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For Earth Day ‘No Mow May’ is taking root in Wisconsin

April 22, 2022 By Bob Hague

The No Mow May movement continues to take root in Wisconsin communities. Ashland residents are being encouraged not to mow their yards in May to help feed early-arriving bugs and birds. City council members voted this week to suspend enforcement of mowing ordinances until June 3.

Allowing grass to grow in spring creates habitat and forage such as dandelion and clover blooms for early-season pollinators. Two years ago, Appleton became the first city in the U.S. to adopt No Mow May. Other cities that have embraced the voluntary program include Wausau, La Crosse, Fort Atkinson and Stevens Point.

“We have a strong conservation ethic here in Stevens Point,” said Mayor Mike Wiza. “We have constructed pollinator gardens around the community and have worked to allow honey bees to be kept in the city. “No Mow May” is just one more way people who choose to help can do so.”

Insects play a critical role in local ecosystems, pollination and food production, but a new study warns that extreme land use combined with warming temperatures are pushing insect ecosystems toward collapse in some parts of the world.

Filed Under: Agriculture, Environment / Conservation, Health / Medicine, News

DATCP confirms two additional cases of bird flu

April 11, 2022 By Bob Hague

Two more cases of bird flu have been confirmed in Wisconsin. They’re the third and fourth confirmed outbreaks in the state. On Friday, the state Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection confirmed highly pathogenic avian influenza at a non-commercial farm with about 200 turkeys and ducks south of Milwaukee.

Those birds have already been depopulated, according to DATCP.

On Saturday, the agency identified HPAI in a commercial poultry flock in Barron County. Those birds will also be depopulated.

Last week, DATCP issued on order suspending poultry shows and exhibits through the end of May, in an effort so slow spread if the disease.

Owners are asked to continue using strong biosecurity practices and, when

Filed Under: Agriculture, News

Get your loved ones Something Special from Wisconsin this holiday season

December 6, 2021 By Raymond Neupert

 If you’re looking for a special gift this holiday season, why not get your loved ones Something Special From Wisconsin?

That’s the state program that helps you find locally made and grown products. Alice in Dairyland Julia Nunes says it’s a great way to beat those pesky supply chain issues. 

“Lucky for us that Something Special From Wisconsin program has options really for anyone on your Christmas shopping list and it’s a great place to go. And if you use the local mail service I’m sure it’ll arrive before the holiday season.”

Nunes says it’s a great way to find unique gifts with a Wisconsin flavor. 

“When shoppers are looking at their products or shopping online they can know that anything in the Something Special From Wisconsin program is supporting local businesses and keeping our dollars here in Wisconsin.”

New this year, you can get specially curated gift boxes. “Those are perfect if you’re looking for something for someone who isn’t from Wisconsin and you want to send them a piece of Wisconsin goods.”

You can find those boxes and a complete list of products in the program online at https://somethingspecialwi.com/ 

Filed Under: Agriculture, News, Recreation / Entertainment, Tourism

State agencies defend budget priorities at Republican controlled Joint Finance Committee

April 8, 2021 By Raymond Neupert

Tuesday was the start of the Legislature’s review of Governor Evers’ proposed state budget.

Joint Finance Committee Co-Chair Howard Marklein says that Wisconsin will be receiving a massive influx of aid from the federal government, and that Republicans are keeping an eye on things. 

“The total amount that a federal money that’s come into the state is huge and, in terms of us doing the budget for the next two years, that is something that we’re going to have to consider.” 

Marklein says he’s unhappy with the size of Evers’ budget, and that it will dip into the state’s rainy day general fund balance. 

“That’s unacceptable to me. We cannot reverse the strong trajectory that we had in the past.”

Two days of hearings brought four different agencies to the floor for questions and presentations to the committee.

Republicans grilled State superintendent of schools Caroline Stanford Taylor over whether or not schools would be open this fall, and Stanford Taylor says that’s up to the local school districts. She also said this was not a lost year. 

“But the one thing that I want to make clear to everyone is that there was a continuation of learning, no matter how. Whether it was virtual hybrid or in-person, the learning never stopped.” 

Stanford Taylor says that they do hope that students are back in school this fall, but says that the pandemic has to be under control before many districts will feel safe to make that switch.  “In person is the best avenue for our students because there are some things that you just can’t replicate in terms of relationships and those things, but number one is to make sure that kids are safe.”

The state will be receiving over 2 billion dollars in federal aid for schools in the upcoming budget cycle, and much of that will go to large districts serving underprivileged kids. 

The Department of Workforce Development got the second hearing on Tuesday, and Republicans grilled Secretary Amy Pechacek over the failures of the Unemployment System during the height of the pandemic last year. Pechacek says they’re looking to expand their programming on job training and education to ensure that people will be able to find jobs in a post-pandemic world. 

