Policy
WGF analyses and statements on broad policy about science in natural resource management, as well as legislation and actions with wide-ranging policy implications for Wisconsin’s environment.
How an Idea Becomes a Law
As Wisconsin’s Green Fire’s (WGF) Legislative Liaison, I monitor legislative activity and watch for opportunities for WGF to provide information through testimony and comments. Unlike many environmental and conservation organizations, WGF does not actually lobby for law changes. Instead our role is to provide information to legislators and the public about proposed legislation based on …
Read More >WGF Media Statement: Wisconsin’s Green Fire Applauds Selection of Preston Cole as DNR Secretary
Madison, WI – Wisconsin’s Green Fire is encouraged by Governor-Elect Evers’ selection of Preston Cole as the Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Preston Cole comes to the position of DNR Secretary with extensive experience in natural resources management and a deep knowledge of conservation issues facing Wisconsin. Mr. Cole has a …
Read More >WGF Media Statement: Legislation Will Hurt State Agency Performance and Increase Costs
Statement on Extraordinary Session Senate Substitute Amendment 1 to SB 884 Legislation Will Hurt State Agency Performance and Increase Costs
Madison, WI – Provisions in Senate Bill 884 (SB 884) would significantly impact the work of executive agencies throughout state government. Wisconsin’s Green Fire, an organization comprised of many former and active state employees, understands …
Read More >Business-backed law would put environmental regulations more firmly in Legislature’s hands
In Gov. Scott Walker’s final weeks in office, the state business lobby is trying to enact measures Republican lawmakers failed to pass previously that would place more authority for environmental protections under direct control of the Legislature.
Critics said new legal standards for certain paperwork could within six months jeopardize programs that enhance fishing, hunting, natural …
Read More >Wisconsin’s Green Fire Media Statement on AB 1070
Proposed Legislation Will Increase Workload and Costs and Hurt Performance for State Agencies
Madison, WI – Extraordinary Session Bill AB 1070 contains provisions that will significantly constrain the work of executive agencies throughout state government. As an organization comprised of many former and active state employees, Wisconsin’s Green Fire understands that some of these provisions, if …
Read More >2018 Proposed Legislation: AB 1070 Relating to: Legislative Powers and Duties, State Agency and Authority Composition and Operations, and Administrative Rule-Making Process.
AB 1070, Relating to: legislative powers and duties, state agency and authority composition and operations, and administrative rule-making process.
- Eliminates the employees and the Office of the Solicitor General in the Department of Justice, which represents the state in certain cases on appeal in state and federal courts.
- Requires any party challenging the constitutionality of a state …
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A New Governor Could Mean Hope for Wisconsin’s Environment
It’s been one week since Democrat Tony Evers defeated incumbent Republican Scott Walker in the Wisconsin governor’s race. Over the last eight years, Walker has moved the state to the right, cut taxes, lessened the power of labor unions, and diminished environmental regulations. Now, Evers says he will reverse many of these decisions, …
Read More >Op / Ed Ask Candidates Where They Stand on Using Science in Conservation
On Election Day, November 6, 2018, voters in Wisconsin have an opportunity to support the health and future of our natural resources. The quality of natural resources impacts every single person in the state – via recreation, tourism industry, paper and logging industries, our heat and electricity, agriculture, hunting and fishing, the water we drink, …
Read More >Reclaiming Wisconsin’s legacy of conservation leadership
I recently found myself in an end-of-the-workday discussion with a younger colleague about the state of conservation in Wisconsin. In response to recent political developments, she was exasperated and bewildered. “When I was in college in the ‘90s, we looked to the older generation and wondered what there was left for us to do! They’d …
Read More >Concern for Wisconsin environment more broad than you might think
Intro by James Perry, Ph.D., Campus Executive Officer and Dean Emeritus, University of Wisconsin-Fox Valley.
Just how widespread is the concern for what is taking place with respect to the wise management of Wisconsin’s natural resources and our environment? Those who are currently in control of the political landscape would have people believe that it’s a fringe minority …
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