Blog Articles

Weekly News – April 18, 2017 – Wisconsin DNR MADISON – Early spring is the best time to check gardens, yards and woodlands for garlic mustard and take measures to control this rapidly spreading invasive plant, state invasive plant experts say.

Members have been asking, what does the Forestry Mill Tax pay for? Funds raised through the Forestry Mill Tax are deposited in the DNR Conservation Fund under the Forestry Account.  The DNR Forestry Account Revenue and Expenditures for fiscal year 2016 have been released.  The Forestry Account shows revenues of $118,289,789 with total state and federal expenditures of $113,628,313.  The Forestry Mill Tax provided a revenue of $83,306,027.

WI DATCP Contact: Donna Gilson, 608-224-5130, donna.gilson@wi.gov  or Bill Cosh, Communications Director, 608-224-5020, William2.Cosh@wi.gov MADISON – You’ve heard it before, and we hate to be pests, but now that cabin and camping season is starting, remember: Don’t move firewood.

Contact(s): Heather Kaarakka. DNR conservation biologist, 608-266-2576 MADISON – People can help bats that survive white-nose syndrome this winter by building a bat house where they can raise their young during summer months. “Bats surviving white-nose syndrome need all the help they can get to raise their young and help rebuild populations,” said Heather Kaarakka, a Department of Natural Resources conservation biologist who works with Wisconsin’s bat populations for the Natural Heritage Conservation Bureau.

Forty-four wildfires have burned in the last week with more anticipated this weekend due to strong winds and dry conditions in parts of the state.  As the DNR suspends burning permits in several counties where the DNR has burning authority, the public is being asked to use extreme caution, especially with brush or burn piles, and follow the fire restrictions over the next few days until the fire danger minimizes.

Contact: Joe Passineau, president, Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame, 715-677-4047 or Jim Dick, DNR spokesperson, 608-267-2773 Long-time Natural Resources Board member Christine Thomas among inductees STEVENS POINT, Wis. — A University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Dean of the College of Natural Resources who served for 11 years on the state Natural Resources Board is among three new members who will be inducted into the Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame this year.

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.

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.