Editorials, Letters, and Articles

In 1970, the Apostle Islands were designated as a national lakeshore. Now, Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Minoqua, wants to upgrade that status to national park. “It'd be Wisconsin's first national park,” Tiffany said. “And if there's a place that is worthy of being a national park in Wisconsin, it's the Apostle Islands.”

The Apostle Islands could soon become Wisconsin's first national park, thanks to an effort by several federal lawmakers. U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany introduced a bill Tuesday that would designate the area as a national park, upgrading it from its current designation as a national lakeshore. The first hearing on the matter was held Wednesday in Washington, D.C.

Congressman Tom Tiffany introduced a bill on Tuesday that would make the Apostle Islands Wisconsin's first national park if passed. Tiffany's Apostle Islands National Park and Preserve Act would redesignate the area from a national lakeshore to a national park.

An amendment to the annual U.S. State Department spending bill that will prevent the department from spending funds to enforce restrictions on high-level bilateral U.S.-Taiwan communications was passed by voice vote in the House of Representatives on Thursday (June 27). During his floor speech that day, Representative Tom Tiffany said the amendment would prevent the enforcement of “arbitrary, self-imposed” State Department rules that restrict communication between U.S. officials and their Taiwanese counterparts. Tiffany said these guidelines are designed to prevent high-level coordination between the U.S. and Taiwan.

In the United States, Republican lawmakers have taken the lead in opposing a push to bind America to the pandemic accord, potentially without following the constitutional provisions required for the country to sign into a treaty-level agreement. In March, Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI) introduced a bill specifying that, if passed, the White House could not become a signatory to the pandemic accord without recognizing it as a treaty, which would require two-thirds of the Senate to approve.

Some of the topics brought up at the hearing were loss of access to bodies of water for fishing, land for hunting, recreation space and limited access for logging. “We got some really good information from these witnesses, who talked about how the reduction in access to our federal lands is really causing a multitude of problems, from being able to get wood out of the national forests, which is one of the primary reasons they’re there,” said Congressman WI-07, Tom Tiffany.