In the recently approved state budget, government officials set aside $86 million per year for the purchase and upkeep of natural lands and parks.,”Additional funding could improve the quality of state parks and trails, offering hikers and other outdoor lovers newer and better areas to explore.
In the recently approved state budget, government officials set aside $86 million per year for the purchase and upkeep of natural lands and parks.
The Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund received an increase to $86 million, up from $60 million in previous years. The increase will take effect in 2010 and last until 2020 with funds utilized by the Department of Natural Resources, local governments and non-profit organizations to purchase new lands and care for already owned lands and facilities, said Casey Eggleston, spokesman for The Nature Conservancy of Wisconsin.
"We're reaching a critical time with land prices going up so quickly," Eggleston said. "We have a 10 year window to protect those lands. If we don't do it within that window, those lands will be parceled off and developed. If we do protect them, they will be there forever for everyone to enjoy."
According to Erin Celello, spokeswoman for the DNR, 94 percent of private industrial forest lands changed hands between 1997 and 2002.
"That's something that's going to be happening more," she said. "If we're not poised as a state to protect that land, it runs the risk of being subdivided, developed and lost forever. This increase allows us to keep pace with rising land prices."
Since its inception 17 years ago, the Stewardship Fund has protected nearly half a million acres, Celello said.
Although the fund received additional money, The Nature Conservancy originally asked for the fund to be increased to $105 million per year.
"It was a really tight fiscal budget with a lot of priority areas that needed spending," said Eggleston. "We're very excited with the increase they ended up with."
Others said they were less excited. Tom Blotz, a regional government outreach team supervisor who oversees grants to local governments and non-profit conservation organizations, said he felt the increase should have been greater.
"With the increase in land values and with inflation, it's just not keeping up," he said of the Stewardship Fund.
Most of the $85 million in Stewardship Fund money will go to the DNR to acquire new lands and the rest will go as grants to local governments, municipalities and non-profit organizations. The Stewardship fund matches 50 percent of what organizations raise privately, according to Eggleston.
He said The Nature Conservancy usually raises around $15 million a year in private funding.
Last year, Stewardship Fund money locally benefited lands in the city of Brookfield and in Waukesha, Racine and Milwaukee Counties. In Milwaukee County, money helped fund Riverside Park, 1500 E. Riverside Place, improvements and a bridge and underpass on the Oak Leaf Trail, said Blotz.
Stewardship Fund money also helped purchase and develop Lakeshore State Park. Located near the Summerfest grounds, the park opened last summer and features the Hank Aaron State Trail, Celello said.
Through projects like Lakeshore Park, the state tries to safeguard and care for remaining natural areas, Eggleston said.
"We want to protect (our parks) so people keep coming to Wisconsin to keep our tourism industry strong," he said. "Part of the quality of life of living in Wisconsin is having the natural resources we do."
Celello said she agrees that a big part of Wisconsin's culture lies in its natural resources and recreational activities.
"We are hunters, anglers, bird watchers and outdoor enthusiasts," she said. "It's a big part of our state values."
“