MADISON, WI – For over three decades, the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program has played a vital role in protecting wildlife habitat, ensuring preservation of public lands, improving Wisconsin’s state parks, and promoting Wisconsin’s tourism economy in all 72 counties. Today, State Senator Habush Sinykin (D-Whitefish Bay), State Representative Vinnie Miresse (D-Stevens Point), and Legislative Democrats introduced a bill to reauthorize the Warren Knowles-Gaylord Nelson Stewardship Program. This legislation includes provisions which would reauthorize the program at $72 million a year for 6 years and would establish a Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Board to oversee pending land acquisitions and ensure the continuity and integrity of the program. You can see a full version of the legislation here.
Senator Habush Sinykin shared the following:
“I am proud to introduce a bill that outlines the funding and oversight provisions needed to reauthorize Wisconsin’s Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program in a way that works to uphold the integrity and continuity of this vastly popular bipartisan success story. This program has proven invaluable to the protection, accessibility, and preservation of public lands throughout the state–ensuring Wisconsinites everywhere can enjoy our state’s beautiful forests, lakes, trails, and wildlife. Wisconsinites have demonstrated that we can find common ground on issues that are important to all of us, and I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to keep this vital conservation program going strong.”
Representative Miresse shared the following:
“Conservation is at the core of what makes Wisconsin, Wisconsin. Our state’s conservation ethic runs deep, stretches back generations, and has always been a bipartisan priority. For over 35 years, Knowles-Nelson has protected the places we hunt, fish, hike, canoe, and camp. That’s why nine out of ten Wisconsinites support the work it does. The proposal we introduced today continues Wisconsin’s bipartisan conservation legacy by incorporating key ideas that Republicans themselves put forward earlier this June. We hope our colleagues across the aisle will recognize this goodwill and join us in ensuring the future of this vital program, so we can continue to preserve Wisconsin’s outdoor and conservation traditions for generations to come.”
To Learn More About the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program and its benefits, visit knowlesnelson.org.
