Would KVR have been created in today's polarized environment?

Officials attend a 10-year anniversary celebration for the Kickapoo Valley Reserve Visitor on Saturday (left to right): State Sen. Dale Schultz, KVR Executive Director Marcy West, State Sen. Jennifer Shilling, KVR Board President Ron Johnson and State Rep. Lee Nerison.

By KAREN PARKER | County Line Publisher

I learned something on Saturday. Don’t line up a bunch of politicians to speak, or no one will come. Too many other things might have been going on that day, or perhaps we all have politician-fatigue after suffering through the onslaught of nonsense in this election cycle.

Whatever the case, it was a sparse crowd at the 10th anniversary of the Kickapoo Valley Reserve Visitor Center.

OK, maybe a birthday party for a building doesn’t trip anyone’s trigger. But that’s kind of too bad, because it was, and is, a remarkable achievement.

Of course, the politicians can never let it go at that. They talked about how special, how unique, how absolutely fantastic is the Kickapoo Valley. Really? They must tell everyone that.

Afterward I was thinking we needed a banner over the door that announced, “We Are So Special.”

That argument always seems to come up whenever we are faced with a less pleasant aspect of life: high-voltage lines, quarries, road construction and gargantuan dairy operations. Those things ought to be located somewhere else, out of sight, maybe in southern Illinois. Special people don’t live there. Never mind that we use that stuff. It’s kind of like chowing down on a pork sandwich while bellyaching about the hog farm next door.

Pardon my cynicism, but someone sent me photos recently of the 12 most beautiful places in the world. And guess what? The Kickapoo Valley wasn’t one of them.

Playing the beauty card gets old after a while, particularly when it is a polite way of saying, “Not in my backyard.”

And doesn’t almost everyone think his or her home ground is special? I am not a huge fan of Big Sky Country or the desert, but I can see why some people might love both. Big cities give me the willies, but others love them, see beauty and would not trade Broadway for Brush Creek in a minute.

I have been to Switzerland. Every view is like a scene from a fairy tale book come alive. I imagine others would find all those waterfalls and Alps mind-numbing,

But once we struggled to the surface of the politician syrup and got a breath of fresh air at the KVR Visitor Center, they did hit a few good notes.

It was bipartisanship that brought forth the Kickapoo Valley Reserve. I recall those first meetings in 1992, when the outrage was off the decibel scale. Every former landowner, user group and casual observer had an axe to grind, and finding a solution that would please everyone appeared impossible. It made the squabble over the proposed Wilton rock quarry look like a stroll in the park.

Like sausage making, democracy is a messy business, but it seems to work best when everyone sticks a paw in the tub.

Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson joined hands with Democratic U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold to work on a solution to getting the land back from the Army Corps of Engineers. It was local representatives, mostly Republican, in the Wisconsin Legislature who were able to set aside any partisan differences and work with the rest of the Legislature to get the deed done.

No doubt there was backroom dealing, but most everything was fought out in the public eye. Consequently, the people got what they wanted, including property that was not under DNR control and a local board to provide input on management decisions.

The result was 8,000-plus acres that will preserve forever an example of the Driftless Region. You don’t have to be rich to own a slice of it. All it takes is a tank of gas and a few bucks for admission and you can hike, bike, horseback and camp in it. Thousands of children have already made use of the education programs and had the opportunity to know more about nature and why it is important in our lives.

It’s hard to picture any of that happening in this political climate. Whichever side favored it, the other side would block it. Some would seize on the opportunity to sell it off to a rich developer. Condos on the Kickapoo? Golf course? Rock quarry or rocket landing? Who knows?

Yes, the Kickapoo Valley is beautiful, but we cannot preserve every acre of it and probably should not as long as people live here. But with the Kickapoo Valley Reserve, we managed to set aside a substantial chunk of it for future generations.

And we can look back with sentimental longing to a time when politicians actually worked together for the good of the people.

Golly, we can even tell our grandchildren about it. Isn’t that nice?

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