Wisconsin LCV: Conservationists Applaud Governor’s Stewardship Proposal

For immediate release: Contact: Anne Sayers, Program Director,

February 14, 2007 (608) 661-0845,

Madison- Tuesday night, the Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters joined other

conservation organizations in praising Governor Doyle’s inclusion of Stewardship Fund

reauthorization in his budget.

To date, the Stewardship Fund has protected more than 475,000 acres of Wisconsin’s

most ecologically important lands and waters. From urban green spaces to trails for

hiking, biking, and skiing, Stewardship lands are prized areas for all kinds of recreation.

Ninety-two percent of all of the land purchased through the Stewardship Fund is open to

hunting. The lands protected by the Stewardship Fund mark some of hunters’ and

fishermen’s favorite spots.

“As an outdoors person, I greatly appreciate the Stewardship Fund which helped to

purchase the pristine Gerber Lake, in Sheboygan County. This lake will now be

permanently open for anglers, hunters, bird watchers, and is an ideal place for people to

walk their dog and enjoy the outdoors. The Stewardship Fund helped bring together

businesses, private citizens and individual clubs to protect this lake for eternity,” stated

Gene Ecklor from the Sheboygan County Conservation Association.

The Stewardship program sunsets in 2010, but Doyle's new budget would continue it

through 2020. The Governor’s proposal for Stewardship Fund reauthorization comes at

the right time. Despite a long record of success, some of Wisconsin’s best landscapes are

facing greater threats.

“With every passing day, prime hunting and fishing territory is turned into strip malls and

condos. We’re very pleased to see the Stewardship Fund reauthorization receive the

attention it deserves right now,” Ed Harvey, Chairman of Wisconsin Conservation

Congress.

The reauthorization of the Stewardship Fund at a level that honors its historic purchasing

power was recently selected by more than fifty conservation organizations as one of just

four conservation priorities for this legislative session. The Governor’s proposal of $105

million is an appropriate level to help ensure the program maintains its historic

purchasing power.

“The Stewardship Fund has helped expose generations of Wisconsin citizens to the

majesty of Wisconsin’s landscape and to its proud hunting and fishing traditions. Its

continuation is a salute to its bipartisan founders and the thousands of Wisconsinites that

identify with the pristine lands and waters it protects,” concluded Anne Sayers, Program

Director of the Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters.

The issue will be one of the four issues discussed with every legislator at the upcoming

Conservation Lobby Day on February 21, 2007. For more information on Conservation

Lobby Day and the

http://conservationvoters.org