________________________________________________________________________Richard S. Kem
the weekend. We went into one Wisconsin town and held a public meeting, and there really
were a lot of attendees. A few people got up and said things, but not many.
I remember the Fish and Wildlife fellow, a crusty local. He didn't bring any national or
regional or state perspective; he brought the local perspective. To remind you, our district
engineer's name was John Mattina. After two hours of meeting, Colonel Mattina said, "Well,
now, is there anything else? Anybody else who wants to be heard?" The fellow stood and
said, "Colonel Martini, I'm from Fish and Wildlife, and I don't know what I think about this
project, but I want to reserve the right to say that whatever it is, when we figure it out, we'll
let you know."
So, we all smiled inwardly that we were down here at grassroots America. It was his right to
say that, and he certainly put a caveat onto the system in his own way.
Now, there are some who say that Fish and Wildlife hasn't changed to this day, that, in fact,
there is no chain, that there isn't a national perspective. Well-meaning as this fellow was, and
they all are, there isn't a national Fish and Wildlife perspective that influences them all. It
will vary here and there, and there's not a cohesive kind of thought.
Q:
At the time, did you see this controversy as anything different? As portending anything for
the future?
A:
Just to save the dunes?
Q:
The dunes, as portending the future environmental movement.
A:
No. I'm from Indiana and I've been up to the dunes area on vacations, and so I knew there
was a very valuable tract and a lot of people enjoyed the area. I tried to rationalize my
position then, but now, today, I'd probably be more adamant on the side of, "Hey, we're
talking environment here. We've got to have sustainable development. How can we save the
best of all of this stuff? Why can't we do something different?" I think my feeling at the time
was, "This is property owned by the steel mill. The steel mill has every right to do what they
want with the property." They didn't need the hearing to raze the dune. They could have
scraped the dune down from the start, and then there would have been nothing left to debate.
We were trying to talk about, "Do we proceed with the harbor?" The antimill, the "Save the
Dunes" folks, probably rightfully, saw that their only hope at stopping steel development was
to stop federal funds for a harbor development, which would make it more economically
justifiable for the steel mill to build a mill and thereby take down the dunes. If they could
stop the harbor, they could stop the steel company and save the dunes.
So, much like today in our Corps permit process, the district engineer is caught in the middle
and responsible to make important decisions. Back then, the district engineer did not have
quite the same regulatory function, but was caught in his own dilemma of trying to find a
solution that would make everybody happy.
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