Senator rallies support for program county knows well

The Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program, which has helped finance a wide range of projects in Ozaukee County, including the development of Lions Den Gorge Nature Preserve in the Town of Grafton, is up for reauthorization this year and last week State Sen. Jodi Habush Sinykin came to Port Washington to try and drum up support for a project she said is beloved by residents but under attack from the Republican leadership in the Legislature.

Habush Sinykin, who spoke to a crowd of about 40 people at the Niederkorn Library Thursday, told the group, “This is our chance to make our voices heard. It’s worth fighting for.”

The Knowles-Nelson Stewardship program must be reauthorized every two years, but in his biennial budget Gov. Tony Evers has proposed reauthorizing it for 10 years and funding it with $100 million annually. The budget is under consideration by the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee, which has 12 Republican and four Democratic members, and Habush Sinykin said the Republic leadership has given the odds of its reauthorization at less than 50%.

That’s because they are upset by a State Supreme Court decision that the committee’s practice of vetoing stewardship grant approvals through anonymous objections is unconstitutional, she said.

That practice came to light and is especially significant in Ozaukee County because the Joint Finance Committee used it to derail approval of a $2.3 million grant intended to help with the acquisition of the Clay Bluffs Cedar Gorge Nature Preserve in Port Washington.

“People were really excited about it,” Habush Sinykin said of the nature preserve, which was saved when Evers used Covid relief funds to restore funding for its acquisition.

The committee’s actions, she said, “very much animated the lawsuit (that resulted in the court decision). A lot of funny business came out.”

Since then, she said, the Republican leadership has taken aim at the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship program.

Those attending were surprised both at the fact Republicans hold such a majority on the committee and the fact the leadership opposed the stewardship fund.

Habush Sinykin said one of the biggest problems the program has is that most people don’t know about it despite the fact it has had a tremendous impact on conservation efforts, something most Wisconsin residents favor.

The stewardship program — named for former governors Warren Knowles, a Republican, and Gaylord Nelson, a Democrat — has been around since 1989 and is a bipartisan success story, Habush Sinykin said, citing statistics that the program has protected 750,000 acres and provided more than 4,200 grants for local parks, trails, boat launches and campgrounds.

The program has funded more than 10,000 projects throughout the state, invested $1.3 billion and supports 94,000 outdoor recreation jobs and a $24 billion forestry economy.

“It’s had an immense impact on our state,” Habush Sinykin said. “It’s a good investment. It’s actually a bargain.”

At its peak, the stewardship program was funded at $86 million, but today it is down to $33 million annually. The cost to residents is $11 per resident each year, Habush Sinykin said.

“It’s not nothing but it’s not even a fish fry at Culver’s,” noted one man at the session.

More than 90% of Wisconsin households live less than a mile from a Knowles-Nelson-funded project, she said, and 93% of state residents support state funding for conservation.

In Ozaukee County, she said, it has helped fund expansion of the Ozaukee Interurban Trail and the Rotary Riverwalk in Mequon, improve the Port breakwater and develop the Donges Bay Gorge Natural Area in Mequon and Lions Den.

In her senate district, Habush Sinykin said, the program has invested $15 million in 83 projects, protecting 1,900 acres.

“These are the places we know and love,” she said, adding the funds don’t just go to acquire land but to maintain spaces.

“It’s important to keep these up,” she said.

She asked those attending if they visited various spots funded by the stewardship program, and the majority of those attending said yes to each one.

She singled out Lions Den as a special place for her and her family.

“This place is very meaningful for me,” Habush Sinykin said. “It really does ground me and uplift me at the same time. I love this place. I’m just so grateful for it.”

Tom Stolp, executive director of Restoring Lands — formerly the Ozaukee Washington Land Trust — noted that the stewardship program, which also helped finance the acquisition of the Forest Beach Migratory Preserve in Belgium and Sauk Creek Nature Preserve in Port Washington, doesn’t fully fund projects but instead requires organizations to create partnerships to finance acquisitions.

Habush Sinykin urged those attending to speak up to seek reauthorization of the stewardship program and support Evers’ proposal.

“That’s the call to action,” she said. “Let legislators know you want them to work together.

“The time is now, the next couple weeks,” she said, noting the Joint Finance Committee is holding budget meetings and hearings around the state.

The key, she said, is to let legislators know how much support the program has and that those who oppose it, particularly those keen to tow the Republican leadership line, that their actions have consequences.