Gov. Evers, stop land swap that would damage and degrade Kohler-Andrae State Park | Opinion

In 2018, then-Gov. Scott Walker’s appointees on the Natural Resources Board approved the very controversial exchange of an interior section and road easement within Kohler-Andrae State Park for a developed parcel along Highway V owned by the Kohler Company. This was to expedite the construction of a golf course on adjacent land. The Sierra Club and the Friends of the Black River Forest recently presented a petition request to Gov. Evers to send this decision back to the Board for reconsideration.

Kohler claims that the Sheboygan County golf course project is expected to create 200 jobs and generate a $21 million annual economic impact for the local community and “enhance adjacent park facilities.” The DNR, meanwhile, points out that the parcel they have gained has five times the appraised value as the parcel granted to Kohler.

These claims, however, desperately require some context. First of all, the use of real estate appraisal values in this case means close to nothing as it leaves out all the context which makes the intact park a local economic powerhouse. It’s like yanking out someone’s teeth and declaring them worth the value of the metal in the fillings.

Economic impact of Kohler-Andrae State Park significant

In 2013, DNR and UW researchers estimated that the annual economic impact of Kohler-Andrae State Park was $19.9 million, which is equivalent to about $26.3 million in 2023 dollars. The same study estimated that the entire State Park system had a $626.9 million annual economic impact (2013 dollars) and created 8,251 jobs. If we extrapolate the job creation figures to Kohler-Andrae using the same ratio as overall economic impact, the state park would be expected to support approximately 264 local jobs.

Furthermore, Kohler-Andrae ranks 4^th of 74 state parks in the revenue it earns from entrance and camping fees and as one of only 18 parks with a surplus, it helps subsidize the operations of the other 56 parks without a surplus.  This is especially critical because Wisconsin, since 2013, is one of only three states in the U.S. that provides no state budget allocation whatsoever for the operations of its state park system.

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As useful as the 2013 study is, what it does not calculate is the financial value of the abundant ecosystem services present at Kohler-Andrae as a pristine and biodiverse lakeshore landscape. Historically ignored, ecosystem services provide tremendous real and measurable value through the provision of things like water retention, water filtration, erosion control, pollination services, and carbon sequestration. A 2016 study prepared for the Washington State Park Commission found the value of just ecosystem services alone in Cape Disappointment State Park (roughly similar to Kohler-Andrae in size and shoreline habitat) to be $18.1 million annually or $23.2 million in 2023 dollars.

Land swap for Kohler golf course would fragment park

Far from “enhancing” the state park or creating the “win-win” situation that Kohler claims, the golf course and the park land swap would cause real and grievous injury to the park and its economic and ecosystem service values which currently exceed those of the proposed golf course. The crowds, traffic, light pollution, habitat fragmentation, air pollution, and amplified noise of a top-ranked golf course right next to and within the state park would unavoidably damage and degrade its qualities as a wild preserve with abundant biodiversity, peace, quiet, and dark night skies - the very reasons people seek out and visit this beloved place.

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Furthermore, the golf course access road and privatized acreage are in the heart of the forest and dunes habitat and crucial to its integrity, while the newly-gained acreage is a biologically desolate roadside frontage with several buildings, which is hardly the sort of parkland that draws visitors or provides rich ecological services. In short, Kohler’s gain would come at the expense of the public’s assets and cause tangible losses that are economic, aesthetic, and ecological.

Steven Davis is a Professor of Political Science and Environmental Studies at Edgewood College in Madison, and the author of "In Defense of Public Lands" (Temple University Press, 2018).