A robust local coalition has saved the Ag Station from the University's chopping block and brought it back to the Counties. The Ashland and Bayfield County Boards must now either choose to revitalize the Ag Station in support of our community or sell it and abandon our farmers, loggers, and local economy. A plan has been created to keep the Ag Station an ag station that will not rely on county funding.
A meeting to learn more about and discuss the plan will be held on April 11 at 6:30 p.m. at the Ag Station. If we want our way of life to continue we need a research station in our community. We need profitable agriculture for our farmers and our farmer's kids and grandkids, we need healthy and productive forests for our loggers and hunters, we need healthy and clean rivers and lakes for fishing and recreation, and we need a diverse and vibrant local economy to create jobs.
In August of 2005, the University of Wisconsin formally announced its plans to close and sell the Ashland Agricultural Research Station to the highest bidder. At two public hearings attended by over 120 people, citizens spoke passionately about the need for a research station in our community dedicated to supporting agriculture, forestry, and economic development. In response to the outcry, the University told the audience that if our community could come up with a plan to revitalize the Ag Station and would cost the University nothing they would not sell the property.
Over the last eight months a robust local coalition composed of elected officials, farmers, private business, government agencies, and citizens has been working diligently to craft such a plan (which is available for review at www.bayfieldcountyedc.com). The plan was presented to University officials at a meeting in early-November. The plan proposes creating the Fields, Waters, and Woods Bio-based Economic Development Research Center at the Ag Station.
The Center would be run by our community and would be dedicated to supporting agriculture, forestry, and economic development through research, demonstration, outreach, and business support. The Center is modeled after research stations in Iowa that are run and owned by locally controlled associations. After follow-up negotiations, the University announced at Superior Days they would transfer the land back to Ashland and Bayfield Counties in support of ongoing work to revitalize the research station.
This announcement by the University is a very positive development for our community and is due to the hard work by the local coalition, Sen. Jauch and Rep. Sherman. Without their work the University likely would have sold the Ag Station by now.
With the transfer back to the counties, the Ashland and Bayfield County Boards are now faced with the very same decision faced by the University: should they sell the property to the highest bidder or continue the work toward revitalizing the Ag Station in support of agriculture, forestry, and economic development?
It is, understandably, not an easy decision. It is very tempting and very easy for the counties to sell the valuable land for development and put it on the tax rolls. However, for the counties to sell the property at this point is to essentially pull the rug out from under all the work that has occurred over the last eight months and to tell those that attended the hearings in August that their opinions don't matter. Furthermore, doing so will abandon a key resource in making sure agriculture, forestry, and recreation are a key component of our kids' future.
The counties can always sell the property in the future, but once sold it can never again be a research station dedicated to supporting our farmers and our community. Development is certainly an important part of our community and nobody working on the plan to revitalize the ag station is against development. Rather, an agricultural research station is an important part of a community with a natural resource based economy. If the Ag Station is sold there will never be an ag station in our community again.
The plan to revitalize the Ag Station into the Biobased Economic Development Research Center is a synthesis of the knowledge, interest, and expertise of our community and is dedicated solely to improving the profitability of our farms, the diversity of our economy, the health of our lakes and rivers, and the food and energy independence of our community. It positions our community as a leader in the emerging biobased economy. Furthermore, the plan was developed based on input from an open, rigorous and ongoing public input process.
Of concern to everyone, especially the coalition, is the cost of the Ag Station and the proposed Center to the counties and the taxpayers. Key to the Center is economic viability. Much like the University, the counties are strapped for cash. The Center will not survive if it depends upon county money and, thus, the coalition has been working hard to make sure the Center is not a county-funded facility. The Center will be self-supporting as well as attract money from outside the region. Having private businesses located at the Center is a key component of its economic viability.
The mission of the center is to help find new uses for our natural resources and help businesses and farmers profit from them. We have all heard about biofuels such as ethanol, or biomass, or bioindustrials. We have also all heard about the importance of energy and food security. The Biobased Economic Development Research Center will help bring these things to our community and make sure our farmers, loggers, and business community prosper.
The proposed Center is the product of many, many meetings with folks from all walks of life and occupations. The list includes politicians, resource professionals, businessmen and women, loggers, foresters, dairymen, grazers, fruit growers, vegetable growers, economic development professionals, city and county administrators, University Extension employees. If you feel that your ideas and opinions have not been heard...join your fellow citizens and start helping revitalize your research station!
If the community wants the Ag Station to stay a research station (which the outcry at the meetings in August suggests it does), than the work of our community to revitalize the Ag Station should proceed without delay. Let your elected officials know that you want a research station dedicated to meeting the needs of our community. Also, please join your fellow citizens in helping revitalize your agricultural research station. There will be a meeting on April 11 at 6:30 at the Ag Station. Come hear more about the plans to revitalize the station, provide feedback, and help revitalize your Ag Station.Ashland Daily Press
