Urgent Advocacy Needed: Conservation Funding at Risk in Wisconsin

Knowles Nelson Stewardship Program: Learn the FAQs

This is bigger than Door County. This call for advocacy goes out to all Wisconsinites, and all who visit and enjoy the natural splendor of Wisconsin.

While troubling news appears everywhere, we are distracted from the potential disaster occurring right under our noses: the loss of a long-standing program that funds conservation initiatives by land trusts, state park friends groups, and local governments.

Nearly every land acquisition by Door County Land Trust has been supported by a state fund called the Knowles Nelson Stewardship Program. Since 1989, this program has helped permanently protect over 750,000 acres in the state, as well as provide grants to build boat launches, campgrounds, and parks. The program has provided over 1,500 grants to land trusts & conservation nonprofit organizations, state park friends groups, and local governments, enabling improvements to parks, trails, and waterways in communities across the state. This fund comes from our state budget, costing residents around $11 a year. We will be taxed no matter what. Speak up now to advocate that some of your tax dollars go towards conservation in Wisconsin and continue our state’s legacy of caring for our lands. 

Last week, a bill was introduced as part of the legislative process to renew Knowles-Nelson. Right now, Assembly Bill 315 is stalled, with no public hearing scheduled by the Senate. Without the policy bill advancing, it’s our understanding that legislators do NOT intend to fund Knowles-Nelson in the budget.

If Knowles-Nelson is not included in the state budget, funding for the program will lapse. While the program technically expires June 30, 2026, most Knowles-Nelson grant funds have already been awarded. Land trusts and local governments are planning applications for fiscal year 2027 and beyond. A lapse in funding means an uncertain future for conservation work across the state.

There is a solution: the Joint Finance Committee can extend funding, even for a short time, to create space to continue policy discussions later this summer.

Please take action RIGHT NOW: contact your legislators and Joint Finance Committee members immediately. In just a few clicks you will deliver a strong message to your legislators and all members of the Joint Finance Committee. Ask them to renew funding for the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program in the state budget.

The future of the program will be decided in the coming days. If you believe in Wisconsin’s legacy of outdoor recreation available for all – do not wait. Speak up today. 

Door County Land Trust staff and representatives at Knowles Nelson Lobby Day in Madison earlier this Spring