April 30, 2026
VIROQUA Wis. – The effort to preserve 40 acres of cherished public recreation land in Viroqua has reached the 11th hour as city officials and outdoor advocates scramble to negotiate a deal for the Veterans of Foreign Wars property. The renewed sense of urgency comes after the local VFW post officially listed the property for sale on the commercial real estate market late last month for $760,000 dollars.
The land sits on the south side of the city and is currently home to the highly rated Veteran Hills disc golf course along with groomed hiking and winter fat biking trails. To keep negotiations alive the Viroqua Common Council led by newly elected Mayor Krista Browne met in a closed session on Tuesday April 28 to discuss purchasing the property.
While the exact details of the closed door discussions remain undisclosed, the city and the non-profit organization Vernon Trails have spent months trying several different avenues to find a solution that satisfies the financial needs of the VFW while keeping the land public.
While to exact numbers and details have not been released, several people with knowledge of those negotiations stated the offers to purchase were based on Vernon Trails contributing the majority of the cash and the city contributing a smaller portion. There were also at least two offers to lease the property as a short term solution for anywhere from two to five years with various contingencies, and those offers were also rejected.
Vernon Trails recently issued a public statement expressing both deep gratitude for their past access to the land and sincere sorrow over the potential sale. The organization outlined the substantial investment they have made since signing their original agreement with the veterans in 2013. Through grassroots fundraising and business sponsorships Vernon Trails has poured more than $100,000 dollars into the property while volunteers have contributed thousands of hours to build and maintain the course and trails.
Vernon Trails Volunteer Director Alycann Taylor emphasized the incredible community effort required to make the space a destination.
“We owe an immense debt of gratitude to our volunteers business sponsors and donors whose dedication made this space what it is today,” said Taylor. “The creation and ongoing care of this property has required thousands of hours of volunteer effort.”
Taylor added that the organization remains hopeful that a compromise can still be reached to help the veterans financially and preserve the space.
“While we understood we could not compete with the highest bidder we remained hopeful that a solution could be found,” said Taylor. “Even now we remain hopeful that a path forward can still be found that honors both the needs of the VFW and the value this land holds for the community.”
The listing of the property follows a breakdown of previous proposals to keep the land in public hands. During a January city council meeting VFW representative Keith Yahn told officials that the aging local board members were concerned about the future of their charter. He explained that if the local post dissolved due to financial hardship the property would revert to the state or national VFW organization leaving the local community with nothing.
At that time the VFW board had already rejected a purchase offer from Vernon Trails and the city as well as a private development offer. Yahn proposed a $1,600 dollar monthly lease to the city to help the veterans pay for a new parking lot and kitchen updates. Subsequent lease negotiations eventually broke down leading the VFW to put the 42 acre parcel on the open market.
Despite the property being listed for sale Mayor Browne hopes to forge a public private partnership to save the green space from becoming a gated community and prevent further rural gentrification. In a recent phone interview Browne detailed her vision for the land noting that its location near existing city property Prairie Wind Park and a highway underpass makes it an ideal anchor for the community. She suggested the site could become a major trailhead, an outfitter hub, or even a location for veterans housing to help address local needs of unhoused veterans.
Browne said she wants to see the community rally around the veterans who served the country rather than allowing the land to fall to private developers.
“I want to see us come up with a better long-term solution than just having more private entities that have to have agreements,” said Browne. “It would be better in my opinion to create a private public partnership that builds an anchor for our community and shows a time when people who have given service to our country are in need of help but we rally around them.”
Browne acknowledged the intense pressure the VFW board is under to generate revenue and save their charter. She issued a call to action for anyone with capital or non-profit experience to come to City Hall so the community can collectively turn the crisis into a shared asset.
“We need to ask and inspire our residents especially those who are feeling a lot of emotion about this to come to the table,” said Browne. “I want to uphold what I promised in the campaign which is that if people have projects, ideas, problems, observations, needs, and they do not know what to do with them, I hope they come to City Hall.”
Browne said she did get permission from the council to continue efforts to reach a solution and she said she has been in communication with VFW leadership in an effort to find a path forward that all stakeholders can agree to.
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