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Location: Hayward WI | If you enjoy access to Wisconsin's Public lands, please read below and contact your representatives.
Dear Hunter, Angler and Trapper:
The Legislature's Joint Finance Club has done it again. In the
middle of the night last Friday, while they were finalizing their
work on the state budget bill, the committee inserted a provision
into the current state budget bill which takes away your right for
public access on thousands of acres of lands in Wisconsin for
hunting, fishing and trapping.
Background: In the last state budget bill two years ago, Wisconsin
sportsmen and women worked hard to reauthorize the Wisconsin
Stewardship Fund for another ten years with the funds to be used to
purchase land for wildlife, fisheries, forest, parks and natural
areas. Without the hard work of sportsmen and women in this state,
it was highly unlikely that the Stewardship Fund would have been
reauthorized. A key provision that sportsmen and women fought hard
for in the Stewardship Reauthorization was that land purchased with
Stewardship Funds would have to be open for hunting, fishing and
trapping except in limited circumstances like public safety.
However last Friday, the Joint Finance Committee inserted a
paragraph in the state budget bill stating that DNR does not have to
require public access for hunting, fishing and trapping on lands
purchased with Stewardship Funds by local units of government and
nonprofit organizations. This amendment will affect thousands of
acres of land that would otherwise be open to hunting, fishing and
trapping by Wisconsin sportsmen.
There was not a public hearing on this amendment and there was no
input from hunters, anglers and trappers. This amendment passed in
the middle of the night, the same way that four years ago, the same
committee raided the state trout, turkey and waterfowl stamp accounts.
This decision must be reversed and it will be if you and hundreds of
state sportsmen and women make their voice heard immediately. The
budget bill must still pass the full State Assembly and State Senate.
Please call or email the following people:
1. Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan, email address:
[email protected] Phone number: 608-266-7503
2 Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, email address:
[email protected] Phone number: 608-266-2502
3 Your state representative and your state senator. To email them
just use the above email address for Senator Decker and
Representative Sheridan but just replace the word decker in the
email address with your senators last name and the word sheridan
with your representatives last name.
If you do not know your legislator's phone number you can find it on
the Legislature's web page: www.legis.state.wi.us or call the
Legislative Hotline (1-800-362-9472) and leave a message for both
your Senator and your Representative.
THE MESSAGE YOU SHOULD GIVE TO YOUR LEGISLATORS IS THAT YOU ARE STRONGLY
OPPOSED TO THE STEWARDSHIP AMENDMENTS THAT WERE PLACED IN THE BUDGET BILL
AND YOU WANT THEM TO VOTE TO TAKE ALL STEWARDSHIP AMENDMENTS OUT OF THE
STATE BUDGET! Leave the Stewardship Fund alone!
Your phone calls need to be made as soon as possible, the budget
will be finally voted on in the next two to three weeks.
Please pass this email on to other sportsmen and women as soon as
possible. Their voice on this matter is important.
Call back these legislators in another week and ask them what they
have done with your request. It is important that sportsmen and
women hold their legislators accountable to protect our public
access for hunting, fishing and trapping.
Thank you.
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Location: Sun Prairie, WI | Eric, where did you get that information? I'd like to find it on line if I could. Thanks! | |
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| That's no good. I noticed that on a lot of WI lakes, the accesses are terribly small and not so well kept. | |
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Location: Hayward WI | Gary,
There's not much out there, as it was something like 5am when this motion to the budget was introduced. Here's a link to the motion http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/090529motion754.pdf
it's paragraph 18 that is the Stewardship Fund change
Edited by erico 6/5/2009 7:51 AM
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Location: Sun Prairie, WI | Thanks Eric! Very interesting! | |
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Posts: 1916
Location: Greenfield, WI | I found the information on Friday's NRA Legislation Daily Update. The article was claiming bi-partisan support!?
Bi-Partisan? What hunters or fishermen, from either side of the aisle, would approve of using their money to buy land that they couldn't use? Among other aspects of the article that were noteworthy, publishing lists of the land holdings was going to made harder to find. Where is this government trying to take us? | |
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Wisconsin Public Lands Access at Risk