While the city has recently enjoyed at least a brief hiatus from the heavy snowfalls of early winter, another type of storm has appeared on the horizon: controversy over where to put the snow.

For those who have to shovel and plow it, finding a place to put it presents a major problem. It is a violation of city ordinance to push it out into the street, and there is a new policy this year that it cannot be dumped anywhere else on city property. That change in policy has some people who plow snow from driveways and parking lots pretty upset.

Terry Meyer, co-manager of the Public Works Department, said commercial operations are allowed to deposit snow on city property only if they pay a fee and obtain a permit. He suggested that others might want to contact private landowners to make arrangements for dumping excess snow.

Meyer said last year’s heavy snowfall led city officials to initiate a change. He said there are three major reasons for the change:

•If the city gets a large quantity of snow during the winter, they will need adequate space to dump snow plowed from the streets, and if public property is already filled with snow from private and commercial haulers, some of whom could be bringing it in from outside the city limits, there will not be enough space for the snow from city streets to be piled.

• When the snow melts in the spring, all the bottles, cans and other trash must be cleaned up.

• Most of the people hauling snow are making money from the plowing, and then expecting to dump it for free on city property.

One hauler (who wished to remain anonymous) had a different perspective on the issue. He said after one of this year’s snowfalls he hauled 16 dump truck loads out of one parking lot alone, and offered this comment: "It sucks that you can’t haul snow from Prairie du Chien taxpayers someplace in the city and dump it. It just melts and goes into the river anyway." Other years, he said, he could dump snow across from Wyalusing Academy near the river or on the north end of North Main Street. He has been able to make arrangements with a private landowner, but for those who haven’t been able to do so, he asks, "What are they supposed to do?"

Pushing snow from private property out into the street is another source of friction between property owners and the city. According to Public works Ordinance 8.07, it is illegal to place snow in the travel portion of a roadway, and a person who does so is subject to a fine of $135.60 as set forth in Chapter 24 of the Municipal Code.

However, said Steve Rickleff of Rickleff Plumbing, Heating ad Air Conditioning, "there’s always been a sort of gentleman’s agreement that snow from along the sidewalk can be pushed out into the street before the street plowing is finished as long as you haul the majority away." However, after one of the big snowfalls this year, he learned that was no longer the case.

Rickleff said he had most of the snow hauled away, but pushed the snow from near the edge of the street out into the windrow in the middle of the street. Monday morning, he came to work to find it had all been blown back—right into the middle of his parking lot. Rickleff said if this is the new policy, he can abide by it, but he wants the city to treat everyone equally, and he wants them to publicize it.

Although there have been rumors of tickets and fines for improper disposal of snow, Sgt. Chad Abram of the Prairie du Chien Police Department said Monday that he has seen no tickets issued regarding snow removal. So far, he said, there have been some warnings issued about keeping sidewalks shoveled. Owners or occupants of buildings in the city are required to keep sidewalks along their property free of ice and snow.

The scenery and resources of the Lower Wisconsin River are enjoyed by numerous canoeists, anglers, hunters, and campers every year. Governor Jim Doyle has proclaimed 2009 as the "Year of the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway," which recognizes the 20-year milestone of the aesthetic protection pioneering agency The Lower Wisconsin State Riverway Board.

Created in 1989, the Riverway Board is charged with protecting the aesthetic integrity of the Lower Wisconsin, which flows 92.3 miles from the Prairie du Sac Dam to the confluence with the Mississippi River near Prairie du Chien. The Lower Wisconsin Riverway encompasses 79,275 acres, including bluffs, bottomlands, woods, prairies, and numerous wooded islands and sandbars, which are appreciated by many residents of Crawford and Grant counties, as well as people from throughout the state and nation.

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the project, the Riverway Board will be hosting a series of special tours, lectures and presentations in 2009. Riverway Board Executive Director Mark Cupp said preliminary plans for the "Year of the Riverway" include canoe tours with large, voyageur replica canoes; tours of public lands within the Riverway, including state natural areas and effigy mounds sites; lectures on archeology, geology, social and natural history; and, presentations on current and long term management of resources within the Riverway. Events will be held at communities up and down the river valley.

Wisconsin Act 31, the creation of the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway and the establishment of the Riverway Law in 1989, was the culmination of years if planning and hundreds of hours of public meetings. The Lower Wisconsin State Riverway Board was created to administer the new law.

