Agriculture
Information about the relationship between agriculture and water quality, based on current science. WGF’s Cropland Management and Water Quality Team has developed several presentations, analyses, testimony, and comments to state government on this topic. Team members are volunteers with expertise in water quality, public health, and agricultural conservation.
Ron Grasshoff Re-Appointed to Land and Water Conservation Board
Ron Grasshoff, co-chair of WGF’s Public Trust and Wetlands Work Group, has been re-appointed to Wisconsin’s Land and Water Conservation Board (LWCB). Wisconsin’s Green Fire congratulates Ron on this important role!
On January 24th, Ron Grasshoff provided this summary and comments on his re-appointment to the LWCB.
Summary of LWCB From Section 92.04 of WI …
Read More >Guest blog: Wisconsin agriculture stressed by climate change
The Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Initiatives (WICCI) is a nationally recognized collaboration of scientists and stakeholders working together to help foster solutions to climate change in Wisconsin. WICCI formed as a partnership between UW–Madison’s Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in 2007. Wisconsin’s Green Fire …
Read More >WGF Members Author Sustainable Food Systems Paper
Agriculture uses more land and water than any other human activity, and our consumption demands continue to grow even as our resource base shrinks. A highly industrialized U.S. food system produces lots of food at seemingly low per unit cost. But our current system is taking a heavy toll on farmers and the environment, and …
Read More >WGF and Partners Lead Climate Readiness Assessment
Throughout 2021, Wisconsin’s Green Fire (WGF) has led the development of a first of its kind effort to conduct a rapid, comprehensive assessment bringing together climate readiness and conservation-based economic opportunities in a rural Western Wisconsin county. While state and federal governments play an essential role in developing climate policy and leading climate …
Read More >WGF Issues New Analysis: “Strategies for Mitigating Climate Change with Natural and Working Lands”
Investing in the health of our working lands is a powerful solution to addressing climate change, and is one of Wisconsin’s best economic development opportunities.
Read More >State Legislature Reviews Water Quality Task Force Bills
A package of 13 bills put forward by the Speaker’s Task Force on Water Quality is making its way through the state legislature. The legislative session ends March 25, 2020. The total package, costing $10 million is considered a down payment toward the actions needed to protect drinking water in Wisconsin. Provisions to increase funding for county conservation staff and to reduce nitrate pollution line up with recommendations made by Wisconsin’s Green Fire.
Read More >Scope of NR 151 – State Rules for Agricultural Practices to Reduce Nitrate Pollution of Groundwater in Sensitive Areas
Wisconsin’s Green Fire’s commented on the scope of NR 151 rule changes to address agricultural practices affecting nitrate pollution of groundwater in sensitive areas, Nitrate in groundwater is a significant concern for public health in Wisconsin. WGF comments stress the importance of agricultural producers, conservationists, and leaders working together to meet the challenge. NR 151 revision is a key state policy to meet the challenge.
Read More >Nitrogen in Wisconsin Waters and Health Effects of Nitrate in Drinking Water – WGF Videos
Nitrogen in Wisconsin Waters and Health Effects of Nitrate in Drinking Water – WGF members presenting on nitrogen in Wisconsin waters and the health effects of nitrate in drinking water.
Read More >Nitrates in Wisconsin Waters – A Wisconsin’s Green Fire Policy Analysis
While Wisconsin has among the finest freshwater resources in North America, an increasingly large number of Wisconsin communities, homes, schools, and businesses find their water sources unsafe to drink. The water crisis in Flint, Michigan was a wake-up call about the hazards of water supplies we once assumed would always be safe. The total scope of the water quality crisis in Wisconsin today is much larger however than one community or one region. Wisconsin needs a drinking water solution equal to the magnitude of the problem. This paper lays out elements of that solution.
Read More >Cropland Management and Water Quality – Phosphorus, Pathogens and Manure Management, Antibiotics and Manure Management
WGF releases a series of videos of members presenting on the relationship between cropping practices and water quality in Wisconsin, based on current science. This information draws from the expertise of water quality and public health scientists from DNR and the university system as well as agricultural conservation experience from WI Dept of Agriculture and …
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