DOOR COUNTY (WLUK) — A group of citizens filed a civil lawsuit against the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, alleging the agency improperly removed trees and conducted road work at Potawatomi State Park.
The DNR has not responded to the suit and told FOX 11 it will not comment on pending litigation.
The organization — Potawatomi Advocates for Trees, Conservation and Heritage (PATCH) — filed suit Friday, seeking a court order “to stop the agency from causing further irreversible damage” at the park.
Among the work it cites as problematic:
Roads widened by up to 10 feet, from 18-20 feet to 28 feet, to add designated bike lanesA 150-foot clear-cut swath through old-growth forest to “straighten” South Norway Road, destroying a winding, canopied corridor that has defined the park for nearly 100 yearsRemoval of historic tree medians and road canopy across approximately 1.75 miles of park roadsTree clearing and soil disturbance within the 200-foot protected buffer zone of the Niagara Escarpment, home to state threatened and endangered snail speciesRemoval of natural screening trees around parking lots
The suit contends the DNR didn’t hold the proper public hearings or get approval from the Natural Resources Board.
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No hearings have been scheduled, according to court records.