“In order to keep growing our economy and really invest long term, we want to make sure we’ve got programs in place that are going to help these jobseekers transition so that our employers can also continue to grow.”

Chairman Howard Marklein says business people are competing with unemployment to find workers, and Secretary Pechacek says that’s unlikely. 

“So to think that folks could sustain on $370 [a week], without Healthcare, without benefits… I don’t really think that that’s reality.”

The next hearing came on Wednesday with Department of Natural Resources Secretary Preston Cole.

Cole says the agency is planning to expand funding to remediate and remove an emerging contaminant from Wisconsin’s ecosystem. “These forever chemicals are a public health concern, that build up and move through our soil, seep into our groundwater and carry through the air. PFOS are known to build in our bodies and our fish tissue, and wildlife tissue.”

Republicans, alongside the state’s business lobby, say that the DNR doesn’t have a mandate to regulate PFOS under state law. The DNR is currently in the process of codifying those rules. 

Cole says the state is working to keep up with fish stocking demands, while also keeping Wisconsin’s waters clean.  “It ain’t about the numbers it’s about the habitat they go into. So for us, to make sure that what we put in can survive, the healthier the habitat, the better off we are.”

That question came in response to Republican concerns that more people have been getting fishing licenses during the pandemic as a means to do something safe outdoors. 

The state’s effort to increase broadband connections to rural Wisconsin got a focus on Wednesday at Joint Finance’s budget hearings. Public Service Commission Chairperson Rebecca Cameron Valcq says the Commission doesn’t have the power to regulate how and where broadband lines are installed. 

“They’ve been deregulated now for more than 10 years so we don’t have the ability to say if you’re going down County Highway O you must provide service on both sides of the highway.”

Valcq says one fix to the issue would be to allow for municipalities to apply for those broadband grants themselves, provided they can prove that no other provider is willing to install lines in their area. “It’s not a matter of pushing Private Industry out. It’s a matter of recognizing that there are areas of the state where Private Industry is refusing to go.”

The Budget hearings are now set to go on the road, with several in person hearings and one virtual hearing before the whole budget comes to the legislature for debates and votes.

Filed Under: Agriculture, Business, Education, Legislature, News, Politics / Govt, Top Story

Nearly double Wisconsin’s wolf hunt quota killed in abbreviated hunting and trapping season

February 26, 2021 By Raymond Neupert

Wisconsin hunters took nearly twice the number of wolves than the Department of Natural Resources was hoping for during an extremely brief 3 day wolf hunt this week.

DNR Wildlife Administrator Keith Warkne said the agency to close the season nearly as fast as it opened.

“As of 3 p.m. today 216 wolves have been reported in GameReg. The harvest breakdown was 86% taken by dogs, 5% taken by trappers, and 9% by other hunting methods,” Warnke said. “We monitored the reported harvest constantly. The decision to close zones was made using the best available harvest data, and, following the law, we issued a 24-hour notice of closure.”

The total kill was 82% above the state-licensed goal, according to Department of Natural Resources data released Thursday. Licensed hunters and trappers had a harvest quota of 119 spread across the state, excluding Native American reservations.

“By Tuesday, we announced the closing of the first three zones at 10 a.m. followed by announcing the closure of the remaining three zones at 3 p.m. that afternoon. Those zones then closed 24 hours after the announcement,”  Warnke said.

A court ordered the wolf hunting and trapping season – just the fourth in state history – to begin this week following a lawsuit from an out-of-state hunting group. Legislative Republicans claimed that the DNR was trying to delay it until wolves were put back on the federal endangered species list.

 

Filed Under: Agriculture, Environment / Conservation, News

Natural Resources Board sets quota at 200 wolves for February hunt

February 16, 2021 By WRN Contributor

Wisconsin’s Natural Resources Board has set a quota of 200 wolves for the rapidly-organized winter hunting season.  The board met online Monday, unanimously supporting the Department of Natural Resources recommendations.

DNR Division Administrator Keith Warnke says application for permits will begin at the DNR’s Go Wild website at 12:01 am Tuesday, February 16th and close Saturday, February 20th at 11:59 pm. “Customers who win in the drawing will be able to review the results on February 22nd. Drawing winners can begin hunting and trapping when they have purchased their license and printed their carcass tag. The season will run through February 28th.”

Warnke says the online applications for the November hunt will open March 1st, and he says applicants can apply for preference points without seeking a harvest tag.  Permits cost $10.00 and if applicants are drawn for a license, wolf harvest tags cost $49.00.  Hunters and trappers can begin harvesting wolves Warnke also says DNR will forego carcass testing for the winter hunt.

DNR Program Supervisor and carnivore specialist Dave MacFarland told the board the 200 quota figure along with other human-caused wolf mortality figures is a figure that stabilizes the wolf population.  Board member Greg Kazmierski asked if that is the goal. “I’m not sure that should be our objective, and maybe that’s what the biologists were asked to do is come up with a quota that stabilizes the population, but the current population is almost four times what our population goal is.”

