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July 18, 2007
Dear Stewardship Fund supporter:
Yes, it’s true. The state Assembly voted last week to
slash Stewardship funding by nearly 60% despite almost universal
public support for this program. Under
the Assembly proposal, Funding for Stewardship would drop to just
$25 million a year starting next year – even though the program
is currently authorized at $60 million a year through 2010
And, not all of this money would go toward land conservation. The DNR would have only $9 million a year to buy new land for conservation and outdoor recreation.
Funding for matching grants to land trusts and municipalities would be cut dramatically as well; from more than $16 million to $8 million a year, undercutting our ability to leverage millions of dollars in local and private funds.
Finally, the Assembly would freeze Stewardship at $25 million a year through 2020 despite soaring land values.
Assembly’s actions would set our conservation efforts back decades at a time when land values are skyrocketing and development pressures threaten some of our last remaining wild lands. (See below for more details on the Assembly’s proposal).
What’s next?
The following lawmakers have been appointed to a Conference Committee which is responsible for reconciling the wildly different Senate and Assembly budgets:
Senator Russ Decker (D-Weston)
Representative Kitty Rhoades (R-Hudson)
Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch (R-West Salem)
Senate Majority Leader Judy Robson (D-Beloit)
Assembly Majority Leader Jeff Fitzgerald (R-Horicon)
Assembly Minority Leader Jim Kreuser (D-Kenosha)
Senate Minority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau)
Senator Bob Jauch (D-Poplar).
It will take at least three weeks for this committee to develop a compromise budget which will then go back to each house for approval.
This is a very critical time to make your voice heard.
HERE’S HOW YOU CAN HELP:
1. Contact your legislators now. Tell
them to support the Senate budget provision to extend the Stewardship program
through 2020 and increase Stewardship funding to $105 million a year.
It is especially important to contact your legislators if they are one of the members of the Conference Committee. But even if they are not, it’s important that your legislators hear from you. Ask them to pass on their support for the Stewardship Fund to legislative leaders. For your legislators’ contact information, call 1-800-362-9472 or enter your home address on the following Web site: http://waml.legis.state.wi.us/ 2. Write a letter to the editor. Click here for samples.
3. Meet with your newspaper’s editorial board. Last time the Stewardship Fund was threatened, more than 25 newspapers wrote editorials in support of the program. If you are willing to help set up or participate in a meeting with your editorial board, please let me know. We are happy to attend, but we need folks on the ground to coordinate these meetings and provide a local perspective.
4. Pass this message on to others who care about protecting Wisconsin’s special places for generations to come. Click here to sign up for our Policy Action Alerts.
What else is in the Assembly’s budget on Stewardship?
The Assembly made several additional changes to the Stewardship Fund, many of which are unnecessary or detrimental to the program. Under the Assembly’s proposal:
1) Bonding for the Stewardship Fund would be reduced by $35 million for each of the next three years. The program would continue at $25 million a year through 2020.
Background: Values for forested and open lands have soared in recent years, increasing by more than 600% since the Stewardship Program was first established. According to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, more than $228 million would be needed in 2010 to have the same purchasing power as the $23.1 million spent on Stewardship in 1990.
2) The Joint Finance Committee would have oversight over all Stewardship projects of $500,000 or more
Background: Current law requires land purchases to be approved by the Natural Resources Board and Governor.
3) All properties AND conservation easements purchased with Stewardship dollars would need to be open to hunting, fishing and trapping unless there were a public safety concern.
Background: According to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, over 90% of lands and easements – roughly 430,000 acres – purchased with Stewardship dollars are open to hunting. Those that are not include campgrounds, administrative sites, beaches and boat landings, tree nurseries, fisheries, multi-use trails, lands within municipal boundaries and sites where it is otherwise unsafe to hunt. In addition, some properties are closed to hunting to protect vulnerable natural features and to serve as refuges for wildlife.
By definition, lands that are subject to conservation easements remain in private ownership. Easements are frequently acquired to provide a specific recreational opportunity such as a stream bank easement along a trout stream or a trail easement for hiking, biking or snowmobiling. Easements may also be acquired to buffer public lands and to provide habitat for wildlife. Requiring hunting on these properties would deter private landowners from granting these kinds of easements which are clearly beneficial to the public.
4) No more than 10% of Stewardship funding could go toward purchasing properties of less than 10 acres in size.
Background: Many small parcels provide a big return to the public. For example, Stewardship dollars are used to purchase boat landings, beaches, public access along trout streams, trail segments, and parks in heavily populated areas. While the price tag for these purchases is sometimes high, they are well worth the investment. In addition, Stewardship dollars are used to purchase in-holdings in state parks and wildlife areas and to buy lands in places where ownership is fragmented like the Northern and Southern Kettle Moraine.
5) The Legislative Audit Bureau would conduct another audit of the Stewardship Program.
6) Along with the Stewardship earmarks added by the Joint Finance Committee, the Assembly budget would set aside $600,000 for the City of Antigo.
7) The DNR would be required to submit a comprehensive review of the Stewardship Program to the Legislature by January 1, 2009.
8) Make $200,000 for land management activities by the DNR one-time funding.
If you have any questions or need extra assistance,
please contact Vicki Elkin at 608-441-8819 or stewardship [at] gatheringwaters.org.
Photo provided courtesy of Bill
Pielsticker |
