Wisconsin justices weigh challenge to swap of parkland

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A conservation group asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Friday to let it challenge the state’s decision to transfer state park land to a company planning to build a golf course.

Friends of the Black River Forest contend that the Department of Natural Resources board’s 2014 decision to hand the Kohler Company a 5-acre parcel and nearly 2-acre easement within the Kohler-Andrae State Park will deprive the public from enjoying that land and harm wildlife habitat.

Kohler and the DNR want the Supreme Court to toss out the lawsuit, arguing that the conservation group lacks standing to sue because course construction hasn’t begun and until it does, no one has suffered harm. It’s unclear when the court might rule.