Wisconsin's Conservation Crunch

Time is running out for Wisconsin’s Knowles-Nelson stewardship program, the long-running conservation effort that has helped preserve more than 750,000 acres across all of Wisconsin’s 72 counties. Funding for the program ends on June 30th. This year, Wisconsin’s legislature declined to renew funding for Knowles-Nelson after 37 years of protecting Wisconsin’s treasured natural areas. New cleanup data is revealing some sources of plastic pollution in and along our Great Lakes. The Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup initiative has been collecting, sorting, and identifying pieces of plastic from water and shorelines to figure out how to stem the flow of plastic pollution into our Great Lakes. The biggest number of identifiable plastics in 2025 were cigarette butts and other smoking related items. Next biggest category: food bags, wrappers and cups. Right now on the Defender podcast, who’s behind the avalanche of AI data center moratoriums in Wisconsin? Listen at cleanwisconsin.org or wherever you get your podcasts.