ECOLOGY
The information under the “North Lake” tab can best be explained by the exhibits on the right hand side of this page. In Exhibit A you can see the overview of where the Kraus Site is in relationship to the surrounding property.
In Exhibit A, the area surrounded with a black line is the Kraus Site, purchased by the DNR in 2005. The white broken line is where they plan to build a 2000 foot long access road from Western Reddelien Road to the Kraus Site. To build this road they must cut down nearly 600 mature trees and clear cut the ground. They must then expand a narrow forest path into an asphalted two way highway. If that weren't bad enough, they must in addition disturb a very large area of navigable wetlands. We will get to the parking lot and launch when we speak of the next exhibit.
On Exhibit A, Lower Reddelien Road runs to the East of the proposed access highway from Becks Road North to the Hanson property. The Hanson property is surrounded with a green line. Over 100 acres of farm land lie to the West and Northwest of the access road. As we will see, the farm land nutrients now flow into the wetlands and are filtered by the navigable wetlands the DNR plans to destroy.
In Exhibit E on the right, we can see the true size of the wetlands that will be affected by the DNR’s planned development of the Kraus Site. The area in blue is derived from official maps of the DNR. One can see that the asphalted access highway they must build will in fact go over the Hanson property. Mr. Hanson has already litigated the issue of crossing his property and lost, which is the fate of most citizens who have the temerity to oppose the DNR.
The yellow area to the Northeast on Exhibit E is the approximate location of the DNR's proposed parking lot, which will be the size of a football field and will cover a large area of marshland which is often navigable. Because it is below the ordinary high water mark of North Lake it is also part of North Lake. The large orange area on Exibhit E in fact represents a large grove of trees which contains some of the navigable marshland. To emphasize the point, in Spring and during rainy weather the marshland is in fact navigable and we have evidence of this fact.
The yellow area where the parking lot will be located is like a cork in the wetlands. It is at exactly the point where the wetlands empty into North Lake. Placing their parking lot there, the DNR will cork up the navigable wetlands and force water to flow over Lower Reddelien Road during the Spring and periods of heavy rain.
Exhibit F, located at the lower right of this page, contains a drawing of the proposed parking lot and was drawn to scale by an environmental engineer. His drawing has been superimposed on an aerial view of the North end of Lower Reddelien Road. As we said, the proposed parking lot is as large as a football field and will be elevated several feet above the surrounding navigable wetlands.
Looking at Exhibit F you can also see Fritz Hanson's home to the South of the proposed parking lot and you can also see the Peters' home immediately to the North of the proposed parking lot. In other words, Exhibit F shows just how the DNR launch site will in fact have to be “shoehorned” into a residential neighborhood.
Exhibit G at the lower right of this page is based on one of our expert’s reports. The expert, Professor Neal O'Reilly, was employed by the DNR for 16 years. Exhibit G shows the flow patterns from the adjacent farm fields into the navigable wetlands and then how the wetlands empty into North Lake via the area where the DNR plans to build their parking lot between the Hanson and Peters residences.