City of Bayfield

The City of Bayfield, WI, population 487, is pleased to be a pilot member of the Green Tier Legacy Communities program. This is an opportunity for us to voluntarily participate in a state-wide program to achieve environmental performance. We envision working cooperatively to develop and exchange ideas to reduce greenhouse gas, reduce energy usage, promote alternative transportation, increases in local food consumption, and encouragement for local business development.

The City of Bayfield has a history of engaging sustainability practices on a variety of levels. This has helped us protect Lake Superior, gives great PR for our businesses, provides pride and enthusiasm for city staff and residents, encourages leverage of funding sources, and establishes a platform for additional projects.

The City of Bayfield believes in leading by example which we feel benefits us and other nearby communities. We also have received tremendous input and positive reactions from our residents. The entire Chequamegon Bay region is strongly supportive of environmental performance as evidenced by our Alliance for Sustainability, first formed in 1994. Membership includes the cities of Ashland, Bayfield & Washburn; Ashland & Bayfield Counties; the Towns of LaPointe and Bayfield; and both the Red Cliff and Bad River Ojibway Tribal Governments.

2008 was our initial “Clean It Green It” project. We provided each household in the City with a bag of green cleaning supplies, a CFL, a bus pass, and a green cleaning recipe book. We also provided residents with a $250 mini grant opportunity for a green project for their residence. This was an unbelievable success! We had 100% positive response which encouraged us to continue with an annual “Clean It Green It” program.

Our “Clean It Green It” project for 2011 is based on informing our residents and visitors on the importance of water conservation. Educational information will be available online, at City Hall, and at our library. We will also provide residents with $200 mini grants to do a home based water project and will offer businesses with $400 mini grants to do water based improvements. The budget for 2011 “Clean It Green It” is $17,500 which includes $5,000 we received when we were given the Wege Award in 2010.

Our “Clean It Green It” budget for 2013 and 2014 is $12,500 per year. We are doing a historical brick reconstruction of 3 streets in our downtown and are including 9 blocks of historic street lighting. The “Clean It Green It” funding will allow us to have LED lights in the new fixtures, which would have been above our budget for the project. The brick streets will provide over one half-acre of permeable surface, which will slow down storm water runoff to Lake Superior.

Written by City of Bayfield representatives.

For more information, visit the City of Bayfield’s website.