MADISON, Wis. (WRN) — Funding for a state conservation program will expire soon.
The Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund was created by the Wisconsin Legislature and Governor Tommy Thompson in 1989 to preserve important natural habitats and expand outdoor recreation. It has authorized state borrowing and spending to acquire more than 750,000 acres, and for grants to local governments and nonprofit conservation groups.
Extensions for Knowles-Nelson have previously received bipartisan support in the legislature, but recently Republicans have objected to land purchases through the program. A ten-year, $1 billion funding extension proposed by Governor Tony Evers didn’t make it into the state budget, but the Assembly passed a pair of bills in January to extend it for two years while pausing land acquisitions.
The state Senate’s failure to pass those means Knowles-Nelson will expire in June.