State's powerful budget committee rejects another stewardship project, this time in Ashland
MADISON – The Legislature's powerful budget committee once again struck down a proposal to use funding from the state's stewardship program for a project, this time a boat launch in the city of Ashland.
The Joint Finance Committee voted along party lines Thursday to deny $1.02 million for a boat launch at Kreher Park, located within the former Ashland/Northern States Power Lakefront Superfund site.
Rep. Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, a co-chair of the committee, said it was easy to see why the project was denied: because the stewardship money would have paid for over 70% of the total cost for the boat launch.
"The locals are barely at the table," he said. "They can't even meet us halfway. There are a lot of projects that get 50-50 or a lot more than that even. And local buy-in isn't just the local government."
Born noted that the city was asked to be more of a partner in the project, but said "we can't right now."
"OK, by all means, if they want to be a partner, then reapply and we'll be happy to be a partner with them," he said. "But not the funder."
Sen. Kelda Roys, D-Madison, said it's likely that there hasn't been more local buy-in due to lower incomes in the Ashland area, compared to areas such as Oconomowoc.
"The locals, including the local government entities, private grants and donations, are paying 27%, which is more than a quarter," Roys said during the hearing. "No, granted that might not be as much as you think they should pay. But the reality is not all communities are equally well situated to fund big infrastructure projects."
The current boat launch, which provides access to Lake Superior, is made of timber and has deteriorated over the years, according to documents. The launch is not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, either, and has been listed as a priority project by the Wisconsin Waterways Commission. The launch is also inaccessible to larger boats, due to sedimentation issues caused by lake currents.
Without the funding, the project won't be able to move forward, unless the city is able to find an alternative source. Rep. Deb Andraca, D-Whitefish Bay, said Wisconsin should be investing in projects like these.
"I know that the stewardship program is very popular with the Wisconsin public, and I think we should be listening to people on the ground and local officials and DNR experts about what investments they'd like to see, whether it's parks, boat launches or ways to access the Great Lakes," she said in an interview after the hearing.
"It's what makes Wisconsin great and the state should be investing in this, particularly at a time when we have a surplus."
Stewardship program has faced pushback by the budget committee
The Knowles-Nelson Stewardship program has in recent years been a point of contention, due to the veto power of the Joint Finance Committee of the Legislature.
The committee has slowed down several projects, including the Cedar Gorge Clay Bluffs along Lake Michigan, just north of Milwaukee, and the Pelican River Forest, which is one of the largest conservation projects in the state's history.
In both cases, legislators on the powerful budget committee vetoed the project anonymously, stalling state funding and halting the purchase of the land. Both conservation projects were completed with outside funding — Cedar Gorge with COVID relief funding, and in the case of the Pelican River Forest through the Richard King Mellon Foundation, as well as grants from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the U.S. Forest Service Legacy Program.
The stewardship program, named after former Govs. Warren Knowles, a Republican, and Gaylord Nelson, a Democrat, was historically celebrated for its bipartisan support, but more recently, the parties have divided over what level to fund the program and how much land the state needs to preserve.
The program has helped pay for everything from developing bicycle trails and electrifying campsites to blockbuster deals such as the $35.1 million Wild Rivers Legacy Forest involving more than 64,000 acres in Florence, Forest and Marinette counties in 2007, 2009 and 2010.
Laura Schulte can be reached at leschulte@jrn.com and on X at @SchulteLaura.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin budget committee rejects Knowles-Nelson stewardship project
