
We have no idea what, exactly, that will entail or what closet office will be set up, but that’s a trifling part of this compromise.
From the numbers we’ve seen, the enrollment of students of color in the UW System has gone from 5.6% in 199O to about 17.1% currently. But African-American enrollment has only gone up from 2% to 3% in that time.
So, there is dispute over the effectiveness of DEI programs and Republicans have long-ought to dismantle them saying they are racially divisive and a waste of taxpayer money.
That’s a reflection of similar fights being waged across the country.
We believe it’s important for our universities to reflect the diversity of our state and welcome all students, but the compromise agreed to Wednesday is hardly a body blow to DEI programs.
The university has much to gain and very little to lose with this compromise and we agree with University of Wisconsin President Rothman who welcomed the regents’ reversal saying, “We live in a political environment. It is not shocking to say we live in a polarized state in that context, if your going to move forward, if you’re going to make progress, you have to find a way forward to find compromise. And I think that’s what we did in this process.”
Compromise. Move forward. That’s the path that would best serve all the students and residents of Wisconsin.
