Yahoo Autos A new report looks at outdoor recreation and land conservation in Wisconsin. Here's what it says about how we rank with other states
MADISON - A new report from the nonpartisan Wisconsin Policy Forum urges the state to consider how much its funding for conservation has dropped in recent years.
Over the last 16 years, funding for conservation efforts such as the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program and general funding for the Department of Natural Resources, which oversees conserved lands, has fallen so much that it's knocked Wisconsin down in rankings for how much states spend on conserving land and water.
But, the report notes, there could be solutions.
Here's what you should know.
How is Wisconsin conservation funded?
The primary source of conservation fund revenues includes hunting and fishing licenses, registration fees for boats and other recreational vehicles, a portion of motor fuel taxes and some general tax revenues, according to the report.
Overall, funding the DNR receives in the state budget has been declining. In the 1995-1997 state budget, the DNR received $334.3 million in funding, but in the 2021 to 2023 budget, the agency received $197.5 million.
After accounting for inflation, funding dropped nearly 69%, from an adjusted $632.2 million in 1995-1997. Much of the decreases came during post-recession budget years like 2003-2005, 2009 to 2011 and 2011 and 2013, the report says.
Stewardship Fund spending has been dropping
Wisconsin also has a program aimed at borrowing to pay for purchases to conserve land, easements to protect land against development and projects such as boat ramps, piers, trails and bridges that help public access public lands, called the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship program.
Since 1990, the program has helped finance the purchase of more than 723,000 acres, the report says, at a cost of $569.8 million to the Stewardship Fund and with $143.3 million in funding from the federal government, private individuals and groups and other state funds.
But funding for the program has dropped in recent years, going from $84.3 million in 2007 at its peak, to $14.4 million in 2022. That drop, adjusted for inflation, shows a nearly 88% reduction in funding.
Spending of the money allotted for the fund has dropped in recent years as well. In 2007, the program spent $67.4 million on DNR and nonprofit land purchases, but only $5.4 million in 2021 and $7.6 million in 2022. Those two most recent years mark the lowest purchase amounts for the program since 2001.
Stewardship debt had fallen in recent years and now sits at about $53 million, less than 7% of the state's general debt.
How does Wisconsin compare to other states when it comes to conservation spending?
Generally, Wisconsin falls in the middle of the pack when ranked against other states on spending for conservation. the report said.
As for state parks, Wisconsin spends little money, instead choosing to fund state parks entirely through the fee paid by users when they buy a park pass or book a campsite.
But that has led to a lack of funding for the parks. In 2017, Wisconsin spent $19.6 million to operate its state parks, or about $3.39 per resident, which was the lowest in the country that year. The same year, the state spent an additional $3.6 million on projects within parks, or 62 cents per person, which was the seventh lowest among the 45 states that had data available.
Do the anonymous objections have any role in conservation spending?
The drop in spending can be partially attributed to a heightened level of scrutiny of the program by the Legislature, with lawmakers stepping in to review projects costing $250,000 or more, or with a location north of state Highway 64. Governor Tony Evers proposed raising the cost that would trigger review to $500,000 in his most recent budget, but the proposal is unlikely to be approved by the Republican-led Legislature.
Lawmakers have used their authority to review and delay 43 projects since 2014, nearly a quarter of all of the requests that have been looked at by the Legislature. Only 19 of those projects have gone on to be approved.
Lawmakers say they have rejected projects for a host of reasons — such as asking for too much money from the state, and taking valuable land off the tax rolls.
Two high-profile projects in recent years, the Cedar Gorge Clay Bluffs Preserve in Ozaukee County and the Pelican River Forest, have been held hostage by the review process and anonymous objectors on the Joint Finance Committee of the Legislature. The Cedar Gorge project was eventually funded by Evers using pandemic relief funds, but the Pelican River Forest easements still hang in the balance, waiting for the committee to hold a hearing on whether or not the project will be rejected.
How could Wisconsin better fund its conservation?
The Policy Forum had several suggestions as to how Wisconsin could better fund its parks and other public lands, including:
Raising user fees: By raising the fees for park passes and hunting and fishing licenses, the state may have more money to pay for operations in those areas. But higher prices could bring about a drop-off in the use of parks or in participation in hunting and fishing.
