{"id":1528,"date":"2016-04-25T07:27:25","date_gmt":"2016-04-25T12:27:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.greatriver.com\/wordpress\/?p=1528"},"modified":"2016-05-15T10:52:58","modified_gmt":"2016-05-15T15:52:58","slug":"%ef%bb%bf-railroad-trespass-hearings-by-greg-koelker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.greatriver.com\/wordpress\/%ef%bb%bf-railroad-trespass-hearings-by-greg-koelker\/","title":{"rendered":"\ufeff Railroad Trespass Hearings by Greg Koelker"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thank you, Greg Koelker for detailed report on Mississippi River Railroad Trespass Hearings. This is a significant issue for all of us along the Upper Mississippi River. If folks are not allowed to cross the railroad tracks. the trains which rattle our countryside constantly will also become a FENCE to separate us from the recreational resources we ALL love most about the river. It is worth paying attention to the discussions. ~Pat<\/em><\/p>\n

Railroad Trespass Hearings \u00a0by Greg Koelker<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some 200 hunters, fishermen, trappers, birders, snowmobilers, business owners, community leaders, government employees and other concerned Mississippi River recreation enthusiasts showed up to be heard by State Senator Jennifer Shilling, Tim Yager from the Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Railroad Commissioner of Wisconsin, Yash Wadhwa at the De Soto Community Center and Stoddard Legion on April 22.<\/p>\n

After introductions, Tim Yager informed the group that there has been investigation into 17 to 18 additional rail crossings along the Mississippi with good line of sight.\u00a0 He added that these could cost between $15,000 and $250,000 each. He said that the position of the USFW is that they want safe and adequate access to the over 240,000 acres of the Upper Mississippi River Refuge.\u00a0 The river is bordered by railroad tracks on both shores.<\/p>\n

Dan Knapek of De Soto asked what percent of the railroad\u2019s profit would it take to create the needed rail crossings.\u00a0 Commissioner Wadwa said there were already 26 possible crossings being investigated.\u00a0 They are looking to define all options and look into shared cost.<\/p>\n

Long time member of the Wisconsin Conservation Congress, Bill Howe of Prairie du Chien said, \u201cThe railroad\u2019s desire to limit access entirely impacts the entire rail system in this country.\u201d \u00a0Howe called the railroad\u2019s position, \u201c…a great threat.\u201d \u00a0He added that 15 to 20% of railroads are not on their own lands.<\/p>\n

Dan Trawicke of Waukesha, representing the Safari Club, said, \u201cThis is not just a Western Wisconsin problem.\u201d \u00a0He said that safety is a number one concern, but he added that it takes common sense. \u00a0\u201cAdditional crossings are not the answer,\u201d said Trawicke, \u201cwe have a constitutional right\u201d to access those lands.<\/p>\n

Greg Koelker of Stoddard said, \u201cSafely crossing a railroad track is no different that safely crossing a highway.\u00a0 Look both ways and listen.\u00a0 Then cross if it is safe.\u00a0 Every first grader knows that.\u201d \u00a0He added, \u201c. . . \u00a0no amount of legislation will change the minds of suicidal people, drunks, idiots trying to beat a train, protesters of whatever, and especially not terrorists.\u201d \u00a0Koelker brought up the long tradition of using the tracks to access the river. \u201cI grew up near Cassville and my dad and I would walk the tracks to access ice fishing sports on Bertram Lake. For years, our family members crossed the tracks to trap and hunt ducks and deer and even morel mushrooms.\u00a0 I used to cross the tracks at Shady Maple to ice fish with my family.\u00a0 I have friends who cross the tracks to hunt ducks out on peninsulas along the river. There is no other way to get to those waters for much of the year.\u201d \u00a0Koelker said he hears from legitimate sources that at least 50% of our legislators already support the change.\u00a0 He added that, \u201cI understand that the Railroad Commissioner has the power to order placement of railroad crossings.\u00a0 I urge you to consider directing more pedestrian railroad crossings and to support changing the trespass law to allow direct crossing of the tracks.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Click this link to continue reading Greg’s report.<\/a><\/span><\/h1>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thank you, Greg Koelker for detailed report on Mississippi River Railroad Trespass Hearings. This is a significant issue for all of us along the Upper Mississippi River. If folks are not allowed to cross the railroad tracks. the trains which … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,5,146,4,120,6,129,147,1,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-birding","category-boating-the-mississippi","category-feature-story-archives","category-fishing","category-railroading-history","category-tourism-announcements","category-train-journeys","category-treasure-hunting","category-uncategorized","category-upper-mississippi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.greatriver.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.greatriver.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.greatriver.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.greatriver.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.greatriver.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1528"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/www.greatriver.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1528\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1565,"href":"http:\/\/www.greatriver.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1528\/revisions\/1565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.greatriver.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.greatriver.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.greatriver.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}