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Sadly, there are some Wisconsin citizens and legislators who seek to kill the stewardship fund or to substantially limit the funding level so as to render the fund unable to keep pace with rapidly rising land values.
The Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund has been vitally important to the land conservation work of Mississippi Valley Conservancy and its more than 700 members. The need for the stewardship fund is urgent because land protection is like a continuously closing window.
An example is the Holland Sand Prairie near Holmen. Once home to a great expanse of native sand prairie and natural dunes, the La Crosse-Galesville Terrace is now almost completely developed into cities, towns and farms. The dunes and hollows on the Holland Sand Prairie are the only undisturbed aeolian (wind-formed) landforms in the entire area and contain an enormous diversity of plant life and provide habitat for rare grassland bird species.
The stewardship fund, along with financial help from local citizens and private grants, saved the Holland Sand Prairie from destruction by bulldozers. This beautiful resource for the Coulee Region is so special that we are in the process of having it designated a State Natural Area by the DNR.
Opponents of stewardship argue that the state shouldn’t be involved in buying land. Some even insist that all state lands, including our incredible state parks, be sold off to developers. A couple of years ago, the Legislature tried to slash the stewardship fund by 90 percent, and it was only saved by Gov. Doyle’s veto pen. Some legislators want to limit funding or impose more red tape on organizations like MVC to utilize the fund.
The stewardship fund is one of the most cost-effective programs the state has, because when employed by land trusts and local units of government, every stewardship dollar gets matched with private funds.
If the Legislature fails to support reauthorization, the stewardship fund will automatically expire in 2010, and MVC’s ability to conserve the most precious parts of our landscape will be greatly hampered.
Reauthorization at less than the amount requested by the governor will leave MVC and other conservation organizations unable to compete for the most scenic and ecologically significant land, thus making those areas even more expensive to conserve in the future.
Wisconsin’s $11 billion tourism industry and the timber industry in the north will also be harmed if recreational lands are permanently lost to development. Without appropriate land conservation, hunting, fishing, hiking and biking opportunities for the public will be lost forever, more plants and animals will become endangered, soil erosion will increase and the quality of our drinking water and trout streams will be harmed.
Contact your legislators and ask them to be strong advocates for a fully-funded, minimal-red-tape, reauthorized stewardship fund. Your children and grandchildren will thank you.
Timothy S. Jacobson is executive director of Mississippi Valley Conservancy, a nonprofit land trust headquartered in La Crosse and covering a seven-county territory in southwestern Wisconsin. He can be reached at tjacobson@mississippivalleyconservancy.org or by calling 608.784.3606.
