Overview

Protecting Paradise takes the reader through the saga of how the US Army Corps of Engineers removed 149 families from their property in southwest Wisconsin to construct a dam on the Kickapoo River-a dam that was ultimately never completed-and how this failed project evolved into a model for cross-cultural, multi-institutional, grassroots ecological protection and low-impact recreation, through an innovative agreement with the Ho-Chunk Nation. From the author's perspective over more than two decades as the founding Director, readers are taken through the journey of how this innovative, inspiring, and controversial place came to be: from the influence of the national environmental movement, scientific modeling of the proposed dam and lake, local-scale grassroots activism, and a unique Memorandum of Understanding between a State and Sovereign Nation. Marcy West served as the Executive Director for the Kickapoo Reserve Management Board (KRMB) in the formative years of 1996-2021. In Protecting Paradise, she takes the reader on a tour of the 8,600 acres she came to know and love as it evolved through federal government ownership for a proposed dam and constructed lake to the unique arrangement with the State of Wisconsin and Ho-Chunk Nation to own and jointly manage the public property through the KRMB.

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9781955656832

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When a catastrophic environmental engineering plan went terribly awry in the Kickapoo Valley, local communities stepped up to unite, find common cause, and create a new environmental opportunity. Marcy West is a thoughtful witness to this wonderful transformation, and her account is a master lesson in coaxing a garden out of a wreck. This is ""must"" reading: funny, poignant, and inspirational. - Paul Robbins, Dean, Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison A fascinating tale of how a vital natural area was saved through foresight, cussedness, fortunate timing, and finally, a level of cooperation as rare as the place itself. Those who treasure the Kickapoo Valley Reserve will marvel at West's portrayal of how it came to be. Those aiming to protect wild lands will find inspiration and guidance in these pages. - Tamara Dean, author of Shelter and Storm: At Home in the Driftless

Author Information

Marcy West served as the Executive Director for the Kickapoo Reserve Management Board (KRMB) from 1996-2021. Born and raised in Wisconsin she has had a lifelong appreciation for environmental issues. Earning a degree in Natural Resource Management through the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, her career always involved protecting the resources and allowed her to never stop exploring the rivers, lakes and forests. She and her husband reside in the Kickapoo Valley and manage their own piece of paradise for pollinators, wildlife and solitude.

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