Fifty-eight conservation organizations, land trusts, outdoor associations, and community government agencies signed-on to a letter showing support for the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program.
The Stewardship Program has helped Wisconsin protect and manage some of the state’s iconic public parks and some of the hidden natural gems that provide both ecological and recreational benefit to the people who live, work, and play in our state.
Thank you to the following conservation and community organizations!
The Nature Conservancy ● Ice Age Trail Alliance ● Wisconsin’s Green Fire ● River Alliance of Wisconsin ● Wisconsin Wetlands Association ● Wisconsin Wildlife Federation ● Ducks Unlimited ● National Wild Turkey Federation ● Pheasants Forever ● Ruffed Grouse Society ● Trout Unlimited Wisconsin ● Wisconsin Waterfowl Association ● Backcountry Hunters & Anglers ● Outdoor Industry Association ● Wisconsin Bike Fed ● 1000 Friends of Wisconsin ● League of Wisconsin Municipalities ● Wisconsin Towns Association ● Wisconsin Counties Association ● Wisconsin Parks & Recreation Association ● American Bird Conservancy ● Audubon Great Lakes ● Bird City Wisconsin ● Western Great Lakes Bird & Bat Observatory ● Wisconsin Audubon Council ● Wisconsin Society for Ornithology
And thank you to the following land trusts!
American Farmland Trust ● Baird Creek Preservation Foundation ● Baraboo Range Preservation Association ● Cedar Lakes Conservation Foundation ● Chippewa County Land Conservancy ● Couderay Waters Regional Land Trust ● Door County Land Trust ● Driftless Area Land Conservancy ● Geneva Lake Conservancy ● Glacial Lakes Conservancy ● Green Lake Conservancy ● Green-Rock Audubon Society ● Groundswell Conservancy ● Kettle Moraine Land Trust ● Kinnickinnic River Land Trust ● Landmark Conservancy ● Madison Audubon ● Milwaukee Area Land Conservancy ● Mississippi Valley Conservancy ● North Central Conservancy Trust ● Northeast Wisconsin Land Trust ● Northwoods Land Trust ● Ozaukee Washington Land Trust ● River Revitalization Foundation ● Seno K/RLT ● Standing Cedars Community Land Conservancy ● Star Prairie Land Preservation Trust ● Tall Pines Conservancy ● The Conservation Fund ● The Prairie Enthusiasts ● Waukesha County Land Conservancy
To: Governor Tony Evers
Date: August 24, 2020
Re: Support for long-term reauthorization of Wisconsin’s Warren Knowles-Gaylord Nelson Stewardship Program
Dear Governor Evers:
We write to express our support for the Warren Knowles-Gaylord Nelson Stewardship Program (KNSP). As a coalition of 58 groups, representing environmental conservation, business interests, local governments, hunting, fishing, forestry, agriculture, and recreation, we recognize the tremendous positive impact that the Stewardship Program has on our health, our economy, and our priceless Wisconsin landscapes.
We support a 10-year reauthorization of the Warren Knowles-Gaylord Nelson Stewardship Program, and we respectfully urge you to restore the program’s funding in order to reverse the trend of cuts that have significantly reduced the buying power of the KNSP over the past decade.
The KNSP was created in 1989 to preserve valuable natural areas and wildlife habitat, protect water quality and fisheries, expand opportunities for outdoor recreation, and support our timber and tourism industries.
By any measure, the Stewardship Program has been a resounding success. Because of the KNSP, the Wisconsin DNR, local governments, and nonprofit conservation organizations have received state funds—which are matched with federal, local, and private dollars—to purchase public land or easements for conservation and to support the upkeep and maintenance of our waterways, parks, forests, and trail systems.
Protected land in Wisconsin works for everyone’s benefit. Forests sequester carbon and clean our air. Wetlands filter our water and buffer against floods. These benefits can be quantified. A conservative estimate of the value of “natural infrastructure” on lands protected by KNSP is more than $2 billion per year.
And yet, the total investment in KNSP represents a small fraction of the state’s investments in traditional infrastructure projects. For example, we spend an average of $1.6 billion per year on the state trunk highway system. Over three decades, the state of Wisconsin has invested approximately $1.3 billion in the KNSP. We also continue to lag behind our neighbors Michigan and Minnesota in the amount of land that we protect and the financial resources we allocate to developing outdoor amenities.
The COVID-19 pandemic has made it abundantly clear that access to parks and open space — especially places close to home — is vital for the physical and mental health of Wisconsin residents. Over the history of the KNSP, more than 1,000 grants have been made to local governments to support green space purchases in our cities and towns as well as funding the trails and park amenities that help Wisconsinites get out and enjoy nature. But there is still a lot of work to be done to ensure that all Wisconsin residents have convenient access to parks and open space. For example, more than 50,000 Milwaukee residents do not live within a 10-minute walk of a park, and in many smaller metro areas, like Eau Claire and Wisconsin Rapids, more than a third of residents do not live within walking distance of a park.
Time spent in nature increases one’s sense of well-being, improves one’s attention span, and decreases feelings of anxiety and depression. Regular exercise is one of the best treatments for chronic health conditions like obesity and high blood pressure, and access to open space close to home is a key factor in encouraging healthy exercise habits.
If the KNSP is not renewed as part of the 2021 state budget, we will lose Wisconsin’s best source of funding for land and water protection as well as funding for the development and maintenance of community parks and open spaces.
Planning and executing Stewardship projects can take years. Therefore, landowners, donors, nonprofits, and government agencies need certainty about the long-term future of the program in order for projects to be as strategic and successful as possible. That’s why we’re asking for a 10-year authorization of the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program as had been the tradition since the program’s inception in 1989.
Polling demonstrates near universal public support for the KNSP, even in times of economic turmoil. Past surveys have shown that 93 percent of Wisconsin voters want to see the KNSP reauthorized. This includes 89% of Republicans, 90% of Independents, and 100% of Democrats.
Please support land and water conservation in Wisconsin by including a 10-year reauthorization of the Warren Knowles-Gaylord Nelson Stewardship Program in your budget and restoring funding that has been cut. We look forward to advocating for Stewardship with our legislators and speaking publicly about the many benefits that the program will provide for decades to come.
