November 8, 2023 – 7:00 pm

Converging Histories: Community, Conservation, and the Badger Reuse Process, 1997-2002, presented by Curt Meine.

More than twenty years ago, a diverse group of community members and organizational representatives came together to try to forge a vision for the reuse of the decommissioned Badger Army Ammunition Plant lands. The Badger reuse process succeeded despite the complex legacies inherent in the landscape and the quite varied perspectives among those interested in its future. In retrospect, that success built upon and reflected particular strengths in Sauk County and Wisconsin’s conservation community, trends that were emerging in conservation more generally, and other collaborative land stewardship efforts in Wisconsin and beyond. Curt will look back at the reuse process and place it in this broader context.

Curt is a conservation biologist, environmental historian, and writer based here in Sauk County. He serves as Senior Fellow with the Aldo Leopold Foundation and the Center for Humans and Nature; as Research Associate with the International Crane Foundation; and as Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has authored and edited several books, including the award-winning biography Aldo Leopold: His Life and Work (1988/2010) and The Driftless Reader (2017).

Image caption: The Farmer’s Memorial, remembering the 80 families evicted in 1942, stands in front of a young orchard of Badger apple trees planted on Maa Wakacak and original Plant guard house in background. (Image: Heather Sonntag)

Zoom link pending.