You'll have to navigate some links today but I hope you'll find them worth reading; they contain important updates on conservationists' efforts to protect land that range from good to bad to ugly. Today, we’ll start in the reverse order.

The first contains information via Gathering Waters and some brilliant reporting by Paul Smith of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The story is disheartening, disappointing, and demonstrates the disrespect a Republican legislator has for conservation.

The Ozaukee Washington Land Trust (OWLT) has planned, negotiated, and worked for years to raise $5 million to purchase and preserve 131 acres of land, including bluffs, gorges, and lake frontage on Lake Michigan, just north of Milwaukee. The DNR recommended a Stewardship grant of $2.3 million to complete the funding package and seal the deal. One reason for such a large grant besides the quality of the land is that it links other undeveloped and ecologically important sites on Lake Michigan.

A Republican member of the Joint Finance Committee, probably a State Senator from Southeast Wisconsin, has single-handedly and anonymously blocked this grant without any public action or discussion whatsoever. He apparently hopes to kill the deal so a private developer will buy and develop the land.

While the Joint Finance Committee has the right to review and act on large Stewardship grants (and probably should review this grant in light of its size, the unique natural resources, and location in the most populous part of the state), allowing a single member to kill such a deal without any public discussion and action is evil and cowardly. A rumor persists that one reason the state senator is stopping the land trust's purchase is because the developer and/or his representatives are donors to his campaign. Well, you might say, you should not repeat such rumors unless you know they are true. Sorry, but to heck with that. If this senator and JFC don’t want rumors spread about their possibly nefarious actions, they can lose their wicked secrecy. Good government requires that the public knows what public officials are doing and for what reasons. Official actions must be public. Killing a recommended Stewardship grant is every bit an official act as approving it.

Other reasons for sadness or anger are the value of the land and the opportunities for conservation and outdoor recreation for the many residents and visitors to Lake Michigan, so close to the Milwaukee metropolitan area. Another is the hard work the land trust and citizens have invested in this purchase.

OWLT has not given up. They have until September 1 to raise the additional funds they now need and have re-doubled their efforts. They ask for donations and letters, calls, or emails to the members of Joint Finance to approve the grant.

This has been the hardest blog I've written for Madison Audubon. I've now paused at least 5 times because of the rage this Senator's misdeed and the JFC's acquiescence in it have generated. This is an example of inexcusable legislative arrogance and corruption. This legislator and JFC are spitting on grassroots conservation efforts and Wisconsin's vital tradition of open government.

*Plum Creek Conservation Area. Photo by Samuel Li / Courtesy of Mississippi Valley Conservancy*

My blood pressure is finally dropping because some excellent land conservation is still occurring. Mississippi Valley Conservancy (MVC) recently purchased 1600 acres of land at Plum Creek/Kickapoo River, making it one of the most consequential land projects in Southwest Wisconsin in a long time. I've reviewed some additional information about it and Madison Audubon members will be delighted to know it contains vital bird habitat, which will only improve with MVC restoration and management.

In addition, Madison Audubon helped The Prairie Enthusiasts with its purchase of 260 acres and it contains and adds to some of the most important grassland bird habitat in the Driftless Area. Birders take note, TPE needs your expert help to document birds' use of that habitat. And with Madison Audubon’s burn season winding down, TPE also needs volunteers to preserve vital habitat for the Bell's Vireo.

One reason we now have 1900 acres of vital habitat in Southwest Wisconsin preserved forever is that MVC and TPE worked for years on both projects. Taken together, the cost of the land was about $6 million, $3 million for each parcel. Staff, board members, and members wrote federal, state, and foundation grants and met with many individuals to raise those funds. I was lucky enough to help with TPE's fundraising. I was amazed and touched by how many conservationists were willing to ask friends and acquaintances for donations. Many times they took a chance and introduced themselves and the project to folks who they thought might help. With all due respect to the burning, chopping, cutting, planting, etc that we have to do to care for our lands, asking for money might be even harder.

Knowing how hard the OWLT members have worked for so many years makes the JFC action even more outrageous.

Enough, the dogs and I definitely have to get outside and see what spring has sprung in the neighborhood.

Topf Wells, Madison Audubon advocacy committee chair