Providing dedicated revenue for conservation and parks: Lawmakers could choose to dedicate additional tax resources to conservation and parks, or they could create new forms of revenue, such as new or existing tax revenues, or imposing a sales tax on outdoor gear.
Maintain borrowing for stewardship and explore local borrowing: The state can continue to borrow to finance projects, spreading costs over a series of years. Local governments could also borrow to finance conservation projects, either to be used to cover the cost or in conjunction with a state grant from the stewardship program.
Tax credits for conservation donations: People could earn a tax credit for land or easements donated to the state for conservation purposes.
Severance taxes: These taxes would be imposed on the extraction of minerals from the ground to fund conservation, as is done in states like North Dakota with the extraction of oil and gas.
Carbon credits: The state could limit emissions in their borders and allow credit trading within. This can create revenue by allowing an auctioning of credits to carbon emitters or when timber owners sell credits for captured carbon on their property. The credit system could also allow emitters to purchase carbon sequestration credits by paying landowners to preserve existing forests or to reforest areas.
How much public land does Wisconsin have?
Wisconsin has 6.6 million acres of public lands and waters, according to the report, which amounts to 17% of the state's land open for public recreation.
Wisconsin has 50 state parks and 39 state trails, making up about 156,000 acres of those public lands, and forests owned by local governments, the state and federal forest service make up about 4.5 million acres.
The state also boasts more than 15,000 lakes and 84,000 miles of rivers that are open to recreation.
In addition, more than 1 million acres of private land are open to the public in exchange for lower tax rates, as a part of the state's Managed Forest Law program.
There are also more than 650,000 acres in tribal reservations and lands.
Wisconsin ranks in the middle of the pack nationally for public lands, but there is one issue: most of the land is relatively far from Wisconsin's population centers.
"For that reason, policymakers may want to prioritize adding public lands closer to population centers to help more people enjoy the outdoors and relieve overcrowding at some key state parks and recreational properties," the report said.
What role does outdoor recreation play in the state?
Outdoor recreation added $8.71 billion in value to the state's economy in 2021 and supported more than 89,000 jobs. Wisconsin outperforms other states in terms of outdoor economy impact, accounting for 2.4% of the state's gross domestic product, compared to 1.9% nationally, ranking 16th highest among the 50 states.
Outdoor recreation has also become a haven for residents and non-residents alike since the outbreak of the COVID pandemic, with the number of visitors to public lands skyrocketing. But use of public lands has remained high since 2020, suggesting that outdoor recreation is likely to remain just as popular.
In addition to recreation, Wisconsin is second in the nation in total employment in the forest and timber industry, supporting more than 61,000 jobs and adding $6.9 billion to the state's economy.
How many visits do Wisconsin state parks get?
In 2021, Wisconsin state parks reached 22.2 million visits, a 27.2% increase over the 17.5 million visits in 2019, according to the Policy Forum. The sale of annual state park stickers, which are required to enter parks also grew by more than 50% between 2019 and 2021. Out-of-state sticker sales also grew by nearly 78% during that time period.
But not all parks are getting equal amounts of elevated traffic.
Parks like Devil's Lake State Park, those in the Northern Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest and Peninsula State Park in Door County accounted for nearly 25% of all state park visitors in 2022. Those high volumes can lead to crowding.
"The concentration of visitors at a small number of parks and the overall lack of public land near large cities can lead to crowding at some of the state’s premier properties," the report says.
What kinds of things are people doing on public land?
The report highlighted a number of activities that Wisconsinites have reported enjoying in state parks, including off-road cycling, hiking and cross-country skiing, birding or watching other wildlife; hunting and fishing, and boating, motorcycling, snowmobiling and riding ATVs.
Do parks benefit people who don't use them?
In short, yes, the Policy Forum report says.
There's the impact of added revenue through tourism and timber.
"Natural areas also provide valuable benefits to people who never visit, by providing flood control,clean air and water, pollination, and improved health, among others," the report says. "Though the future is uncertain, the state also might derive future benefit from carbon trading markets for the greenhouse gases captured by forests and other plants on public and private lands."
Laura Schulte can be reached at leschulte@jrn.com and on Twitter at @SchulteLaura.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin is lagging in conservation, parks spending, new report says
