All Candidates for WI Governor Vow to Revive Land Conservation Program

The Agaski Bluff in southern Wisconsin was acquired by The Prairie Enthusiasts in December 2024. The 38-acre site is home to Wisconsin’s largest population of the state-endangered pale false foxglove. Photo courtesy of The Prairie Enthusiasts

Both Republican and Democratic candidates for governor are pledging support for a stewardship program set to end this month after protecting hundreds of thousands of acres of public land in Wisconsin.

The Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program will expire June 30 because Republican and Democratic lawmakers couldn’t agree on reauthorization terms. The program has been used to purchase public lands for conservation since 1989, protecting around 750,000 acres statewide.

Candidates in the crowded field for Wisconsin governor are vowing to bring Knowles-Nelson back — but their past votes and statements present a more complicated picture.

Four Democrats in the race voted against state budgets that reauthorized the program when they were state legislators. And Republican Tom Tiffany voted to extend the program as a state senator despite objecting to several land purchases and co-writing an editorial seven years ago suggesting the program “in its current form, has run its course.”

In his 2021 state budget proposal, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers called for a 10-year, $700 million extension of the Knowles-Nelson program. But Republicans stripped that down and landed on an additional $32 million to spend on land purchases through the end of June 2026. At the time, state Rep. Francesca Hong, D-Madison, state Sen. Kelda Roys, and then-state Rep. Sara Rodriguez voted against the budget, along with most of their Democratic colleagues.

In a statement to WPR, Hong said she voted against the budget, in part, because it didn’t increase general public school aid and failed to expand BadgerCare health insurance coverage options.“The Stewardship Program was one good provision, but it was buried inside a budget that fell far short of what working families needed,” said Hong.

With the program expiring next week, Hong said the Stewardship Program is part of what makes Wisconsin great and has bipartisan support, “but Republicans refuse to fund it.”

“I co-sponsored legislation reauthorizing the program, and as governor ,I’ll fight to fully fund it with no caps on project size and an independent board to end anonymous vetoes from legislators,” Hong said.

Rodriguez, now lieutenant governor, said she’s fought for “full, sustainable funding for this program.” In a statement, she said her 2021 vote against the budget that included stewardship program was focused on Republican moves to strip out funding for public education and a BadgerCare expansion.

In an interview with WPR, Rodriguez hailed the Stewardship Program for protecting lakes and lands for generations and said letting it expire is a serious mistake. She said Democrats need to flip GOP majorities and win the governor’s race to restore the program. Rodriguez also attacked Tiffany’s critical comments about the program and land purchases in the past.

“We know that we’ve got a huge outdoor recreation tourism economy in the state of Wisconsin. And it really says a lot about Tom Tiffany that he has been a vocal critic of funding this program when his own business has benefited from it,” said Rodriguez.

Despite calling to pause land purchases, Tiffany voted twice to extend program

Tiffany has long been critical about land purchases under the stewardship program, but vowed in a statement to WPR  to keep it going with new conditions.

The business benefit Rodriguez referred to ties back to Tiffany’s time running boat tours on the Willow River Flowage reservoir in Oneida County, which benefited from millions of dollars on land purchase with Knowles-Nelson funds, according to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article from 2015.

That year, Tiffany voiced support for former Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal in the state budget to freeze the stewardship fund, but stripped the provision as member of the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee.

In 2019, Tiffany wrote an editorial with former State Sen. Duey Stroebel, R-Saukville, claiming the Knowles-Nelson program had grown beyond its means by accumulating too much land and “staggering debt.” They said the state land projects also pulled property off state and local tax rolls.

“The program, in its current form, has run its course,” the editorial proclaimed.

Still, Tiffany voted for the state budget in 2019, which extended the program through 2022. Democratic Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who was in the state Assembly in 2019, voted against the budget and the four-year extension.

In a statement to WPR about its pending expiration, Tiffany vowed to reauthorize Knowles-Nelson if elected governor.

“I will continue Knowles Nelson with a renewed focus on maintaining the lands we already own for future generations, while being fiscally responsible with the more than $500 million in outstanding debt taxpayers still owe,” said Tiffany.

A statement from Crowley’s campaign said he’s always supported a quick reauthorization, but would explore “a more durable funding structure” providing steady support amidst political gridlock.

Roys told WPR it’s a tragedy “Republicans have finally succeeded in killing the Knowles Nelson Stewardship Program,” and one of the first things she’ll do as governor is “pass emergency funding” to get it back online in January. She said Republicans will regret their opposition to the popular program.

“I think they’re going to feel it at the ballot box when voters punish them and say, ‘Hey, you took away this really important program for us, and we want to make sure you reauthorize it,’” Roys said.

Neither Roys’ or Crowley’s campaigns immediately responded to a follow-up request for comment on their 2021 vote against the budget authorizing the Stewardship Program in its current form.

Three other Democrats running for governor also vowed to resume the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Programs if elected, via statements sent to WPR.

Former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes said he would restore it with “permanent funding and keep Wisconsin’s public lands free for all Wisconsinites.” Former Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan said around 90 percent of Wisconsin residents live within a mile of land conserved by the fund. And former Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation CEO Missy Hughes called it “shameful” that Republicans defunded the program, and said she’s committed to restoring the funding “on my first day in office” as governor.

Candidates for governor vow to revive land conservation program was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.