Advertisement Participants included officers of the La Crosse County Conservation Alliance (Harry Meinking, John Wetzel and Marc Schultz); Tim Jacobson, the executive director of the Mississippi Valley Conservancy; Tom Kapellas of the La Crosse Ducks Unlimited chapter; Sierra Club members; and UW-L students.
Approximately 17 people from State Senate District 32 met with Sen. Dan Kapanke’s staff, and subsets of that group met with Rep. Jennifer Shilling, D-La Crosse, and staff members from the offices of Rep. Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, and Rep. Lee Nerison, R-Westby.
“We want to send a strong signal to our state legislators that we’re watching how they vote on several important conservation issues,” said Harry Meinking, chairman of the
La Crosse County Conservation Alliance. “People in the Coulee Region care deeply about hunting, fishing, other outdoor recreation, our rivers and our beautiful landscape. Our legislature needs to be responsive to these concerns. We particularly want to see the Stewardship Fund reauthorized and the Hunter, Angler, Trapper Bill of Rights passed.”
Jacobson added that the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund is critical to the land conservation work of the MVC, noting that Gov. Jim Doyle has requested reauthorization of the fund at a level that will try to keep pace with rapidly-rising land values.
“If the Legislature fails to support this, 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,” Jacobson said. “It’s important for local citizens to contact their legislators to insist that the Stewardship Fund not get picked apart, politicized, or allowed to expire.
“The fund has broad, bi-partisan support, and it’s essential for maintaining our high quality of life, outdoor recreational opportunities, and our $11 billion tourism economy in Wisconsin,” he continued. “A vote against the Stewardship Fund is a vote against hunters, bird watchers, hikers, fishermen and women, and everyone else who enjoys the scenic beauty of the Coulee Region.”
Conservation Lobby Day was organized by the Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters Institute. The WLCV Institute works to connect conservation-minded citizens with the policy making process through education, advocacy, public opinion research, and the implementation of voter participation techniques.
George Meyer, former Wisconsin DNR secretary and now head of the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, addressed the group of citizens in attendance.
The four priority issues being promoted by the group are:
These priority issues are endorsed by a wide variety of groups, including Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, The Nature Conservancy - Wisconsin Chapter, Wisconsin Deer Hunters Association, and Sierra Club - John Muir Chapter.
The La Crosse County Conservation Alliance is comprised of 26 conservation groups from La Crosse County. The purpose of the Alliance is to serve as a forum for discussion of natural resource issues and to take action to support and promote sound natural resource management.
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