Denting Goliaths

When cartographers recounted Wisconsin's Past and Present in a
series of
maps, the only civilian opposition mentioned in The Military in Wisconsin was
organized in part by Citizens United Against Low Level Flights after the Air
National Guard proposed establishing new routes over southwest Wisconsin and
eastern Iowa to train jet fighter pilots in low-level, high-speed flying.

Diverse groups and individuals participated in the Guard's Environmental
Impact Study by writing letters citing specific problems that had already been
caused by slow, low-flying transport planes or loud military jets that would
cause problems in the future. Most opponents were long-time residents; a few
were pacifists. Opponents included area farmers whose dairy cows and other
animals spent much of their time grazing in small pastures. Five hundred Amish
in southwest Wisconsin signed a letter to the military objecting to the fear that
low-flying jet planes might cause their horses and danger to the passengers in
the buggies the horses were pulling.

On the night after the worst snowstorm of that winter, the first organized
public meeting drew hundreds of residents; it also drew aides to both of
Wisconsin's U.S. Senators and our congressman.
At other public meetings for more than a year, and appearances at local
festivals during the record-breaking heat of the summer, many showed up, but
hardly anyone agreed with the Guard's proposal. In areas where jets might fl y
low, government officials and wildlife and political organizations passed more
than 100 resolutions of opposition, only sometimes at the urging of CUALLF.

Though otherwise supportive of the military, Senators Russ Feingold and
Herb Kohl had been somewhat wary of this proposal even before it was made
public. What would it take to make their opposition more certain, and would
this opposition cause the Guard to withdraw the proposal?