219 Conservation Projects to Watch in Wisconsin

Ever wondered what you’d do with a million dollars? How about using it to protect nature here in Wisconsin?

The Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin (NRF) puts approximately $1 million each year towards conservation and environmental education work in Wisconsin. In 2023, they granted $948,533 to projects all across the state, to be precise.

The Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin’s 2023 Grants Map shows all 219 grants given over the course of the year. These “projects to watch” were selected by various committees of conservation experts as being the state’s top priority projects.

NRF primarily funds projects that protect Wisconsin’s lands, waters, and wildlife. They also support environmental education, efforts to build climate resiliency for Wisconsin’s landscapes, and initiatives that make outdoors more diverse, equitable, and inclusive.

Protecting WI’s Lands, Waters, and Wildlife
Protecting nature in Wisconsin is the main focus of the grants. Many projects are restoring native prairies and woodlands, creating pollinator habitat, removing invasive species, and more. Projects are truly statewide, from the Chiwaukee Prairie in Kenosha County to Pattison State Park in Douglas County, from Wyalusing State Park in Grant County to Spread Eagle Barrens in Florence County.

Environmental Education
Environmental education grants inspire the next generation of conservation stewards. One grant this year covered transportation costs for Oneida Nation youth participating in a nature-based, outdoor summer camp. The camp featured three days of outdoor adventure, conservation education, and cultural teachings from an Oneida tribal elder.

Many other environmental education grants cover transportation costs, fees, and equipment rentals such as canoes to reduce the burden on teachers and students. Without the grant funds, many kids who couldn’t afford field trip fees would not have the same experiences as their classmates.

Accessible, Inclusive Outdoors
Like the Oneida summer camp, many of NRF’s other grants are “dual-purpose,” increasing access to the outdoors to a wider variety of Wisconsinites and supporting conservation simultaneously. One example of this is a grant that supported the purchase of an action track chair for Point Beach State Forest, the first property in the state park system to purchase a track chair. The park also hosted an outdoor wheelchair program to promote inclusive access to public lands and demo their adaptive outdoor recreation equipment.

For more information about all this year’s grantees, browse NRF’s 2023 Grants Map or read more about some of the funded projects at wisconservation.org/blog. Organizations interested in applying for grants can visit wisconservation.org/grants.

NRF thanks its members, supporters, and partner organizations for making these projects possible.

The Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin (NRF) protects our state’s lands, waters, and wildlife by providing funding, leading partnerships, and connecting all people to nature. NRF invests approximately $1 million each year into conservation and environmental education and leads several diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts for Wisconsin’s conservation community. NRF also helps people explore the outdoors by coordinating 250+ expert-led Field Trips each year to Wisconsin’s most special places and hosts The Great Wisconsin Birdathon, the state’s largest fundraiser for bird conservation. Learn more and get involved at www.wisconservation.org.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.

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