Title: DuWayne Johnsrud Legislative Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1988-2003

Creator:

• Johnsrud, DuWayne, 1943-

Call Number: La Crosse Mss DB; PH 6427

Quantity: 8.0 cubic feet (20 archives boxes) and 18 photographs (1 folder)

Repository:

Housed at the Special Collections & Area Research Center, Murphy Library, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

UW-La Crosse Murphy Library / La Crosse Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

Abstract:

Papers of Johnsrud, a Republican Wisconsin State Assemblyman from the 96th district from 1984 to 2004. Most of the papers stem from his work on the Natural Resources Committee and consist of drafts of bills and amendments, reference materials, press releases and news clippings, and correspondence. The files particularly concern water quality, land use, hunting and fishing regulations, and controlling health care costs. Specific legislation documented includes mandating double hulled barges on the upper Mississippi river, limiting non-point source pollution of rivers and streams, regulating the use of septic tanks, restricting nude bathing at the Mazomanie beach, lowering blood-alcohol and speed limits on snowmobiles, regulating the Petroleum Environmental Cleanup Fund Act (PECFA), protecting wetland, managing the state's deer herd, the prohibition of deer baiting, permitting dove hunting, increasing hunting opportunities for people with disabilities, and making the Wisconsin Constitution gender neutral.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: https://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-lx00db

DuWayne Johnsrud was born on September 4, 1943 in Boscobel, Wisconsin to Gordon and Louise Johnsrud. He served in the U.S. Army Reserve from 1963 to 1970. He received his BS degree in 1970 from the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse and owns a dairy farm in Eastman, Wisconsin. Before being elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1984, he was a member of the Crawford County Board of Supervisors and the Eastman and Prairie du Chien school boards. While in the Assembly he held the following biennial committee assignments:

2003	Natural Resources (chairperson 1995-2004)
2003	Public health (vice chairperson, member 2001)
2003	Health (1985-2004)
2003	Rural Affairs
2001	Environment (vice chairperson, also 1999, member 1997)
2001	Low-Level Radioactive Waste Council (1995-2004)
1999	Conservation and Land use
1997	Consumer Affairs (vice chairperson, member 1993)
1997	Utilities Oversight (vice chairperson)
1997	Legislative Council Committee on Conservation Laws Enforcement
1995	Urban and Local Affairs (member 1987-2004)
1995	State-Federal Relations
1995	Legislative Advisory Committee to the Minnesota-Wisconsin Area Boundary Commission (1989-2004)
1995	Legislative Council Committee on the Recodification of Fish and Game Laws (chairperson)
1993	Legislative Council Committee on Electronic Benefit Transfer Systems
1991	Children and Human Services (1985-2004)
1991	Rural Affairs
1991	Special Committee on Reform of Health Insurance
1991	Legislative Council Committee on Genetic and Medical Information

DuWayne Johnsrud's politics often reflected those of his rural constituents. He was a Republican who supported the rights of hunters and gun owners, and opposed the interference of government on the lives of the people. His conservative social values are evident in such efforts as to have nude bathing at the Mazomanie beach declared “obscene and indecent;” however, he was also the only Republican who voted against the anti-gay Sanctity of Marriage bill. He has described himself as a moderate and a progressive and often went against the leaders of his party. While a practicing Catholic, he supported stem-cell research and criticized the Bishop who said that politicians who voted against Catholic doctrine should be refused the sacraments. He worked, unsuccessfully, with then assemblywoman Tammy Baldwin to make the Wisconsin Constitution “gender neutral.” He fought to end mandatory overtime for workers in the health care industry, most of whom are women. He also had a reputation as a tireless fighter for the interests of his constituents.

His most significant contributions came from his role as the chairperson of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee from 1993 to 2004. It is evident from reading his papers that Johnsrud considered himself to be an environmentalist, and that his positions were shaped by his contact with the natural world as a farmer and hunter. Consequently, his greatest efforts were in the areas of land use, water pollution, and wildlife preservation. He worked to protect rivers by limiting non-point source pollution, introducing legislation to mandate double hulls on all Mississippi river barges.

