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after, of course, Bill
McCoshen Scot Ross. Thank

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you.
>> Thanks for having us.

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>> A long standing state
conservation program

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expired this week for more
than 35 years, Wisconsin

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outdoor recreation and land
projects have been created

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and maintained by a program
called the Knowles Nelson

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Stewardship Fund. Created
in 1989 by then Governor

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Tommy Thompson and the
state legislature. It has

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been a successful
bipartisan fixture for

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protecting natural areas.
However, recent changes to

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who can veto new projects
led to the Republican

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decision to not renew its
funding in the last budget.

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Charles Carlin of Gathering
Waters Wisconsin Alliance

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for Land Trusts is hoping
the next legislature can

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still make it happen.
>> The Wisconsin landscape

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and the outdoor recreation
infrastructure that we have

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in Wisconsin simply
wouldn't be here today

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without the successes of
the Knowles Nelson

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Stewardship Program. The
program has been operating

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for over 35 years, has
helped us permanently

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protect more than 650,000
acres of land, most of

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which is open for public
recreation. Getting out

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there, bird watching, going
hunting, going for a hike

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with your family, and every
single neighborhood in the

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state has been touched by
Knowles Nelson. It's not an

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exaggeration. You know,
are within a mile of a

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Knowles Nelson investment.
So these are the trails

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that we walk and bike on,
the beach fronts where we

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go swimming, the wheat
harvesters that help keep

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our lakes clean, the
playground equipment that

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our kids play on at local
parks. All of this is made

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possible by the Knowles
Nelson Stewardship Program,

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land that has been
protected with Knowles

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Nelson is permanently
protected. Nothing is going

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to undo that. What it means,
however, moving forward is

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if we need a new segment of
the Ice Age trail or the

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North Country Trail,
there's no state money to

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make that happen. And then
all of that stuff that we

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need to get out and enjoy
the places that make

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Wisconsin special. So a
trailhead to park your car

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at, a kiosk that shows you
the map of where you're

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going to go walk the boat
launched, put your kayak or

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your fishing boat in the
water as that stuff ages

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and needs to be repaired.
We have now shot ourselves

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in the foot and taken away.
Really our only significant

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source of funding to to do
that, to take care of that

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infrastructure. This
doesn't have to be Knowles

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Nelson is done forever. So
what's happened is the

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money has run out, but the
program stays on the books.

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So all of the laws that
guide it are there. The DNR

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staff who administer the
program are still there.

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What we need is for the
legislature to come back

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and invest money in the
program so that it can get

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moving again. Knowles
Nelson costs each Wisconsin

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resident about $11. So I
took my kid to fish fry at

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Culver's the other week,
and I think it was about

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$15 each. This is a value
we can afford. Our November

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elections are going to have
really real consequences

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for what kind of latitude
for what kind of latitude