Environment
Climate choices: Scenes from 2050
A yellow-gray haze stains Midwestern skies. Fueled by years of drought and record-setting heat, smoke from the annual devastation of Western wildfires mixes with that from fires spreading across Wisconsin and Minnesota north woods. Tired of running on an indoor treadmill since May, a young man from Detroit joins his friends for a pick-up street […]
‘Wildfire year’ meant record days at the highest preparedness level, Forest Service chief says
The U.S. Forest Service spent more consecutive days this summer at the agency’s highest level of preparedness for wildfires than in any previous year, Forest Service Chief Randy Moore told a U.S. House subcommittee Wednesday. Moore’s comments reflected the growing danger from more intense and harder-to -control fires that have swept Western and Midwestern states […]
Deer health and wild game bird outlooks for the fall hunting season
The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has confirmed that a tissue sample from a La Crosse County deer tested positive for the virus that causes Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease. It was confirmed after a landowner reported eight dead deer across a 200-acre property south of La Crosse. This particular virus is carried by midges, a kind […]
Wisconsin could see major changes if Congress passes ‘Build Back Better’
In Washington, D.C., two intertwined pieces of legislation are ensnared in bickering among House and Senate Democrats while Republicans mostly look the other way. But this week, a pair of conversations 850 miles west of the nation’s capital brought the potential impact of those bills home to Wisconsin — a brief slice of real life […]
Nonprofit status of group pushing for Wisconsin wolf hunts may not be valid
Update: This article was published on Wednesday morning, Hunter Nation officials did not respond to requests for comment until Thursday afternoon. We have now updated it with their comments throughout. The hunters’ rights advocacy organization heavily involved in pushing to hold wolf hunts in Wisconsin and other intense fights over the state’s conservation policy claims […]
Circuit Court rules Natural Resources Board chair can remain in seat
A Dane County Circuit Court judge ruled on Friday that Frederick Prehn can remain in his seat as chair of the Natural Resources Board (NRB). Prehn has refused to give up his seat since his term expired on May 1, saying state law allows him to hold on until his replacement, already nominated by Gov. […]
Environmental groups can file brief, but not join WMC lawsuit against hazardous contamination law
A Waukesha County judge will allow a group of environmental organizations to file a “friend of the court” brief in a lawsuit brought by Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC), the state’s largest business lobbying group, against the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The WMC lawsuit challenges Wisconsin’s “spills law,” which forces anyone who is responsible […]
U.S. House Democrats add more mass transit, high-speed rail in second shot at infrastructure bill
The U.S. House transportation panel early Wednesday passed along party lines the panel’s $60 billion slice of Democrats’ $3.5 trillion budget plan, adding nearly $20 billion for a new transit program and high-speed rail development in the states. Chairman Peter A. DeFazio of Oregon had considered these and other items underfunded in the Senate-led bipartisan infrastructure […]
Wisconsin joins the Enbridge Line 3 resistance
Across Wisconsin’s western border with Minnesota, Indigenous people and allies have united in months of resistance against the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline. For those who have traveled to the resistance camps, what’s at stake is clear. It’s a struggle not just against a defiant fossil fuel industry, but also against what some call “the Great […]
Four big climate items in the reconciliation bill in Congress
The U.S. House Natural Resources Committee late Thursday approved its first piece of Democrats’ sweeping $3.5 trillion spending blueprint on a party-line 24-13 vote. Among the highest priorities for President Joe Biden in the plan was addressing climate change, and the panel included initiatives ranging from oil and gas reform to offshore wind ventures. The […]
Natural Resources Board won’t hold September meeting amid succession fight
The September meeting of the Natural Resources Board (NRB) has been canceled after the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said it had no pending agenda items that required the board’s action. The cancellation comes as the board has been in the middle of a game of political tug-of-war between current chair Fred Prehn and the […]
We can’t stop climate change by investing in fossil fuels
The latest report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reiterated what we already know: We need to be taking swift, bold action to address climate change. If we don’t, the consequences are dire. The report called it a “code red for humanity.” While Gov. Tony Evers and President Joe Biden have […]