OurConservation Priorities
Five-Year Strategic Goals
In 2022, Wisconsin's Green Fire leadership, Board, Science Council, and staff re-assessed WGF's path forward into the next five years. Our assessment led to great ideas for sharpening our execution and challenged us to focus our talents and efforts on our most important conservation priorities, while operating in ways that are more inclusive, and building teams that are more diverse.
Our strategic goals focus on implementing our mission, to advance science-informed analysis and policy solutions that address Wisconsin's greatest conservation challenges, with eyes set on our vision to achieve clean water, clean air, and healthy ecosystems in Wisconsin through science-based natural resource management.
Five-Year Program Priorities
Members of WGF's Science Council helped to shape and revise our program priorities to shape the focus of future WGF projects. Each of these program priority themes were identified as areas where WGF members hold expertise and where WGF can provide valuable leadership and insight. Paired with our strategic goals, these program priorities will inform our communications to members and supporters and our coordination and outreach to partner conservation organizations.
Climate Science, Climate Resilience, and Climate Solutions: Wisconsin’s Green Fire addresses the critical issue of climate change by contributing to science-informed and equitable solutions that especially address community climate resilience and greenhouse gas mitigation through renewable energy. WGF has led efforts in community climate resiliency in Monroe County and continues to build on this expertise in other areas.
Sustainable Agricultural Systems: Transforming our agricultural and working lands to more regenerative and more resilient land uses will help address widespread water contamination, help manage climate change impacts, prevent soil loss, improve water quality, reduce the loss of wildlife and biodiversity, and help family farms remain prosperous. WGF promotes research and policy changes to move toward sustainable agricultural systems and resilient land uses.
Conservation of Biodiversity: WGF has a large number of members with expertise in fish and wildlife management, and the conservation of forests, wetlands, grasslands, lakes, and rivers. WGF members work across disciplines to address needs for more effective protection and management of critical habitats and to encourage management models reflective of broader cultural traditions, including indigenous perspectives.
Contaminants of Emerging Concern: Contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), including PFAS and other environmentally persistent chemicals are increasingly being detected at low levels in surface water, ground water, and drinking water, and represent known environmental and health risks to humans. Members of our WGF’s Contaminants of Emerging Concern Work Group have extensive expertise in PFAS policy and management and continue to provide expert guidance and outreach to address PFAS and chemicals of concern in Wisconsin.
Supporting New Generations of Conservationists: WGF seeks to engage and support young people and people from all backgrounds and abilities in conservation and environmental careers and to help tackle tomorrow’s conservation challenges. WGF’s Aspiring Conservation Professionals work group continues to expand across the state and reach diverse groups of students and young professionals just starting out in their conservation careers. WGF’s Conservation Pathways Program will build a support network throughout Wisconsin to uplift and empower students from diverse backgrounds to see themselves in the field and find opportunities to excel in their studies and careers.