As an avid hunter he worked to protect the environment and opposed practices such as attracting deer to a spot by spreading food as bait. He considered this practice to be antithetical to good sportsmanship and contributing to the spread of diseases among the state's deer herd. He worked to extend the rights of people with disabilities to hunt using crossbows and laser sights, but also supported the rights of property owners to keep hunters from trespassing on their land without permission.

He attracted the greatest amount of attention in his career when he proposed legislation that would legalize hunting of mourning doves, which had been designated as the official state bird of peace a few years earlier. He even invited several journalists to a dove dinner. “It really does taste like chicken,” one of them quipped afterwards.

While DuWayne Johnsrud may not have been the most powerful or influential member of the state legislature, he was certainly one of the most colorful. He enjoyed a cordial relationship with the press, was always willing to give interviews, and could be counted on to provide a quotable remark. Once when asked to comment on efforts to protect rattlesnakes he said, “We've been working very hard to make them extinct.” Because of this warm relationship, everything he did was widely reported in the press. He stated that his budget did not permit him to send frequent letters to his constituents, so he used the press to communicate to the people in his district. The extensive collection of press clippings gives a complete documentation of his political activities.

The large percentage of constituent mail in this collection demonstrates that no legislation is created in a vacuum. Johnsrud's activities served as a lightning rod for all shades of public opinion. Many letters begin with a long description of the writer's situation and how that person thinks the legislation in question will change his life. One letter written in response to his bill to legalize dove hunting said, “I am a Catholic nun and to me hunting a dove would be like shooting a gun at the Holy Spirit.”

Newspaper stories written at the time of his retirement spoke of his disagreements with the leadership of the Wisconsin Republican Party. He is quoted as complaining that the party had been hijacked by right-wing ideologues and that he could not support their agenda, which he described in typical fashion as “Bovine Crapola.” He took several positions that were at variance with that of the party leadership, such as voting against the Defense of Marriage amendment. None of these conflicts are documented in the collection.

The collection contains records mostly from the last few years of DuWayne Johnsrud's career in the Wisconsin State Assembly and are arranged as a single alphabetical series of subject files. Although he was first elected in 1984, most of the documents are from 1995-2003 with the earliest dating from 1988. The documents within these files can be classified in four broad areas:

• Legislative paper such as bills and amendments, many of which have his handwritten notes on them.
• Background information for bills such as articles and reports supplied by government agencies like the Department of Natural Resources, lobbyists, and correspondents as well as transcripts of testimony by witnesses at committee hearings.
• Press releases and newspaper clippings. Sometimes these are printed off the Internet or photocopied by a clipping service.
• Communications from the public and other legislators.

The great majority of the documents in this collection come out of Johnsrud's tenure as chair of the Natural Resources Committee. One of the functions of this committee is to oversee the work of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). This work is reflected in papers concerning the potential reorganization of the DNR into two departments (natural resources and forestry management), boat registration and licensing, funding more positions for game wardens, and the DNR Disabled Advisory Council.

Johnsrud's great interest in hunting issues is obvious from the number of documents in the collection regarding this issue. His most widely publicized legislation was a bill to allow the hunting of mourning doves. This generated hundreds of letters and numerous editorials and articles in the press, most of which passionately opposed it. He was also involved in efforts to control the size of the deer herd in the state. Several papers relate to the Deer 2000 management program. He introduced legislation to prohibit the practice of putting out piles of corn and apples and then shooting the deer as they came to eat this bait. Other hunting related issues covered in this collection are laws regarding trespassing by hunters on private land, clamming on the Mississippi river, and keeping captured wild animals.

Many papers in this collection reflect his great interest in other environmental issues. He sponsored legislation to protect the state's rivers and groundwater by restricting non-point source pollution, mandating double hulls for barges on the Mississippi river, the Petroleum Environmental Cleanup Fund Act (PECFA) for cleaning up underground gasoline tanks, and the Department of Commerce Rule 83 (DCOMM-83) regulating septic systems.

