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Up close: Public intervenor not automatic
Politics, time may hamper OK

By Rob Zaleski
August 26, 2005

To anyone who cares about protecting public rights in water and other natural resources, this is important news - even though it seems doubtful that the Republican-controlled Legislature will go along with the proposal, which Doyle unveiled at a press conference last week.

It's important because the intervenor's office - which, ironically, was created by a Republican governor, Warren Knowles, in 1967 - had the power to sue other state agencies, developers and anyone else whose actions threatened our land or water.

And there are dozens of examples of how it's been sorely missed over the last decade. (To cite just one: Five environmental groups had to invest tens of thousands of dollars and three years of work to stop Ashley Furniture from destroying two high-quality wetlands in Trempealeau County.)

But while Doyle's proposal was widely applauded by the environmental community, there's one avid Wisconsin outdoorsman who's adamantly opposed to the idea. Bizarre as it may seem, Robert McConnell - who served with distinction as the state's very first public intervenor - said in a phone interview this week that there's absolutely no need for a public intervenor today.

"When the public intervenor was created, bringing a lawsuit against the state was very, very difficult. And for that reason, the intervenor served a very useful purpose," says McConnell, who's now 78 and enjoying an active retirement in rural Columbia County.

Today, he argues, "we're in a totally different world. All kinds of environmental groups have the wherewithal and the willingness to get involved in litigation involving the environment."

But that's not the only reason McConnell opposes the idea. He says that the office became highly politicized under his successors. (Peter Peshek, Tom Dawson and Kathleen Falk, who has been Dane County Executive since 1997 and who lost to Doyle in the Democratic gubernatorial primary in 2002.)

Which is a big reason, he says, that Thompson decided to eliminate it.

I should probably point out here that McConnell - if you haven't guessed by now- is a Republican. But he insists that has nothing to do with his feelings; in fact, he says he's deeply disturbed by the intense hatred many Democrats and Republicans have for each other these days and says it's the main reason so little is being accomplished.

And he says he never allowed his personal views to interfere with his work as public intervenor - which, based on his record, certainly seems to be the case.

To hear the old-timers tell it, it was McConnell who persuaded the Legislature to ban DDT in 1970 - which some maintain was the greatest environmental triumph in Wisconsin history. Just two years later, the insecticide was banned nationally.

McConnell notes that he also "protected a fair number of trout streams against dam proposals and things like that."

Still, Melissa Scanlan, executive director of the Madison-based Midwest Environmental Advocates and one of the state's leading environmentalists, was taken aback when told Thursday of McConnell's feelings about the public intervenor and said from her experiences, "they do not reflect the reality."

Yes, there are a lot more environmental groups bringing legal challenges today than there were 30 years ago, Scanlan says.

"But it's very difficult financially and it's very difficult to find enough lawyers who are able and willing to take on the cases," she says, pointing out that her nonprofit environmental law center - the only one of its kind in the state - has just two full-time attorneys.

"The public intervenor, because it was not seen as an outside lobbying firm but a branch of government, had a very different place at the table," she says. "And so it was much more effective at influencing legislation and making sure that bad proposals didn't see the light of day.

"It's hard to imagine any kind of environmental lobbyist ever having that kind of stature," she adds. "Just because environmental groups are going to be seen as lobbyists - just the same as WMC (Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce) and the Wisconsin Builders Association."

So what are the odds that Doyle can somehow persuade the Legislature to approve the measure?

"I don't see it happening," McConnell says.

Scanlan acknowledges that the odds aren't good - at least right now. But she says the situation could change if enough people contacted their elected representatives and let their feelings be known.

Indeed, surveys have shown that Wisconsin residents strongly support the idea of a public intervenor, Scanlan says.

Now's their chance to prove it.