Judge rejects DNR permit for new Kohler Company golf course

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — An administrative law judge has invalided a key environmental permit for the Kohler Company’s new luxury golf course along Lake Michigan in Sheboygan County.

Judge Mark Kaiser issued the decision Friday, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

The Friends of the Black River Forest challenged the DNR’s decision in 2018 that the loss of nearly four acres of wetlands and shoreline forest was acceptable.

Kaiser found the DNR failed to follow state requirements for projects involving wetland loss, Kohler’s steps to mitigate the loss weren’t adequate and the DNR lacked enough information on hydrology and pesticides to grant the permit.

Kohler spokesman Dirk Willis says the company will appeal.

The course’s opponents maintain that former Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s administration pressured the DNR to approve the project.