Sora by Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren
As I strolled through the neighborhood today at 10AM, I was covered in sweat. The humidity reminded me of North Little Rock, Arkansas — my hometown. Climate change has brought Arkansas weather to Madison. The dog days have arrived 8 weeks earlier than usual.
Continuing this melancholic train of thought I contemplated Stewardship's chances of surviving. Not good. There might be an old but sad shell game occurring among some Republicans. Some are working on a compromise that would preserve some version of Stewardship while others are trying to kill the program by refusing to pass a bill authorizing the program. The point of such an effort is to protect some Republicans from political harm if Stewardship dies. The Republicans who fear losing office on this issue can claim they worked hard to save it. They'll claim they just could not persuade enough of their colleagues to join them.*
What to do? Our only chance to save Stewardship is to join hands and send messages of Stewardship support to Governor Evers (so he'll insist on Stewardship being included in any version of the budget he'll sign) and legislators, especially Republicans, to support Stewardship. The arguments: it's good for the environment, animals, plants, people, outdoor recreation, the tourist economy and the overwhelmingly vast majority of Wisconsin voters and residents support it.**
The phrase "dog days" triggered another memory that snapped me out of my funk. In the third installment of the Guardians of the Galaxy (my favorite Marvel movies), the Guardians stop yet another evil, powerful genius intent on ruling and ruining the galaxy. This guy is the worst; he was even harming innocent raccoons, otters, and rabbits as part of his evil plot. The Guardians and all the children and critters they save dance for joy at the movie's end, to the sounds of "The Dog Days Are Over," a great tune by Florence and the Machine. The star of the dance is Groot, the Guardian, who is a walking, talking (sort-of) tree, who is kind, gentle, and thoughtful except when he is crushing bad guys. He has saved the galaxy and the Guardians several times. At one point when he risked being smashed to sawdust to save everyone, his best friend asked why. “We are Groot” was his reply. That was probably the moral highpoint of these films. And, if you don't mind taking a cue from popular culture, a reminder that we're all in this together. And we have to work together.
So, please, send the letter, email, or phone call today.
Thanks,
Topf Wells, Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance advocacy committee
* Let's hope it doesn't come to this, but, if Stewardship dies, the Republican legislators did it.
** Here are the directions how to contact the Governor and legislators: https://knowlesnelson.org/take-action/
What To Do:
1. Call Governor Evers at (608) 266-1212 and ask him to:
"Stand strong and demand that some Knowles-Nelson funding be included in the state budget. Compromise is fine, but we cannot accept zero funding for Knowles-Nelson."
2. Email the Governor and your legislators with just a few clicks, letting them know again that we must have some funding for Knowles-Nelson in the budget, even if it's nowhere near what the Governor proposed.
