Residents across the state will have a chance to sound off on a variety of conservation issues.
Annual Conservation Congress hearings will take place tonight in each Wisconsin county. DNR liaison Kurt Thiede says those attending will have many topics to consider, with 91 questions on the ballot this year. The issues range from bag and size limits for fishing to allowing hunting in some state parks.
Thiede says one of the biggest topics to be voted on tonight are the three questions dealing with the state's earn-a-buck program. He says the public could call on the DNR to eliminate the program or greatly reduce its use. Thiede says interest in those questions could be more relaxed though, after the DNR recently said it would consider a moratorium on earn-a-buck for the coming hunting season.
Thiede says another major issue tonight will be a change in the definition for firearms used in hunting. The change is meant to keep experimental types of weapons from being used without DNR approval.
The results of the statewide voting should be available later this week.
AUDIO: Andrew Beckett reports (MP3 1:03)
