WORT News Producer Faye Parks asked Alex Madorsky, Associate Director of Government Relations for The Nature Conservancy of Wisconsin, to share his insights on Governor Evers’ recent lawsuit against Republican state lawmakers and its impact for the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program.
Madorsky said that the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program’s approval process used to run smoothly but is now full of roadblocks. He estimates that roughly a third of Stewardship Program project proposals are blocked by an anonymous objection made by a lawmaker and never receive a public hearing. These blocked proposals can take over 250 days to resolve, effectively putting a project on indefinite hold.
Madorsky explains that Gov. Evers’ lawsuit, if won, would change the process so that one legislator would not be able to block a project that had already received approval through the Department of Natural Resource’s project funding process. The Nature Conservancy supports the governor’s lawsuit, reiterating the Stewardship Program’s importance in protecting Wisconsin lands and waters.
Featured image by Joshua Mayer, 2016.
