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on land and water use. Agriculture is now a $6 billion per year industry in Brown County. While cropland has been reduced from 300,000 acres in 1954 to 160,000 acres, livestock numbers have risen to new levels. "Do we have enough land to feed our livestock?" asks Hafs, who is treasurer of the NEW Wilderness Alliance. "What if we had drought?" The agriculture section was cochaired by Kenn Buelow, partner in Holsum Dairies, LLC of Hilbert. "We had a variety of people representing different aspects of agriculture – grazing, large dairy, crop production and sediment run-off," says Buelow. "We've already had a follow-up phone conference to gather and review data for decision-makers. Facilitating phosphorus management may be our biggest bang for the buck." Buelow believes the group's work will be complementary to what Brown County is already doing on agricultural issues. George Kerwin, president and CEO of Bellin Health, co-chaired the public health break-out discussions. "People in traditional health care are beginning to understand that health is determined by a number of dimensions – one of which is climate and the environment," says Kerwin. He said there was mutual interest in environmental and health issues among participants. Kerwin expects that some of the people in his subgroup will continue to work together to figure out ways to address environmental issues. Bay Beach – the actual body of water, not the amusement park – is a classic example of the need for change. Though its history as a beach resort dates back to 1892, the beach area itself has been closed for swimming since 1933 due to pollution from raw sewage, oil slicks and waste from canning factories, cheese factories and paper mills. And now the alliance poses the question: "What if Bay Beach were really a beach again?" The Bay-Lake Regional Planning w w w. i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m Commission, along with the NEW Wilderness Alliance and the City of Green Bay, recently was awarded a $70,000 U.S. EPA Urban Waters Grant to monitor the water quality at Bay Beach over a two-year period. That will help identify sources of pollution and develop a restoration action plan. "People seemed interested in making a difference," Linzmeyer said. "We know we can't keep doing things on the web » EW Wilderness Alliance: N www.newwildernessalliance.org » akeshore Natural Resource Partnership: L www.lnrp.org the same way and expect different results. If we do this right, the aesthetic, health and financial impact could be incredible." Give your marketing a spicy kick. Go beyond the ordinary www.goelement.com New media options from Element are the perfect accent to your traditional marketing. Whether you want to go wild or mild, we'll cook up a complex and tasteful recipe to boost your bottom-line. EC03-0412_Element_Salsa_Insight_FINAL.indd 1 | D e c e m b e r 2 012 • 6/11/12 11:24 AM Insight 43