His work on other issues is evident in papers regarding wetlands conservation, comprehensive planning model ordinances, the classification of state forest lands for different uses, the incidental taking of endangered species in state-sponsored construction projects, and mandating stricter speed and blood alcohol limits for people using snowmobiles. The collection also includes records of his work as a member of the Governor's Blue Ribbon Task Force on Stewardship. Another issue that generated a large amount of material was his proposal to prohibit nude bathing at the Mazomanie Beach.

Several bills aimed at reducing the cost of health care come out of his work on the health committee. One of these measures was a bill to declare a moratorium on the construction of all hospitals in the state as a way of reducing unnecessary expenditures on empty hospital space. Other citizen advocacy measures evident in these papers concern making the Wisconsin constitution gender neutral, opposing public funding for the convention center in Madison (although he did support public funding for the new Brewers' baseball stadium in Milwaukee), prohibiting the State Highway Patrol from having monthly quotas for traffic citations, and allowing citizens to carry concealed weapons.

Johnsrud's active role in promoting the interests of his home district can be seen in documents concerning the status of the juvenile detention facility in Prairie du Chien, mediating a dispute concerning the construction of a barge terminal at Prairie du Chien to preserve an endangered species of clams, the development of the Kickapoo River Valley project after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had abandoned plans to construct a dam on that river, helping the small town of Sextonville, Wisconsin finance a major sewer project, and the construction of a severe weather emergency warning system for southwest Wisconsin.

Acquisition Information

Presented by DuWayne Johnsrud, Madison, Wis., 2004.

Processing Information

Processed by John A. Loud (Practicum Student), May 2005.

