Question No. 5: Dan Carpenter Response

The first issue with which I disagreed with Gregg Underheim and began thinking about running for the Assembly was the Crandon Mining Project. The thought of dumping 25 million tons of toxic cyanide waste on my deer stand angered me. I’m not much of a hunter, but the north woods are my little piece of heaven. I enjoy walking and just sitting and enjoying nature in that area. I have taken my son with me and explained how the water flows from the little ponds and steams to the northern lakes, the Wolf River and eventually to us here in Oshkosh. Although local tribes have purchased that area, there is a saying that: as long as the ore is in the ground someone is going to want to mine. I would never support cyanide mining at the head of our drinking water.

Although it may be threatened, it is important to understand that the lake is much cleaner than it was fifty years ago. We often spoke of the dog days of summer when the scum on the lake had a horrible smell. I am not sure that all the evidence is in regarding invasive species. Recently, while visiting a friend on Bay Shore Drive I noticed a neighbor loading a dumpster with zebra mussels. The amount was huge and I was surprised about just how much he had raked from the river in front of his house. However, not long ago we complained about the lake fly stench. Did we trade one for the other? I’m not sure. There must be more research done in this area. And, I’m not sure how much can be done that has not already been done. Regulations regarding boating are in place already and they don’t appear to have stopped the spread of zebra mussels or purple loosestrife.

I believe that the DNR is in need of overhaul. This is just one more example of the inefficiencies that I have spoken about during my campaign. We have continued to let state government grow from year to year but we accomplish less. Like other areas, I believe we have too much administration and not enough input from experts. Preferably, I would like to see upper management make the recommendations for this reorganization. If that is not possible, then we need to reassess our leadership.

One issue that I have disagreed with is the Jobs Creation Act. Sometimes red tape has a reason and if that reason were to keep our environment from becoming polluted then I would prefer to err on the side of caution. This Act creates no jobs, but allows companies to conceivably create still another problem similar to the PCB mess we have now.

I would support initiatives that further protect our waters from invasive species and strictly prohibit pollution from private and public sources. I think that the State of Wisconsin missed the boat, no pun intended, when they failed to purchase the Forest County mining site. The amount of money involved at the time was insignificant when compared to the future of our lakes, rivers and streams.