Blog Articles

Thieves are illegally cutting down thousands of birch trees in northern Minnesota and Wisconsin to make a quick buck off city dwellers who love the paper-white logs, limbs and twigs in their home decor. The thefts have caught county sheriffs and state natural resource officials by surprise over the past few months, sending them scrambling to determine how big the problem is and how to keep it from getting worse.

The Joint Committee on Finance (JCF) will hold public hearings on the Governor’s 2017-19 Biennial Budget – Assembly Bill 64/Senate Bill 30 – which contain the provisions to remove the Forestry Mill Tax.  WWOA and other conservation organizations strongly oppose the removal of the Forestry Mill Tax funding in the state budget because it places Wisconsin’s nationally recognized forests and their resulting benefits at great risk.

Join Women of WWOA on  October 21 Women of WWOA invites all women woodland owners to join us for a fall day at Woodside Ranch near Mauston to learn more school forests and activities for youth along with a narrated wagon ride through the property. Registration is now open.

The Wisconsin Woodland Owners Association authored the following coalition letter to share information about the Forestry Mill Tax’s 2017-19 budget provisions with Wisconsin’s citizens and legislators. An Open Letter to Wisconsin citizens and legislators, Wisconsin forests are at risk in the 2017-19 state budget proposal, which removes the designated stable funding of the Forestry Mill Tax.

To Members of the Wisconsin Forestry Community, No doubt you’re aware of the Governor’s proposal to replace the funding that has been generated through our Forestry Mill Tax since 1930 with what is proposed to be an equal amount of General Purpose Revenue (GPR).  In any of the discussions I’ve had with forestry stakeholders about this I’ve heard strong concerns and a variety of opinions, but I’ve never heard anyone suggest we’d be better off…

The Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau publishes  informational papers  on various aspects of the state budget. The Conservation Fund  paper is a 96 page document detailing revenue and expenditures related to natural resources.  Information on the Forestry Account starts on page 26 of this larger document or the select Forestry Account  to learn  more about this aspect of the state budget.

Aase Klopp, Birnamwood – passed away January 1, 2017.

Governor Walker’s budget bill includes shifting funding for the DNR Forestry Program from the Forestry Mill Tax to general purpose revenues (GPR) for the 2017-2019 biennium.  This shift will jeopardize the stable funding source, which has supported the DNR Forestry Program and may place DNR Forestry and its 100 years of forestry accomplishments at risk.

It’s not too late to sign up for DMAP in 2017 to improve habitat for wildlife! Wisconsin’s Deer Management Assistance Program can help you enhance wildlife habitat on property your own or hunt.

David Stelter, Wautoma – passed away February 12, 2017.