Tomorrow, June 30th, funding for the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program will expire. After 37 years, Wisconsin will not have a stewardship fund.
No new land protected. No new boat launches, trails, or playgrounds. No matching grants for the towns and land trusts that have built Wisconsin’s outdoor recreation economy for a generation. After 650,000 acres conserved across all 72 counties, the program that 9 out of 10 Wisconsinites support goes dark. Not because it stopped working, but because the Legislature failed us.
For the first time in decades, Knowles-Nelson was left out of the state budget. Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee stripped it out of the budget, claiming they would pass separate legislation to fund the program. Republicans introduced that legislation last June: a reauthorization proposal that cut funding and gutted land acquisition. It stalled and was pulled from the Senate floor in February without a vote.
Democrats introduced their own reauthorization proposal in August 2025. That proposal would have provided adequate funding and rigorous oversight. Legislative leaders never even allowed a hearing on the Democratic proposal. Months of back-and-forth, and despite it all, reauthorization fell short of crossing the finish line.
The Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program enjoys tremendous bipartisan support among Wisconsin voters. Partisan politics in the Capitol killed funding for the program.
Knowles-Nelson isn’t gone for good, but for now it goes dark. It stays in state statute, still on the books, just with no funding behind it. The Legislature can fund it again whenever they choose to, which means the program’s future comes down to who commits to making it a priority.
Democratic leadership has said clearly that they intend to fund Knowles-Nelson. “If Democrats are in charge and we have a Democratic trifecta, Knowles-Nelson will be back,” Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein said at a WisPolitics luncheon last week.
Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer echoed that, saying Democrats will move to revive the program if they win majority control. And Senator Jodi Habush Sinykin, who authored the Democratic reauthorization bill, says it largely comes down to ensuring that the legislators in power value this program: “If the people of Wisconsin wish to see Knowles Nelson Stewardship program continue going forward, we need legislators in charge who value the program and its continuity.”
Notably, no Republican legislator responded to requests for comment in a recent Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article on the program’s expiration. We continue to press legislators on both sides of the aisle to commit to funding Knowles-Nelson.
All 99 State Assembly seats, 17 State Senate seats, and the governor’s race are on the ballot this November. At every town hall, listening session and forum throughout campaign season, ask your legislators and prospective legislators: ”Will you fully fund Knowles-Nelson, land acquisition and all?”
Then vote like Wisconsin’s outdoors depend on it. That’s how we save Knowles-Nelson.
News Room
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | Wisconsin’s Knowles-Nelson conservation program is ending. Here’s why. Laura Schulte explains how program with bipartisan roots and 9-in-10 support ran out the clock.
The Cap Times | Opinion: Wisconsin conservation fund a casualty of GOP extremism Spencer Black, who helped create the Stewardship Fund, on how it died and why he believes it can come back.
Wisconsin State Journal | Wisconsin’s Knowles-Nelson stewardship funding is ending. Here’s what to expect What the lapse means for state parks, forests, and the DNR’s growing maintenance backlog.
Channel 3000 | Advocates warn of conservation setbacks as Wisconsin grant program funding runs out Conservation groups explain how the lapse will affect land trusts, sanctuaries, and trails across the state.
Spectrum News 1 | In Focus: Wisconsin Wildlife Federation says it’s concerned about end of Knowles-Nelson Cody Kamrowski of the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation breaks down what the program’s end means for hunters, anglers, and trail users.
WXOW | Organization calls out politicians, philanthropists as Knowles-Nelson funding ends Charlie Carlin of Gathering Waters on why voters should press candidates on land acquisition.
Clean Wisconsin EcoMinute | Wisconsin’s Conservation Crunch Clean Wisconsin recaps how the funding fight played out and where it leaves the program.
