By George Ermert, WWA Board Member
This article originally appeared in Wisconsin Waterfowl Association’s July 2021 Newsletter edition.
Wisconsin’s sportsmen and women achieved a significant conservation victory in June when the state legislature voted to reauthorize the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program for another four years with funding at $33.25 million per year.
The Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program is Wisconsin’s conservation program to acquire public lands for outdoor recreation – including hunting and fishing. Since 1989, this program has helped protect thousands of acres for our residents to hunt, fish and recreate. Your favorite public hunting spot was likely acquired through Knowles-Nelson.
But the program was up for renewal this year, and if the Legislature and Governor did not act it would have been discontinued. That means we would have lost the ability to provide public lands for hunting, fishing and recreation.
For the last year, the Wisconsin Waterfowl Association has been working closely with a coalition of more than 70 organizations – led by Gathering Waters: Wisconsin’s Alliance for Land Trusts – to ensure this vital conservation tool would continue and future generations could continue to participate in our state’s treasured outdoor heritage.
WWA Executive Director Bruce Ross and WWA volunteers spent many hours meeting with state lawmakers from across Wisconsin to advocate for reauthorizing the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program. From in-district meetings at conserved outdoor spaces, to walking the halls of the State Capitol in Madison and many hours of Zoom calls, WWA spent significant time and energy to help advocate for this vital conservation program.
Even more impressive was the grassroots support that WWA members provided. WWA members helped generate hundreds of contacts to state lawmakers to advocate for the reauthorization of the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program.
Unfortunately, the four-year reauthorization did fall short of the long-term goal that we were seeking and are disappointed that the legislature did not include a longer-term reauthorization in their vote. However, we are pleased that the program will continue for the next four years, and we can continue to provide public lands for our state’s sportsmen and women to hunt, fish and recreate.
WWA would like to extend our appreciation to Governor Evers for his strong advocacy for continuing the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program and the many state lawmakers who worked behind the scenes to help secure reauthorization of the program. Without champions like these, we would not have the opportunity to celebrate this outcome for conservation in Wisconsin.