Author

Bill Berry

Bill Berry

Green Bay native Bill Berry has been a working journalist and environmental communicator for a hell of a long time. (or you could say several decades). His main areas of focus are the environment and the human condition, which he says are often intertwined. He authored "Banning DDT: How Citizen Activists in Wisconsin Led the Way," published by the WIsconsin Historical Society Press. The 2014 book was the winner in the nature category of the annual Midwest Independent Publishers Association competition. As a self-employed writer/communicator, he has also made presentations to national audiences on conservation, especially on private lands in the U.S. He lives in Stevens Point.

COMMENTARY
The Northern Highland-American Legion State Forest

How to save Wisconsin’s health and environment

By: - October 26, 2022

Wisconsin’s Green Fire, a nonprofit group that says its mission is “to protect Wisconsin’s conservation legacy” by “promoting science-based management of natural resources,” recently issued a report that says the Legislature and state agencies are in the vice-like grip of powerful lobbyists led by Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce. Green Fire says efforts to protect natural […]

The Northern Highland-American Legion State Forest

Report finds a decade of environmental neglect in Wisconsin

By: - October 10, 2022

A new report by Wisconsin’s Green Fire, a nonprofit group whose mission is “to protect Wisconsin’s conservation legacy” by “promoting science-based management of natural resources,” says the state’s efforts to protect natural resources and human health are being paralyzed by special interests and political ideology, resulting in what the group calls a “public health crisis.” […]

COMMENTARY
Protester in a MAGA cheesehead at the Reopen Wisconsin rally at the Capitol on April 24, 2020 (photo by Luther Wu).

How are Wisconsin voters being fooled?

By: - September 28, 2022

STEVENS POINT – The older I get, the less I know. Maybe it’s the wisdom of age telling me I wasn’t nearly as smart as I thought. Be that as it may, as the son of working-class parents and grandparents, I can’t for the life of my old bones understand why folks of modest means […]

Fisheries researcher tracks tagged muskies in the Fox River

How climate is changing the habitat of some of the favorite fish of Wisconsin anglers

By: - July 19, 2022

For as long as anyone can remember, the highly prized walleye has been a staple of Wisconsin’s northern lake fisheries. For some anglers, nothing matches the walleye for the kinds of fishing thrills it provides. They’re elusive, cautious and always a rewarding catch. They’re also a mainstay of the state’s tourist industry.  But in many […]

The Northern Highland-American Legion State Forest

Climate, earthworms and deer overpopulation alter northern forests

By: - July 18, 2022

As summer reaches its peak, thousands of vacationers are flocking to the forests and lakes of Northern Wisconsin. But those lakes and forests are undergoing big changes, due to the impacts of climate change, invasive species, an oversized deer population and other human-caused disturbances.  The Wisconsin Examiner takes a look at some of the threats […]

COMMENTARY
HIGHLAND PARK, IL - JULY 06: Flowers and keepsakes are seen at a memorial for the victims of a mass shooting at a Fourth of July parade, on July 6, 2022 in Highland Park, Illinois. Authorities have charged Robert “Bobby” E. Crimo III, 22, with seven counts of first-degree murder in the attack that also injured 47, according to published reports. (Photo by Jim Vondruska/Getty Images)

 If we can’t stop the shootings, maybe we should stop having parades

By: - July 6, 2022

In the wake of the latest massacre of innocent Americans, this time not far across the Wisconsin state line in Highland Park, Illinois, maybe it’s time we end parades and other events where people who gather to celebrate are turned into victims. And with all the concerns voiced about taxes, maybe we’d just better admit […]

COMMENTARY
Rendering of the blue donkey in a spotlight representing the Democratic political party, on top of the American Flag.

Wisconsin’s disappearing Democrats

By: - June 27, 2022

It’s probably just as well that my parents and grandpa are in heaven, sipping whatever nectar they serve there, because they wouldn’t be happy with the state of politics today. Our two-flat, working-class home in Green Bay was union proud, with railroad man grandpa upstairs, my dad the union electrician and mom the Roosevelt Democrat […]

COMMENTARY
Pig farm

It’s hard to ignore some facts about the largest hog Confined Animal Feed Operation in Wisconsin

By: - May 12, 2022

After the so-called Roth II hog factory in the town of Marietta, Crawford County, was granted a Wisconsin Pollution Elimination Discharge Permit by the Department of Natural Resources, Forest Jahnke, a  longtime opponent of such giant operations told me, “To me, it says a CAFO of any type and size can be sited anywhere in […]