La Crosse Mss DB Box   1 Folder   1	Air Pollution Construction Permit Fees: CR 98-162, 1999
Box   1 Folder   2	Battle Island, Flood Plain Zoning Dispute: 1998
Box   1 Folder   3	Boating Letter, 2000
Box   1 Folder   4	Bovine Growth Hormones in Milk: AB 568, 1993
Box   1 Folder   5	Canoe Registration: AB 426, 1998
Box   1 Folder   6	Captive Wildlife: AB 694, 2000
Box   1 Folder   7	Cheese Curd Refrigeration, 1996
Box   1 Folder   8	Cheese Exchange, 1997
Box   1 Folder   9	Clamming Restrictions on Mississippi River: CR97-121, 1990
Box   2 Folder   1	Coggins Testing for Equine Infectious Anemia, 1994
Box   2 Folder   2	Coggins Testing Petitions, 1994
Box   2 Folder   3	Community Based Rehabilitation Facility: HSS 83 , 1996
Box   2 Folder   4-7	Comprehensive Planning Model Ordinances, 2001
Box   2 Folder   8	Concealed Weapons Permits, 1996
Box   3 Folder   1-2	Conservation Laws Enforcement, 1998
Box   3 Folder   3	Coulee Region Organic Produce Pool (CROPP): , 1999
Box   3 Folder   4-6	Deer 2000 Management Plan, 2002
Box   4 Folder   1	Deer Baiting AB 225, 1999
Box   4 Folder   2	Letters after Hearing
Box   4 Folder   3	Letters Opposing
Box   4 Folder   4	Letters Supporting
Box   4 Folder   5	Testimony
PH 6427	Deer Baiting Photographs, 1999
La Crosse Mss DB Box   4 Folder   6	Deer Hunting Special Season, 1996
Box   4 Folder   7	Department of Commerce Rule 83, 1999
Box   5 Folder   1-6	Department of Commerce Rule 83, 1999, continued
Box   6 Folder   1-2	Environmental Impact Statement
Box   6 Folder   3	Manuals
Box   6 Folder   4	Press
Box   6 Folder   5	Rules
Box   6 Folder   6-7	Department of Natural Resources Division, 2001
Box   7 Folder   1	Department of Natural Resources Division, continued
Box   7 Folder   2-3	Disabled Advisory Council, 1994
Box   7 Folder   4	Meeting Summaries, 1986-1997
Box   7 Folder   5	Minutes, 1986-1997
Box   7 Folder   6	Double Hulled Barges: AB 495, 1995
Box   8 Folder   1-3	Double Hulled Barges: AB 495, continued
	Dove Hunting, 2000
Box   8 Folder   4	June 21 Hearing
Box   8 Folder   5	Letters After Hearing
Box   8 Folder   6	Letters from District 96
Box   9 Folder   1-3	Letters Opposing
Box   9 Folder   4	Letters Supporting
Box   9 Folder   5	Petitions
Box   9 Folder   6	Press
Box   9 Folder   7-8	Electric Utility Restructuring, 1995
Box   10 Folder   1	Gender Neutrality in the Wisconsin Constitution, 1994
Box   10 Folder   2-4	Health Care Costs, 2002
Box   10 Folder   5	Health Insurance Risk Sharing Program, 2002
Box   10 Folder   6	Hillsboro Lake Project, 1989
Box   10 Folder   7	Historic Sites: AB 159, 1995
Box   11 Folder   1	Hospital Moratorium, 2002
Box   11 Folder   2-3	Hospital Rates, Increases 2002
Box   11 Folder   4-5	Incidental Taking of Endangered Species: AB 585, 1995
Box   11 Folder   6-7	Kickapoo River Valley Project: AB 1192, 1994
Box   12 Folder   1-2	Kickapoo River Valley Project: AB 1192, continued
Box   12 Folder   3	Lake Superior Trout Fishers' Buyout: CHR 96-098, 1996
Box   12 Folder   4-7	Land Use Bills, 1995
Box   12 Folder   8	Madison Convention Center Funding, 1994
Box   13 Folder   1	Master Plan Land Classification, 1996
	Mazomanie Beach: AB 560, 1999
Box   13 Folder   2	Department of Natural Resources Comments
Box   13 Folder   3	Hearings Bill
Box   13 Folder   4	Press
Box   13 Folder   5	Public Comments
Box   13 Folder   6	Websites
Box   13 Folder   7	Milwaukee Brewers' Stadium, 1992
Box   13 Folder   8-9	Milwaukee Brewers' Stadium, 1995
Box   14 Folder   1-4	Mississippi River Spill Information, 1989
Box   14 Folder   5	Natural Resources and Commerce Working Group, 2002
Box   14 Folder   6-8	Non-point Source Pollution Rules, 2002
Box   15 Folder   1-4	Petroleum Environmental Cleanup Fund Act, 1998
Box   15 Folder   5-6	Prairie du Chien Correctional Facility, 1998
Box   16 Folder   1-2	Prairie du Chien Correctional Facility, continued
Box   16 Folder   3	Prairie du Chien: Dousman House Renovation: AB 517, 1990
Box   16 Folder   4	Prairie du Chien Harbor, 1991
Box   16 Folder   5	Prairie du Chien: Miscellaneous Local Issues, 1988-1999
Box   16 Folder   6	Reaction to Duwayne Johnsrud's comments about dentists, 1995
Box   16 Folder   7	Sales Tax Reduction, 1988
Box   16 Folder   8	Sextonville Sewer Project, 1995
Box   17 Folder   1-2	Snowmobile Regulations: AB 886, 1999
Box   17 Folder   3	Social Security Numbers for Hunting Permits: AB 133, 1999
Box   17 Folder   4	Stadium vs. Convention Center Costs, 1996
Box   17 Folder   5-7	State Forest Management: AB 575, 1995
Box   18 Folder   1-5	Stewardship Task Force, 1997-1999
Box   18 Folder   6	Traffic Citation Quotas, 1999
Box   18 Folder   7	Trauma Care: AB 638, 1997
Box   19 Folder   1	Trauma Care: AB 638, continued
Box   19 Folder   2	Trespassing: AB 243, 1991
Box   19 Folder   3	Trespassing: AB 13, 1995
Box   19 Folder   4	Warden Staffing, 1999
Box   19 Folder   5	Weather Towers for Southwest Wisconsin, 1997
Box   19 Folder   6	Wetlands Protection: LRB 2921, 2001
Box   20 Folder   1-3	Wetlands Protection: LRB 2921, continued
Box   20 Folder   4-6	Wisconsin Independent Business, 1991