Evers proposes increase in parks spending
Program helps buy land, update infrastructure
After a year of considerable growth in the number of visits to Wisconsin state parks, Gov. Tony Evers is looking to give more money to a program to help purchase land and update park infrastructure.
Evers proposed spending $70 million a year over the next 10 years on the Warren Knowles-Gaylord Nelson Stewardship program, which can be used to purchase state lands and partially fund projects in communities such as bike paths and parks, among other functions.
Included in the budget for the program: $5 million a year for county forests, $1 million a year for state property development, $9 million a year for DNR land acquisition and $22 million to $23 million a year for property development.
The proposal for a boost in funds comes on the heels of a record year in state park visits brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.
With a majority of businesses closed and an inability to travel during the months of lockdown, Wisconsinites and residents from neighboring states flocked to state parks, with 20.7 million visits, according to a study by the Wisconsin Policy Forum. The number doesn’t include visits from December.
The sales of state park passes rose 42% over the number sold in 2019, the report said. December data is also not included in that number.
The Policy Forum notes that 2020 had the highest state park attendance for any year with available data.
The newly proposed budget would allow for more updates to existing properties, instead of largely pursuing new properties.
The Department of Natural Resources originally requested $50 million a year over the next 10 years, up from the $32 million a year the program currently receives.
Altogether, the agency manages or protects 1.8 million acres throughout the state.
Over the past 10 years, Republican lawmakers have raised concerns about the size of the program and the extent of the state’s landholdings. Legislators have also expressed concern that the land can’t be purchased for develop
ment and that the program accrues a large amount of interest on its purchases each week.
Sen. Duey Stroebel, R-Saukville, said the state is already paying down $1 billion in debt for purchases made under the program, and now accounts for 65% of the DNR’s general-purpose funds in the budget.
“The program is expensive, and there are diminishing returns because we’ve already bought up a lot of the really good parcels,” he said. “At some point we need to ask ‘when is enough, enough?’ and ‘how do we target these funds more effectively on the few projects that maybe still make the most sense?’ ”
Groups that support the program see an opportunity for the state with the additional money for the program.
Charles Carlin, the director of strategic initiatives for Gathering Waters, an organization that works to protect Wisconsin’s land, water and wildlife, said the organization was excited to see such a large increase proposed, but acknowledged the final amount signed into law could be lower. Even so, he said money set aside for stewardship will help to create more spaces for people to enjoy the outdoors and creates a good investment for the state.
According to the study, Wisconsin consistently ranks low on its spending for state parks, coming in 48th at $3.67 of spending per capita, ahead of only Arizona and Texas. In comparison, the state ranks 19th in the number of visits per capita, at three visits per year.
“Investment in land and water conservation has an impressive value in terms of what they return back to people. The stewardship program costs people about $20 a year, less than taking your family out for a meal,” Carlin said. “In return, we get 650,000 acres that have been set aside for conservation, thousands of parks and trails. This is the foundation that supports outdoor recreation.”