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The benefits of the Stewardship Program
reach every corner of Wisconsin. Since its creation
in
1989, the Warren Knowles-Gaylord Nelson Stewardship Fund has helped
land trusts, local governments
and the State protect almost 480,000 acres for outdoor recreation
and natural habitat. Stewardship
dollars have been used in 71 of Wisconsin’s 72 counties for:
. Urban green space like Lakeshore
State Park in Milwaukee;
. Recreational trails like the Great River Trail
along the Mississippi, the Hank Aaron Trail in Milwaukee, the Green
Circle Trail in Stevens Point and the National Ice Age Trail;
. Once-in-a-lifetime purchases like the Turtle-Flambeau
and Willow Flowages;
. Working forest easements - 65,000-acre
Wild Rivers Legacy Forest;
. New state parks - Straight Lake S.P. in Polk Co.and Tommy Thompson
S.P. in Marinette Co.; and
. Wildlife management areas around the state.
The state’s Comprehensive
Outdoor Recreation Plan identified a statewide lack of sufficient
recreational
trails, parks and campgrounds to meet residents’ and vacationers’ needs.
To meet this need will require
land additional purchases of land, which can only be accomplished
with a strong Stewardship Fund
program that leverages state funds with private and federal dollars.
The
Stewardship Fund makes economic sense. Stewardship is
less than half of 1 percent of the
state’s overall annual budget. For the same amount of money
as it will take to update the stretch of I-94
between Mitchell Airport in Milwaukee and the Illinois state line,
we can permanently protect nearly
30,000 acres of land for public hunting and fishing, bicycling
and snowmobiling, camping and bird
watching. This investment is critical to our state’s $11
billion tourism industry, our Northwoods forestry
economy and our high quality of life.
In addition to funding state
land purchases, the Stewardship Fund provides matching grants
to local governments and nonprofit organizations, effectively
doubling the amount of money
available for land and water conservation. The Stewardship Fund
is one of only a handful of state
budget items that leverage private and federal funds to match the
state’s investment of taxpayers’ dollars.
Land trusts alone have raised $60 million to directly match Stewardship
Fund grants. The importance of
leveraging additional funding for land acquisition cannot be overstated.
 The
need for the Stewardship Fund is urgent.Land protection
is like a continuously closing
window. We need to be able to act when important land comes on
the market. If we are hobbled by lack
of funding, we will lose our chance to protect these lands, probably
forever. The demand for places to
recreate outside far exceeds current opportunities and resources,
especially near major population
centers. At the same time, large tracts of land in northern Wisconsin
that have been traditionally open to
public access through the Managed Forest Law program are being
split up and sold at an unprecedented
rate with no guarantee of public access in the future.
The Stewardship Fund is widely supported
by Wisconsin citizens from all walks of life. Independent
public opinion polling has consistently shown strong support for
acquiring conservation lands
among Republicans and Democrats, city dwellers and rural residents,
business leaders and students.
Wisconsinites recognize the key role this program has played and
will continue to play in the long-term
protection of Wisconsin’s special places. The Stewardship
Fund is funded solely by tax revenues from all
of Wisconsin’s taxpayers, and provides benefits back to every
community in the state, from Milwaukee
urban trails to Northwoods working forests.
The pristine open spaces provided by the
Stewardship Fund are valued by Wisconsin's outdoorsmen and women.
In addition to hiking, bird watching, fishing and paddling opportunities,
over
92% of all lands protected with Stewardship Funds are open to hunting
and 96% are open to fishing and
other passive uses. The 85% of Wisconsinites who enjoy walking
in nature have local opportunities to do
so, thanks to the Stewardship Fund’s impact in communities
across the state.
Click
here to download a copy of these talking points » 
If you have any questions or need extra assistance,
please contact Vicki Elkin at stewardship [at] gatheringwaters.org. |
