Go to http://www.co.sauk.wi.us/data/badger/index.html
to access the full text of the Badger Reuse Plan.

The Badger Reuse Plan was completed in March 2001. It represents the consensus of twenty-one stakeholders working together for nine months. Funding for the Badger Reuse Plan was secured by Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin. The Committee was chartered and created by the Sauk County Board of Supervisors.

The Badger Army Ammunition Plant (BAAP) occupies 7,354 acres in the predominantly rural countryside of Sauk County, Wisconsin. The Badger Plant was constructed in 1942 following the nation's entry into World War II. The Plant provided ammunition propellant for the duration of the war effort, and was again operative during the Korean and Vietnam Wars. In late 1997 the U.S. Army determined that the BAAP facility was no longer needed to meet the nation's defense needs. Subsequent efforts to define a future for the Badger property proved challenging due to the site's unusually rich natural and cultural history, the wide range of potential reuse options, and the complexity of local, state, national, and tribal interests involved.

In early 2000, the Sauk County Board of Supervisors acted to establish a locally driven reuse planning process. With the assistance of U.S. Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin and funds provided by the U.S. Department of Labor, the Badger Reuse Committee was convened. The 21-member Committee included representatives from neighboring communities, local, state, and federal governments, and the Ho-Chunk Nation. In its mission statement, the Badger Reuse Committee charged itself with the task of developing "a common vision for the reuse of the Badger property that can be meaningfully considered and realistically implemented by the appropriate local, state, and federal agencies." Between July 2000 and March 2001 the Committee met 16 times, with additional subcommittee meetings also held in this period. Their plan, the Badger Reuse Plan, represents the consensus of the Reuse Committee.

Early meetings were devoted to gathering and reviewing basic information about the Badger property and its role — past, present, and future — in Sauk County's landscape, community, and economy. Based on this information, the Badger Reuse Plan has defined nine key values to guide consideration of future uses.

Value 1 stresses the need to manage the Badger property collaboratively, and as a single unit.

Value 2 directs the federal government to complete the highest quality cleanup of the Badger property in a timely manner.

Value 3 pertains to maintenance of buildings and infrastructure that are historically significant or are needed to support cleanup activities and other approved uses.

Value 4 emphasizes the desire to reuse the Badger property in a way that contributes to reconciliation and the resolution of past conflicts.

Value 5 recognizes the great potential of the Badger property to provide educational, research, and recreational opportunities.

Value 6 focuses on the role that sustainable agriculture opportunities can and should play in the reuse of the Badger property.

Value 7 addresses the protection and enhancement of the Badger property's natural features, and the critical role of the Badger lands within the broader landscape.

Value 8 recognizes the importance of the Badger property in providing open space and protecting the characteristic rural landscape of our area.

Value 9 involves the need for future uses of the Badger property to contribute to economic stability and sustainability in our local municipalities.

The Badger Reuse Committee formally adopted these values, and also reached consensus on more detailed criteria and many specific plan elements. In turn, these values, criteria, and plan elements were used to create a Desired Future Land Use Concept map (included in the report).

In the course of its work, the Committee entertained 25 proposals from various parties interested in future use of the Badger property. These proposals varied widely in scope and content, and were evaluated by the Committee for their consistency with the adopted values and criteria. In general, the highest-ranking proposals considered the Badger property in its entirety, reflected the cleanup goals for the property, and recognized the important opportunities for education, conservation, agriculture, and recreation inherent in the property. The lower ranking proposals tended to address only portions of the property, provided minimal inducement for full cleanup, and proposed uses that contributed little to (or interfered with) the agreed-upon reuse values. Other proposals submitted to the committee were ranked more "neutral." These tended to be overly general, or to propose specific uses (which might yet prove compatible within broader reuse plans).

In developing its values, criteria, and concept map, and in evaluating proposals, the Committee recognized the critical element of time in achieving a fully integrated vision for the future of the Badger lands. The long-term conversion of the Badger lands allows flexibility as older uses are phased out, and new uses begin.

The Badger Reuse Committee sought to address the question of future ownership of the Badger property by first considering the full range of ownership scenarios, and the "pros" and "cons" associated with each. Although the committee did not achieve consensus on a single recommendation, it was able to rank seven scenarios according to their perceived capacity to support the Badger Reuse Plan's values and criteria. The two highest-ranking scenarios were (1) single ownership by the State of Wisconsin and (2) multiple ownership by the State of Wisconsin, the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Dairy Forage Research Center, and the Ho-Chunk Nation/U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The conversion of the Badger lands provides remarkable opportunities for the protection, enhancement, use, restoration, and enjoyment of the property's unique natural and cultural features. In its work, the BRC has sought to highlight these many opportunities, and to achieve a realistic, community-based, consensus vision for realizing them. In the past, the Badger lands have too often been a place of division, pain, and conflict. It is the hope of the committee that all members of our community may now contribute to a new beginning at Badger, one that honors the past while serving future generations. It is in that spirit of reconciliation that we offer this report.