The Door County Land Trust has launched a matching gift challenge to complete 15 land protection projects this year as traditional conservation funding faces significant reductions. The campaign highlights the growing funding challenges confronting Wisconsin’s conservation organizations.
Mary Prindiville, long-time friend and member of the Land Trust, has committed to a matching gift challenge for the Land Trust’s 2025 Conservation and Stewardship Campaign, as reported by Door County Pulse. Her offer comes as organizations across Wisconsin adapt to diminished state and federal conservation support.
“We are entering a period of profound challenge – where the tools we’ve long relied on to do our good work are suddenly vanishing,” said Emily Wood, the Door County Land Trust’s executive director. “Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program funds are being slashed. Federal conservation funding has all but evaporated. And yet, the urgency of our work has never been greater.”
The Conservation and Stewardship Campaign supports the Land Trust’s efforts to protect Door County’s wilderness areas, wetlands, and wildlife habitats while funding essential stewardship work like prairie restoration and invasive species management.
The Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program has been a crucial funding source for the Door County Land Trust since the program began in 1989. The Land Trust has received nearly 100 grants totaling over $13 million to support land acquisitions and trail development throughout the peninsula as it works to protect Door County’s exceptional lands and waters forever.
The program’s current funding expires in 2026. While Republican lawmakers have introduced legislation to continue it, the proposed bill is not guaranteed passage. With budget negotiations ongoing and some GOP leaders previously threatening to eliminate the program entirely, local governments and organizations like land trusts face uncertainty about this essential funding partnership.
The Conservation and Stewardship Campaign supports the Land Trust’s efforts to protect wilderness areas, wetlands, and wildlife habitats while funding stewardship work like prairie restoration and invasive species management. Through this campaign and community support, Door County Land Trust aims to protect another 500 acres in 2025, from Washington Island to the southern county line, despite funding uncertainty.
Featured image by Gathering Waters staff, 2020
