Seventh Circuit Reverses Order Blocking Power Line Land Exchange

The Seventh Circuit has blocked a district court judge’s move to halt a federal land exchange that would allow a high-voltage electric transmission line to cross a wildlife refuge along the Mississippi River.

The ruling issued on Thursday is a victory for the Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission project, a 102-mile line planned to run from Dubuque, Iowa, to southwestern Wisconsin, and connect about 160 renewable energy projects in the Midwest.

Part of the line runs through the protected Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, which traces 261 miles of the country’s largest river. The US Fish and Wildlife Service ...