Funding killed for Wisconsin’s largest conservation project

By SCOTT BAUER
Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republicans on the Legislature’s budget committee have voted to kill funding for the largest land conservation project in Wisconsin history. The move Tuesday comes following concerns about the $15 million purchase of 56,000 acres of forest land that would have been open to both logging and recreational use. Republican lawmakers objected in November to using $4 million from the state’s Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program to help finance the purchase of the property east of Rhinelander known as the Pelican River Forest. Republican Sen. Mary Felzkowski says that efforts to address Republicans’ concerns were unsuccessful. Felzkowski raised concerns about what effect it would have on northern Wisconsin’s economy to remove that much land from future potential development.