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Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com

Published - Thursday, June 28, 2007

Doyle announces conservancy grant

By KATE SCHOTT | La Crosse Tribune

The Mississippi Valley Conservancy received more than a quarter-million dollars from the state Wednesday to help support a purchase for the organization’s bluffland protection program.

The $257,000 grant to the MVC was among seven Gov. Jim Doyle announced Wednesday. He and other Democrats are pushing a state budget that would increase stewardship spending from $60 million a year to $105 million, from 2011 to 2020.

The state doled out $9.97 million in grants Wednesday from the fund — which sets aside land for public use — to support the purchase of 10,700 acres. Doyle declared Wednesday “Stewardship Day” to celebrate the purchases.

“In Wisconsin, our natural resources are not just a part of our landscape. They are a part of who we are,” Doyle said during an afternoon visit to Myrick Park. “We value our rich traditions of hunting and fishing and ease of access we have to nature.”

The grant to MVC will offset costs on a 452-acre parcel of land in the town of Medary between Hixon Forest and Hwy. B. MVC purchased the land in March 2006 and applied for the grant about that time but just received funds, MVC Executive Director Tim Jacobson said.

The parcel is in the former Mathy quarry and has wooded bluffs, rock outcrops and native dry prairie. While the Mathy family and MVC officials have not revealed how much was paid, Jacobson said the grant could cover no more than half the total purchase price.

Funds provided by the city, state and private donors have allowed MVC to “create a beautiful and fantastic outdoor resource,” Jacobson said.

The MVC has received a total of $1.1 million from the state’s stewardship fund, with another $2.6 million from other sources, including more than $1.2 million from the city. It has allowed the MVC to preserve thousands of acres in its seven-county area, Jacobson said.

Doyle called on state legislators to approve his plan for increasing stewardship funding, noting it has broad public support. Republican legislators removed the money Doyle proposed in his last two biennial budgets, although the Democratic governor used his veto power to restore funding.

“The people who hunt and fish and explore and hike and bird watch, and sometimes just go out and have the feel of nature, are not there for political, partisan reasons,” Doyle said.

John Murray, a spokesman for Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, said he had to review the deals before he could comment.

STEWARDSHIP GRANTS

Other grants from the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund announced Wednesday include:

$6.1 million to buy 5,889 acres for Brule River State Forest and a 40-acre easement for the North County Trail west of the forest.

$2.8 million to buy 974 acres from the Wilderness Conservation Club, which will be added to the state’s existing Lower Wolf River Bottomlands Area in Outagamie County.

$2.5 million to buy 2,804 acres for the Mead Wildlife Area from Consolidated Water Power Co., a unit of paper manufacturer Stora Enso North America.

Expanding the Avon Bottoms Wildlife Area by buying 351 acres in southwest Rock County. The Natural Heritage Land Trust of Madison is giving state the land, which it obtained with a $227,000 stewardship grant and $633,000 in federal funds.

$480,000 to expand the C.D. Besadny Fish and Wildlife Area by buying 160 acres in Kewaunee County to add to 300 acres already in state ownership.

$111,250 to buy 47 acres for the Big Muskego Lake Wildlife Area, with the city of Muskego donating $111,250 for land that includes 1,200 feet of shoreline on Big Muskego Lake in Waukesha County.

Source: Gov. Jim Doyle’s office

The Associated Press contributed to this story. Kate Schott can be reached at kschott@lacrossetribune.com or (608) 791-8226.