Denting Goliaths

When cartographers recounted Wisconsin's Past and Present in aseries ofmaps, the only civilian opposition mentioned in The Military in Wisconsin wasorganized in part by Citizens United Against Low Level Flights after the AirNational Guard proposed establishing new routes over southwest Wisconsin andeastern Iowa to train jet fighter pilots in low-level, high-speed flying.Diverse groups and individuals participated in the Guard's EnvironmentalImpact Study by writing letters citing specific problems that had already beencaused by slow, low-flying transport planes or loud military jets that wouldcause problems in the future. Most opponents were long-time residents; a fewwere pacifists. Opponents included area farmers whose dairy cows and otheranimals spent much of their time grazing in small pastures. Five hundred Amishin southwest Wisconsin signed a letter to the military objecting to the fear thatlow-flying jet planes might cause their horses and danger to the passengers inthe buggies the horses were pulling.On the night after the worst snowstorm of that winter, the first organizedpublic meeting drew hundreds of residents; it also drew aides to both ofWisconsin's U.S. Senators and our congressman. At other public meetings for more than a year, and appearances at localfestivals during the record-breaking heat of the summer, many showed up, buthardly anyone agreed with the Guard's proposal. In areas where jets might fl ylow, government officials and wildlife and political organizations passed morethan 100 resolutions of opposition, only sometimes at the urging of CUALLF.Though otherwise supportive of the military, Senators Russ Feingold andHerb Kohl had been somewhat wary of this proposal even before it was madepublic. What would it take to make their opposition more certain, and wouldthis opposition cause the Guard to withdraw the proposal?