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Meetings explore future of Effigy Mounds

Last week, officials from the National Park Service at Effigy Mounds held public meetings to gather input for future planning for the park. Staff at Effigy Mounds has begun the planning process to update the park's general management plan, which will guide operation of the park for the next 15 to 20 years.

According to Phyllis Ewing, park superintendent, the update of the general management plan was spurred by the acquisition of the 1,045 acre Heritage Addition to the park in 2000. "We increased the land base of the park by 70 percent. To do justice to the resource, we needed to look at the whole, " Ewing said.

Meetings were held in McGregor and in Prairie du Chien. In total, about 30 people attended.

The park at Effigy Mounds includes a total of 2,526 acres and protects 206 Native American mounds, some of which are 1,000 years old. Matthew Fafford, a visiting planning specialist for the National Park Service, conducted the meetings. He said the basic purposes of the park were defined by Congress and could not be changed. They include the protection and scientific study of the mounds and the protection of the natural environment in the park. The planning process addresses how improvements can be made to the park's services and environment, and how people want it to be in the future.

According to Ewing, participants at the McGregor meeting were interested in birding and canoeing opportunities in the park, and enjoyed the solitude that can be found there. People want to protect the undeveloped nature of the park. "It was a very positive meeting, but preservation was on everybody's minds," Ewing noted.

Attending the meeting in Prairie du Chien was Mark Ackelson of the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, a non-profit land trust organization based in Des Moines. He made several comments about the importance of increasing the size of the park, or finding ways to connect the resources of the surrounding parks, such as Yellow River State Forest and Pikes Peak State Park. He also commented on the scenic quality of the park. "The views from the bluffs are spectacular," Ackelson added. He also noted that the real character of the river was shaped by the bluffs, which makes protecting them important.

Several participants commented on the need to connect cultural resources regionally to Effigy Mounds to increase public awareness of broader historical themes. Some noted that nearby state preserves with mounds, such as Fish Farm Mounds and Turkey River Mounds had no interpretive activities or staff, and could benefit from the resources at Effigy Mounds. Michael Douglass, director of the Villa Louis Historic Site noted that sometimes state boundaries obstruct people's abilities to work together, and that Effigy Mounds should work to strengthen their ties to cultural resources in Prairie du Chien. Several people commented that increasing the size of the staff at the park would improve public interpretation and contact.

The final version of the general management plan will not be completed until 2008, with a draft plan due about a year from now. The public comment period for this initial planning stage of the process is open until December 30. To make a comment or suggestions, go to the National Park Service web site at http:// parkplanning.nps.gov. The public will also have opportunities to comment during other phases of the planning process.

Time to start thinking about power consumption

A hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, November 29, to discuss a proposed rate increase for electric, natural gas and water services. The request comes from Wisconsin Power and Light Company (WP&L), a subsidary of Alliant Energy. The hearing, which will take place at 1 p.m. at the Public Service Commission Building in Madison, is being held in regards to an application, filed by WP&L to increase rates based on "an extraordinary increase in fuel costs." This application was filed on Aug. 31, just two days after Hurricane Katrina hit land.

Rate increase history

Prior to the Aug. 31 request for an increase, the Public Service Commission issued a Final Decision on July 19, that established fuel costs, appropriate fuel cost variance ranges and imposed fuel cost monitoring.

On Sept. 23, a hearing was held for the Aug. 31 rate increase request, and on Oct. 6, the Commission issued an Interim Decision that increased WP&L's retail electric rates on an interim basis by an estimated $41,374,079 annually. Then, on Nov. 3, WP&L filed another application to revise the interim rates that were authorized by the commission on Oct. 6.

WP&L's application to revise the rates stated that since their Aug. 31 application, natural gas prices have risen dramatically further, increasing their cost of generation and purchased power. The application requests an electric fuel-only increase of $55.1 million, or about 6.1 percent, over rates authorized in the Oct. 6 decision. Considering the increase authorized in the Interim Decision, WP&L's application would result in a total increase in retail electric revenues of $96.4 million or about an 11.2 percent increase over the electric rates authorized in the July 19 Final Decision.

The issues for the hearing are:

1. Is WP&L's requested increase as set forth in the Nov. 5, application an extraordinary increase as defined under Wisconsin Code?

2. Is WP&L's interim rate design a reasonable method to collect forecasted fuel cost increase?

Comments on the issue should be sent to:

Public Service Commission

Attn: Tim O'Brien

P.O. Box 7854

Madison, WI 53707-7854

McFarlane leaves legacy with Futures

Friends and relatives gathered at the home of Maureen McFarlane recently as Maureen accepted a plaque on behalf of her late husband Morris for his tireless efforts in support of the highly-successful Futures Scholarship program.

"He was Futures," said longtime friend and original Futures board member George Sutton. "Morris did so many things. He was always working on this."

Morris and Maureen started Futures in 1992 and awarded the first $500 scholarship to a Prairie du Chien High School student in May of 1993. Morris and Maureen gave $500 of their own money each year for the first three years in order to get Futures up and running. The official title of the scholarship entity is "Futures of Prairie du Chien, Incorporated." Futures became a corporation on Oct. 19, 1992.

Now Futures is self-funding and gave 13 scholarships for a total of $9,750 last year. Since its humble beginnings, Futures has given a grand total just shy of $100,000.

Many of the Futures scholarships are named and are given for specific purposes. There is the business scholarship, the McFarlane Scholarship, the Glen Kramer Scholarship, the Jack Mulrooney Scholarship, the Ida Cecil and Guy Hanson Scholarship and the Addie Smith Scholarship.

Six Addie Smith scholarships of $1,000 each were awarded to deserving Prairie du Chien students last year. The Addie Smith Scholarship is given based on student performance and financial need. The Kramer Scholarship is for nursing students. The Hanson Scholarship is for students who are going into teaching and the Mulrooney Scholarship goes to deserving students who will be attending UW­La Crosse.

A minimum donation of $10,000 is needed in order to have a named scholarship.

Futures received a huge boost with the founding of the Addie Smith Scholarship. Smith was a former Prairie du Chien teacher and the Addie Smith Estate left a large portion to Futures. This allowed Futures to become self-funding, whereby the scholarship money is raised strictly from the interest generated.

"Morris lived and breathed this thing," said Crawford County District Attorney Tim Baxter, the president of Futures. "He talked to local businesses and did a great job of it. I'm very honored to carry on his legacy. This is fabulous."

Morris, who passed away in March, was a 1944 graduate of Prairie du Chien High School. He graduated from UW­Stout in 1952 and began teaching in Wauzeka in 1952. Three years later, Morris began teaching at Portage High School and five years after that he started teaching at Mequon Homestead High School, where he stayed for 31 years.

Mequon was a relatively wealthy area and Homestead awarded numerous scholarships each year. Morris thought that a similar scholarship program could be started in Prairie du Chien where many of the students and their families have a greater financial need.

So, upon Morris' retirement, the plan for Futures was born and a short time later he and Maureen moved back to Prairie du Chien. In fact, Morris and Maureen were in the process of moving and, after having driven to Prairie du Chien, Morris tidied up a bit and awarded the first $500 scholarship that night.

The original board members of Futures included Morris and Maureen, George Sutton, Darlene Wolfgram and Virginia Elvert.

Following its first few years, Futures began to gain steam after the first few scholarship recipients started to give back. Now, of course, Futures is flourishing.

In recent years, Morris, who served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II, was especially proud that scholarship recipients stationed in Iraq were donating. As for the future, anyone wishing to donate or find more information can log onto the Futures website at www.futuresofpdc.com.