"Administration of the Riverway regulations and the protection of the resource is very much a cooperative endeavor," said Cupp, who noted that the board is responsible for the scenic protection regulations, while the Department of Natural Resources is responsible for resource and recreational management issues and land acquisition.

Cupp also praised the continued cooperation of the landowners within the Riverway. "The board recognizes the importance of protecting the rights of property owners and local individuals and constantly seeks ways to achieve maximum protection of the resource with minimum regulation," he said. "The continued cooperation and support of landowners and local residents is the key to the success of the project."

"The Riverway law is indeed unique and innovative and is another example of the proud tradition of resource protection in Wisconsin," said Cupp when he penned a historical perspective of the project. "With the law in place, the people of Wisconsin are assured that the beauty and biological diversity of the river and its valley will remain for generations to come. With the continued sound stewardship of the land by private property owners, the effective and thoughtful management of the resource by the DNR and local authorities, and, with the scrupulous administration of the aesthetic protection regulations by the Riverway Board, the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway will remain one of the gleaming jewels in Wisconsin’s natural resources crown."

Cupp said that the initial challenge 20 years ago was in building a new state agency from pencils and desks to telephones and computers to regulations and procedures. The board gained experience with unique and innovative regulations and saw the need for technical corrections to the original legislation. A bill to that effect was enacted that allowed landowners greater flexibility in regard to building os structures and harvesting of timber but also assured the scenic beauty and natural character of the Riverway.

"The Riverway Board and the scenic protection regulations are now viewed as a model, not only statewide, but nationally and even internationally, in regard to aesthetic protection on a landscape scale," said Cupp.

In addition to landowners and the DNR and board has established a cooperative working relationship with county zoning authorities, the DOT, the State Historical Society and tribal governments such as the Ho-Chunk Nation. Cupp said that in the last decade, the board has been actively involved in the protection of historical and archeological sites.

More recent accomplishments of the board include the spearheading of an effort to have Highway 60 from Lodi to Prairie du Chien designated as the Lower Wisconsin River Road, from Empire Prairie to the Mighty Mississippi under the Wisconsin Scenic Byways Program. This project could lead to a National Scenic Byways designation like that of the Great River Road, said Cupp.

"With two national scenic byways intersecting at Prairie du Chien, the marketing possibilities are tremendous," said Cupp. "Another aspect of the long range vision would be to pursue scenic byways status for Highway 131 through the Kickapoo River Valley and for 133 along the Lower Wisconsin River further enhancing the promotional opportunities."

As for the future, Cupp said that there will be a few major challenges that must be faced. The first is to ensure the scenic protection regulations to the letter of the law, which he says will become more difficult in the face of impending development pressures. The other is to ensure that the Riverway environmental quality and biodiversity of the river and surrounding lands are not compromised by pollution and by invasive species. Cupp also said that there must be a better mechanism established for siting cell towers in the Riverway that doesn’t result in the proliferation of towers that have a negative impact upon the scenic quality of the Riverway. Opportunities should also be created for school children to use the Riverway as a living classroom, he said. A hiking trail from Wyalusing to Devil’s Lake could also be created, which would be akin to the Ice Age Trail or Appalachian Trail, that would provide the public with the chance to enjoy the quality of the Riverway from the land was well as the water, said Cupp.

The Lower Wisconsin State Riverway Board is composed of nine members of which six must be local residents or local elected officials from Crawford, Grant, Columbia, Dane, Iowa, Richland and Sauk counties. Crawford County Board President Ron Leys represents Crawford County on the Riverway Board.

The board administers a system of "performance standards" in order to protect the aesthetic integrity of the Riverway. Permits are required for structures, timber harvesting, utility facilities and other such activities.

"I think the overwhelming majority of folks recognize the value of protecting this magnificent resource for future generations," said Cupp. "Indeed, while the value of the Riverway project has grown over the last two decades, we have only scratched the surface. In another 50 or 100 years, the true value of the project will be realized when someone fishing, hunting, paddling, birdwatching or exploring a group of effigy mounds is able to enjoy the same scenic beauty, natural experience, archeological wonderment or just solitude and silence that contemporary Riverway users are able to enjoy."