Author

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.
How to save Wisconsin’s health and environment
By: Bill Berry - 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 […]
Report finds a decade of environmental neglect in Wisconsin
By: Bill Berry - 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.” […]
How are Wisconsin voters being fooled?
By: Bill Berry - 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 […]
How climate is changing the habitat of some of the favorite fish of Wisconsin anglers
By: Bill Berry - 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 […]
Climate, earthworms and deer overpopulation alter northern forests
By: Bill Berry - 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 […]
If we can’t stop the shootings, maybe we should stop having parades
By: Bill Berry - 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 […]
Wisconsin’s disappearing Democrats
By: Bill Berry - 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 […]
It’s hard to ignore some facts about the largest hog Confined Animal Feed Operation in Wisconsin
By: Bill Berry - 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 […]