A Smart Investment for Wisconsin
Too many people think of public services as expenses. Public spending is a burden on taxpayers that must be reduced and controlled. But taxes are the dues we pay for civilization. Taxes provide the capital needed to invest in all the things we need for a successful society. Public spending fuels the investments in people, infrastructure and public goods that pay dividends in the future.
In Wisconsin the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program is an example. Republican legislators cut funding for this important program in the recent state budget. If not renewed via additional legislation, the program will end in June 2026. Wisconsin will lose its primary tool for protecting natural areas and popular outdoor recreation opportunities through conservation projects, public land acquisitions, and community grants. This would be an enormous loss for Wisconsin.
“Stewardship isn’t a burden – it’s a smart investment” says Team Knowles-Nelson, an advocacy organization for the program. Their website (www.knowlesnelson.org) says, “The Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program is a tremendously successful environmental conservation program that protects our lakes and streams, conserves working forests, secures critical wildlife habitats, and provides countless opportunities for outdoor recreation both close to home and across Wisconsin.”
Team Knowles-Nelson is an umbrella group of about 90 other conservation and outdoor recreation organizations. Their research is the the primary source of the information and statistics in this article.
The Knowles-Nelson Stewardship program was created 1989 while Republican Tommy Thompson was governor. It had wide bi-partisan support. The program was named for two former governors, Republican Warren Knowles and Democrat Gaylord Nelson. In the past protecting the environment and good stewardship of our natural resources was supported by both parties. It was only after the election of Scott Walker in 2010 that the current anti-government, anti-environment extremists, like Robin Vos and Tom Tiffany, gained power and conservation became a partisan issue.
The Stewardship program provides funding through the DNR to purchase land, easements and infrastructure for a wide variety of projects. These can include local parks, boat ramps, hiking and bike trails, hunting and fishing lands, campgrounds, playgrounds, natural areas and wildlife preserves. It can also provide matching funds for grants to non-profit organizations. Knowles-Nelson investments have been made in all 72 of Wisconsin’s counties.
The Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program is primarily funded with general obligation bonds issued by the state of Wisconsin. Some of the funding is through dedicated conservation revenue. State general purpose revenue, mostly from income taxes, is used to pay interest on and to retire the bonds. This is how long-term government capital investments are typically financed and spreads the cost of public investments over decades (and provides safe financial investments for people).
Team Knowles-Nelson says this debt service costs individual taxpayers only $11 per year – less than a annual State Parks pass or fishing license. The Knowles Nelson program is a bargain for Wisconsin residents
So why is the Republican controlled legislature cutting funding and threatening the continuation of this popular, successful, inexpensive program? This is one more example of Republicans being more interested in political power struggles than governing. Their anti-government ideology overrides any consideration of the public good.
The Republican controlled legislature has been trying to strip Gov. Evers of established executive power and prerogatives since he was first elected. Knowles-Nelson is just the latest victim of this struggle.
For decades Republicans have passed laws giving legislative committees authority to withhold funding for specific activities they did not like. The Republican controlled Joint Finance Committee blocked 27 Knowles-Nelson grants since 2019. In 2023 Gov. Evers sued claiming Republicans were intruding on executive branch authority to use appropriated money and this violated the constitutional principle of separation of powers.
In July of 2024 the Wisconsin Supreme Court agreed in a 6-1 ruling. Conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley stated in the majority opinion, “We conclude these statutes interfere with the executive branch’s core function to carry out the law by permitting a legislative committee, rather than an executive branch agency, to make spending decisions for which the legislature has already appropriated funds and defined the parameters by which those funds may be spent.”
After losing in court, the Joint Finance Committee cut Know-Nelson funding from the 2025-26 budget. Republicans have introduced legislation to create a new program with much less funding (only $28.5 million per year for six years) and a requirement that grants over $1 million must be approved by the full legislature. They claim this is needed for “oversight” and public “transparency.” They say they are concerned about conservation projects removing land from the local property tax rolls and increasing state debt. But clearly they want to bypass the Supreme Court ruling and re-create options for political interference with future conservation grant administration.
Democrats have also introduced legislation to re-authorize Knowles-Nelson. Their plan provides $72 million per year for six years (Evers’ budget request was $100 million per year for 10 years). The bill would create public oversight and transparency with a 17 member, independent board with authority over the program. This board would have representatives from a wide variety of conservation stakeholders including environmental organizations, hunting, fishing groups, tourism and outdoor recreation organizations, grant recipients, local government, Native American nations and the general public. The legislature and executive branch would, of course, have representatives but would not have majority control. This is a plan with real, truly democratic, public oversight rather than a plan for more political games.
Since 2010 Wisconsin state funding for conservation has dropped sharply. Wisconsin lags behind Michigan and Minnesota in supporting conservation and outdoor recreation. According to Team Knowles-Nelson, “Wisconsin ranks last in the country for state park spending, despite outdoor recreation adding $9.8 billion to Wisconsin’s economy and supporting over 94,000 jobs.” Only 17% of Wisconsin’s land is publicly owned compared to 24% in Minnesota and 21% in Michigan. Given the importance of conservation and the economic benefits of environmental stewardship, this is simply shortsighted public policy.
The likely outcome of this political power struggle is that Knowles-Nelson will not be renewed. The Republicans will refuse to consider the Democratic proposal. Gov. Evers, because of the legislative power grab features, will veto the Republican legislation. The people of Wisconsin will suffer the consequences.
If the people of Wisconsin don’t speak up, Knowles-Nelson will go away. People need to get in the face of their state legislators and demand they return to bi-partisan support sensible conservation funding.