Funding for the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program has lapsed, and its future now rests with the next legislature. On a beautiful summer evening over burgers and beers at Seven Acre Dairy, supporters gathered in Paoli to talk through what it will take to get the program funded again.
After learning more about the Stewardship Program at a recent event in Oregon, WI, Albany, WI local Bryna Caves organized the evening to bring the conversation to her own community – a gold star example of grassroots support turning into direct action. Gathering Waters‘ Charlie Carlin and Friends of Wisconsin State Parks‘ Seth Taft spoke to the group about where things stand and what comes next.
For nearly four decades, Knowles-Nelson has funded conservation and outdoor recreation projects in all 72 of Wisconsin’s counties. Many Stewardship Program grants have gone to small-town parks, trails, and land trust projects that serve rural communities directly – not just large cities or the state’s population centers – and Paoli is no exception. Just up the road, Knowles-Nelson dollars have supported the popular Badger State Trail and helped Groundswell Conservancy purchase over 300 acres along the Sugar River, which is now known as Falk Wells Sugar River Wildlife Area.
That base of support, in small towns as much as anywhere else, is what it will take to get Knowles-Nelson renewed at the start of the next legislative session. And evenings like this one are how the conversation keeps moving: one community at a time.