Board Chair Dr. Frederick Prehn appreciated the efforts of DNR and the board since Thursday’s Jefferson County court ruling. “We have a job to do and I think we completed it, but we completed it with what we believe (is) good science from the department, all politics aside.”

Jefferson County Circuit Judge Bennett Brantmeier ruled Thursday, February 11th the DNR violated existing state law by refusing to schedule a winter 2021 gray wolf hunt.  He scheduled a hearing for Tuesday, February 16th to get DNR’s update on complying with his Thursday order.

Livestock growers have had increased depredation problems since the last wolf season in 2014 including nine confirmed and 36 unconfirmed wolf kills in 2020.

Larry Lee, Brownfield

Filed Under: Agriculture, Environment / Conservation, News

Natural Resources Board takes no action on February grey wolf hunt

January 22, 2021 By Bob Hague

The state Natural Resources Board on Friday heard from proponents and opponents of an immediate wolf hunt in Wisconsin.

Luke Hilgeman is a former legislative staffer who founded the hunting rights organization Hunter Nation. “For the Department of Natural Resources and the Evers’ administration to claim that this is somehow rushed, just doesn’t make sense in fact,” Hilgeman said.

“We’re dealing with some really unknowns that we’ve never dealt with . . . if we’re allowing our harvest to occur in the middle of winter, and the use of hounds extensively across the state that we’ve never done before,” said Adrian Wydevan, a former wolf biologist with the DNR who now chairs of the Timber Wolf Alliance Council.

A wolf hunt is scheduled for this November, but proponents of a February hunt fear the Biden administration will put the wolf back on the federal Endangered Species List. The wolf was official delisted in early January.

Republican legislators have also demanded the immediate hunt, but the board voted 4-3 against that on Friday.

The DNR’s most recent estimate put the number of grey wolves in the state at 1,034.

Filed Under: Agriculture, Environment / Conservation, News, Politics / Govt

Alice in Dairyland finals cancelled

January 4, 2021 By Bob Hague

A signature Wisconsin event has been cancelled due to COVID-19. The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection has cancelled the 74th annual Alice in Dairyland finals, which were to have been held in Walworth County in May.

As we continue to respond to COVID-19 and ensure public health and safety, the difficult decision has been made to cancel the 74th Alice in Dairyland finals, previously scheduled to be held in Walworth Co. this year. Read more on our website: https://t.co/d06fU6xeXx

— Wisconsin DATCP (@widatcp) January 4, 2021

The 75th finals will be held May 19-21, 2022 in Dane County as previously planned. Julia Nunes of Chippewa Falls will continue as Alice in Dairyland until July 15, 2022, officially becoming the 74th Alice in May.

Filed Under: Agriculture, News

Gypsy Moth population increases in Wisconsin

December 31, 2020 By Bob Hague

A destructive invasive species has seen a rebound in Wisconsin this year. Gypsy moths can damage trees and shrubs by eating away their leaves.

The annual trapping program conducted by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) caught 83,720 moths this year, up from 52,396 in 2019.

It’s an increase attributable in part to variations in winter weather. Last year was a historic low after two harsh winters.

“Weather conditions were relatively mild across Wisconsin compared to the previous two years,” said Michael Falk, DATCP’s gypsy moth trapping coordinator. “Winter temperatures were not low enough to kill gypsy moth eggs, and spring conditions did not support the fungal and viral diseases known to kill gypsy moth caterpillars. As a result, gypsy moth populations rebounded after two consecutive years of population decrease.”

Filed Under: Agriculture, Environment / Conservation, News

Turn your deer into tasty venison with tips from the DNR and UW-Extension

November 22, 2020 By Raymond Neupert

Once you’ve got your deer on the ground this season, now comes the time to turn that deer into tasty food.

DNR wildlife management director Eric Loebner says adding deer meat to your diet is a great way to get lean, healthy protein. 

“Making that homegrown sustainable organic meat protein source, you know really it’s unique to the experience and it certainly adds to the experience and as well.”

There’s more and more interest these days in processing and butchering deer at home, rather than taking it to a meat processor according to Loebner.

“There’s even videos out there now about the whole nuances of making your own meat at home, whether you’re making sausage or whether you’re making bacon.”

The UW-Extension offers tips and classes on handling your own deer, as well as canning and preservation processes.

Loebner says it’s important to be ready to field dress your deer by yourself while COVID-19 continues.

Temperatures are getting cool enough to properly hang a deer, but won’t freeze it outside, so be sure to get your deer to a processor or cut it up yourself before too long. 

Filed Under: Agriculture, Environment / Conservation, News, Recreation / Entertainment

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