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As Sharon Roznik's article in The Reporter of Feb. 1 ("Mega-farm operation will sprout up near Rosendale") points out, the cat is now out of the bag: Wisconsin's largest industrial dairy is planned for the rural community of Rosendale in western Fond du Lac County.

The approximately 7,000-head factory farm has already divided this quiet town, where families are struggling to come to terms with the looming environmental, public health and economic impacts of such a massive operation.

Local officials claim that their hands are tied, but the citizens of Rosendale have ample reason to be disappointed with the Town Board's recent failure to adopt a livestock-siting ordinance.

Such an ordinance would give the community a chance to ensure that the new facility (and others like it) meets basic standards for manure storage, runoff management and odor control. And Town Board Chairman Tracy Swayze's assertion that the citizens of Rosendale have been "apathetic" is simply inaccurate.

A recent town informational meeting was standing-room-only, and a gathering of concerned citizens on Jan. 17 drew upwards of 50 people.

There is justifiable confusion as to how Wisconsin's Livestock Facility Siting Law works on the ground. Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection officials have failed to adequately explain the few benefits of the law to elected local leaders but, perhaps not surprisingly, have done a bang-up job of hammering home the law's principal effect: to strip local governments of their traditional authority to make important local land use decisions concerning livestock facilities.

Make no mistake, the Livestock Facility Siting Law has thrown open the barn doors for the coming stampede of factory farms in Wisconsin. The law makes it extraordinarily difficult for communities to say no to industrial livestock facilities or to enact local protections that are more stringent than the rather weak state standards of ATCP 51.

But while the law does not permit the complete exclusion of factory farms, it does give a local government a chance to assess the operation's plans for nutrient management and odor control, which can be valuable. The bottom line is, when it comes to protecting your community, something is better than nothing, especially considering that the DNR is unlikely to deny a permit for the new Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation. The Rosendale Town Board should pass a livestock-siting ordinance as soon as possible.

The state's agribusiness lobbyists and corporate investors would have us believe that growth and integration of the livestock industry is necessary for its survival. They paint a bleak picture of the future of animal agriculture, one that fails to recognize the benefits of a sustainable livestock industry that values community vitality as well as profit. The victims will be the residents of rural communities like Rosendale, whose property values will decline and whose health will be placed in jeopardy.

It's time for us all to untie our hands and take action.

James N. Saul serves as staff attorney for Midwest Environmental Advocates Inc. in Madison.