Federal Funding Pause: Implications for WGF
Wisconsin's Green Fire, January 28, 2025

A message from Meleesa Johnson, WGF Executive Director
Responding to the Trump Administration’s Pause on Federal Funding, January 28, 2025
The flurry of Trump Administration executive orders, actions, and memoranda has set forth a snowstorm of speculation, concern, uncertainty and, for some, fear. The White House memo issued today (M-25-13) announcing a pause on much federal funding, is particularly concerning on many levels.
Many of us feel disconnected or confused about how the system of federal funding works or affects our daily lives. It is a complicated mosaic of grants, loans and direct program support. However, each and every one of us, in all reaches of this great state of Wisconsin, at all income levels, benefits from that mosaic.
Perhaps you are wondering, what does this current pause on federal funding mean for Wisconsin’s Green Fire?
- Most of our funding for Wisconsin’s Green Fire comes directly from our donors, not from federal funding.
- However, we do have federal funding for our Farm Sustainability Rewards (FSR) Project. This is an important project. The FSR Project moves us toward our goals of improving water quality, mitigating climate change, and economically rewarding farmers who are engaged in conservation and regenerative agriculture.
- We will continue this work while we wait for clarity around the executive orders and/or while lawsuits challenging the order are fought.
More broadly, we will work with our state and federal partners to understand the impact of the order on conservation program and environmental protection funding. As an example, we learned last week that the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) was awarded $38 million in funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for state conservation programs.
I am grateful for each of you. We are a massive community of voices for conservation working together. Our mission and vision remain the same.
- Together, we work toward our mission to “advance science-informed analysis and policy solutions that address Wisconsin’s greatest conservation challenges.”
- Our guiding vision is that all Wisconsinites “enjoy the benefits of clean water, clean air, and healthy ecosystems achieved through scientific and thoughtful management of natural resources.”
Without you, we could not do this work. Thank you!
With sincere and deep gratitude to all of you,
Meleesa

Uphill in the snow, Vilas County, photo by Carolyn Pralle