PLEASE READ THE LETTER BELOW AND HELP SAVE THE WETLANDS,
Dear
Conservation Sportmen of Wisconsin,
The Conservation Congress needs to
mobilize to attend a public hearing next Thursday at 11 am in Room 411 South in
the State Capitol to oppose Assembly Bill 547 and Senate Bill 600
(identical bills) which remove the authority of the DNR to protect over a
million acres of wetlands, known as non-federal wetlands. The great majority of
these wetlands provide very important habitat for the fish and wildlife that we
hunt, fish and trap.
The Conservation Congress has been
working with the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, Ducks Unlimited, Trout
Unlimited, Wisconsin Waterfowl Association, Pheasants Forever , Wisconsin
Trappers Association and the Wisconsin Wetlands Association to oppose this
bill. The public hearing next Thursday is a joint Assembly and Senate hearing
and will be the only public hearing held on this bill.
Ducks Unlimited
has been working in good faith with the bill authors and the development
community to amend AB 547/SB 600 favorably, however, we have not seen any draft
substitute language despite giving them a proposal to work from that would
address the vast majority of the wetland permit concerns we are hearing about.
This move to hold a hearing four days before Christmas on a half-baked,
misguided, and damaging piece of legislation after clearly hearing our stance
on the bill is insulting to the conservation community and disrespectful to
Wisconsinites.
We need to pack
the hearing room and show them that we mean business. A strong turnout will
pressure lawmakers to ultimately amend the bill how we want it amended. I have
attached the proposal that we developed in coordination with several other
conservation groups and that represents a good faith attempt to address the
concerns of the development folks without subjecting wetlands to undue harm.
There is a very good chance that this
bill will pass unless Wisconsin sportsmen and women show up in large numbers to
oppose the bill. When you get to the hearing you have the option to testify
against the bill or sign a slip registering against the bill.
If you absolutely cannot make it to the
hearing, you can an email opposing the fill to the members of the two
committees. Their email addresses are:
Rep.Horlacher@legis.wisconsin.gov; Rep.Ballweg@legis.wisconsin.gov;
Rep.Hutton@legis.wisconsin.gov;
Rep.Jacque@legis.wisconsin.gov;
Rep.Macco@legis.wisconsin.gov;
Rep.Quinn@legis.wisconsin.gov;
Rep.Brostoff@legis.wisconsin.gov;
Rep.Anderson@legis.wisconsin.gov; Rep.Genrich@legis.wisconsin.gov; Sen.Cowles@legis.wisconsin.gov;
Thank you for standing tall for
Wisconsin’s sportsmen and women,
Larry Bonde, Chairman of the Wis. Conservation Congress
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