Welcome to the Capital Area Regional Planning Commission's bi-weekly roundup of news, trends, and events. To see previous editions of this newsletter,  click here.
In This Edition
  • News from around the region
  • A Greater Madison Vision Launches Scenario Survey September 12th
  • Crops Under Water? Consider the Conservation Reserve Program
  • Register Now: 2018 Dane County Housing Summit
News From Around the Region
Stay up to date with our roundup of planning and development news around the region. 

A Greater Madison Vision Launches Scenario Survey September 12th
Leaders within the region including business, government and the nonprofit sector are calling for the public’s input on regional planning. Dane County residents and visitors can take the 10-minute online survey to share their views on how the region should grow and develop.

The online survey shows four alternative futures dealing with housing, jobs, transportation, roads, rural preservation, water and the environment. Residents can choose from alternative futures focusing on innovation, conservation, community and self-reliance and provide their opinion on how the region should grow.

Anyone high school age or older who lives, works, or spends time in Dane County is encouraged to take the survey available at Greatermadisonvision.com
The survey launches on Wednesday, September 12 , with launch events happening all day throughout the county, as detailed below. Launch events are open to the public. 
Crops Under Water? Consider the Conservation Reserve Program
Farmers whose corn or soybeans are standing in water after the heavy rains in southern Wisconsin might think about enrolling those lands in the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP), says Brian Loeffelholz, who coordinates the program for the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. It’s one component of the federal Conservation Reserve Program, or CRP. The CREP program offers both state and federal financial incentives to landowners who install conservation practices along waterways, or return continually flooded fields or pastures to wetlands.

“When we visited some CREP sites in the flooded parts of the state the next day, the value of the program was very clear,” he said. “On one side of the road, corn would be submerged in water, nutrients were likely running off, and reduced yields or complete crop loss looked inevitable. On the other side, CREP lands were doing their job, absorbing and retaining water and keeping the soil and nutrients where they belonged.”
Register Now: 2018 Dane County Housing Summit
When
Thursday, October 25th, 2018 from 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM CDT

Where
Alliant Energy Center
The 2018 Dane County Housing Summit is excited to feature Dane County Communities including Oregon, Sun Prairie, Mt. Horeb, DeForest, Fitchburg and Madison. Communities will discuss their initiatives, specific projects, what’s working and what they have learned in their effort to expand workforce and affordable housing for their residents, employers and workers.  
Events

Next RPC Commission meeting
September 13th, 2018 @ 6:15pm
City County Building Rm 351
210 Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard
Madison WI, 53703