Why It Matters: Across the country, hunters, anglers, recreational shooters, and trappers shoulder the responsibility of funding state fish and wildlife agencies through the American System of Conservation Funding (ASCF). However, due to constantly increasing staffing and programmatic costs, supplemental funding sources outside of the traditional ASCF model are critical to these agencies’ ability to fulfill their duty of providing quality opportunities for sportsmen and women to enjoy their natural resources. While many states seek to create these supplemental sources, it is paramount to protect them where they already exist, such as Wisconsin.
Highlights:
- The Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund, which has served to acquire state land and make that land available to sportsmen and women since 1989, is up for reauthorization.
- A recent Wisconsin Supreme Court decision held that the legislative oversight mechanism that has guided that land acquisition spending is unconstitutional.
- The need to both reauthorize the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund and restructure its oversight mechanism has created an unfortunate scenario where the Fund may be erased entirely.
- The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) has been working with partners and legislators to advocate for the Fund’s reauthorization.
Earlier this month, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers released his 2025-27 budget proposal, which included a $100 million annual investment into the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund in each of the next ten years. Following a 2024 decision by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the legislative oversight mechanism that had long approved land acquisitions was found to be unconstitutional. Without a legislative approval process in place, the Knowles-Nelson is, in all likelihood, closer than it has ever been to losing authorization.
The Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund has strong approval in the Badger State, with a recent survey indicating that 90% of Wisconsinites support dedicated public funding. In the Governors’ most recent proposal, 86% of the Fund would derive from state-issued bonds and the remaining from segregated and general taxes, serving as a supplement to the traditional ASCF model. Land acquired by the Fund must be open to hunting, fishing, and trapping, contributing to the State’s efforts to ensure there is no-net-loss of access to public lands.
Prior to the Governor releasing his budget proposal, CSF joined national and in-state partners in Madison to advocate for reauthorizing the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund. Contending that the oversight approval process could be replaced by a robust list of conditions that must be met to acquire land for the state, CSF will continue to work with legislators and partners throughout the session to ensure that the Fund is reauthorized, and Wisconsin sportsmen and women may continue to pursue their favorite species on public lands.
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Summary “No-Net-Loss” of public lands has become increasingly important to ensure access to public lands...
