Yesterday, funding for Wisconsin’s Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program expired.
For nearly 40 years, this widely supported conservation program has been a crucial tool for protecting the places that make Wisconsin special: our forests, wetlands, rivers, parks, and trails. Today, 93 percent of Wisconsinites support renewed funding for Knowles-Nelson* because they understand the value it brings to Wisconsin’s natural resources and the places people enjoy outdoors. It has helped conserve more than 650,000 acres across all 72 counties while supporting local parks, outdoor recreation, and wildlife habitat.
For Groundswell Conservancy, Knowles-Nelson has been our most important funding tool for conserving land. Since 1989, the state conservation program has helped us permanently protect more than 6,000 acres across 75 special places in southern Wisconsin. In fact, Groundswell has been awarded Knowles-Nelson grants almost every year since the program began. These dollars provided the matching funds needed to expand public access to the outdoors, improve water quality, help wildlife thrive, and preserve Wisconsin’s outdoor heritage.
In the Black Earth Creek valley, Knowles-Nelson funding helped protect more than a mile of newly restored Black Earth Creek. That protection opened the creek to the public and enabled the creation of the Wolf Run Trail. The trail is envisioned to ultimately connect Middleton with the Great Sauk State Trail, creating new opportunities to hike, bike, and enjoy one of Wisconsin’s most beautiful landscapes.
We’re grateful that two major Groundswell projects secured Knowles-Nelson funding before the program expired. Just last week, Groundswell and Ducks Unlimited completed the largest conservation project in our history, permanently protecting nearly three square miles of land along the Lower Sugar River. This land will become an addition to the Avon Bottoms State Wildlife Area near Brodhead.
Groundswell worked with Ducks Unlimited recently to protect three square miles of land along the Lower Sugar River. A Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program grant made this project possible. Photo by Logan Killam
Later this year, we’ll protect Pine Quarry Farm in the Black Earth Creek watershed. The project will preserve important natural resources, improve water quality, and create new opportunities for public recreation.
These projects demonstrate exactly why Knowles-Nelson matters.
Groundswell’s conservation work will continue. We’ll keep partnering with landowners, communities, donors, and conservation organizations to protect the lands and waters of southern Wisconsin. But without renewed Knowles-Nelson funding, some future projects will take longer to complete, become more difficult to finance, and might not even be feasible.
The good news is that the program itself has not disappeared. It remains part of Wisconsin law, and the Legislature has the power to fund it again. Its future is still very much within reach.
If you believe Wisconsin’s land, water, and outdoor traditions deserve continued investment, now is the time to make your voice heard. Contact your state legislators and let them know conservation funding matters to you. And as election season approaches, ask candidates where they stand on the future of the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program.
You can also show your support by requesting a Team Knowles-Nelson yard sign from us—email amy@groundswellconservancy.org or call our office at 608.258.9797—or by visiting the Team Knowles-Nelson website.
For nearly four decades, the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program has helped protect the places we love today while ensuring future generations can enjoy them tomorrow. With your voice and continued support, we hope it will once again become symbolic for Wisconsin’s commitment to and investment in conservation.
*Source: Statewide poll of Wisconsin voters commissioned by The Nature Conservancy, 2025
Read about Knowles-Nelson in the news this week:
Knowles Nelson Stewardship Program Dead at 37, News From the States, July 1, 2026
State Senate Democratic Committee: Senate Democrats Warn of Impacts as Knowles-Nelson Program Expires, WisPolitics, June 30, 2026
Knowles-Nelson Stewarship Funding Ends After 30 Years, WMTV Ch. 15, June 30, 2026
Democrats Criticize Republicans Over Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program Expiration, Channel 3000, June 30, 2026
Knowles-Nelson Conservation Program Expires, WKOW Ch. 27, June 30, 2026
After 30 Years, Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Funding Expired on Tuesday, WBAY, June 30, 2026
With an Eye on Midterms, Democrats Mark the Demise of Knowles-Nelson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, June 30, 2026
Wisconsin’s Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Funding Is Ending. Here’s What to Expect, Wisconsin State Journal, June 26, 2026
In Focus: Will the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program Survive?, Spectrum News, June 25, 2026
September 24, 1941 – February 28, 2026
By Heidi Habeger, Executive Director
Where do I begin? For more than 50 years, Bill Lunney held leadership roles in land conservation across Wisconsin, and we all benefit from his extraordinary dedication.
In April 1970, Bill spoke at the first Earth Day celebration at UW-Madison. His early efforts to change land use policies helped preserve wetlands including Dunn’s Marsh, the South Beltline Wetlands, and what would become the Lewis Nine Springs E-Way. Bill’s hard work can be seen across Dane County in places like the E-Way, Cherokee Marsh, CamRock County Park, Donald County Park, Patrick Marsh, and the Lussier Family Heritage Center—as well as many connecting trails that link these cherished landscapes.
At the state level, Bill was part of efforts to preserve thousands of acres in the Military Ridge Prairie Heritage Area, Baraboo Hills, the Door Peninsula, Northern Wisconsin Forests, and the State Trails system.
Bill was one of the key figures in Groundswell Conservancy’s inaugural conservation success —Wally Bauman Woods —and the formation of our organization in 1983, then known as Dane County Natural Heritage Foundation. As Bill O’Connor put it, “As a County Board member in 1983, Bill Lunney was an indispensable ally for the newborn land trust.” Bill went on to serve as our second board president from 1988 to 1993. Under his leadership, Groundswell was the first nonprofit to receive a Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program state grant.
He chaired the Dane County Parks Commission for more than 30 years and served as Board Chair of The Nature Conservancy of Wisconsin and the Friends of Wisconsin State Parks. He also served on the boards of Gathering Waters and the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin. In recognition of his lifetime of leadership, he received Gathering Waters’ Harold “Bud” Jordahl Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016. He traced this lifelong commitment back to his days as a law student, where he was influenced by Stuart Udall and became deeply aware of social and environmental issues. “He was generous in sharing both his knowledge and his connections—invaluable to a newly founded board,” said former Groundswell board member and charter member Jean Meanwell.
But beyond his many accomplishments, Bill was a trusted advisor, a generous mentor, and a dear friend. He is deeply missed. I’ll always be grateful for the time Jim Welsh and I spent with him and his wife, Judie Pfeifer, each year—conversations filled with wisdom, perspective, and his steady encouragement. He had a remarkable ability to connect past and present, reminding us where we came from while helping us see where we needed to go. His legacy lives on not only in the lands he helped protect, but in the people and organizations he guided along the way.
“I didn’t know what a wonderful powerhouse Bill Lunney was when I was first introduced to him in 1990,” said John Hutchinson, who served as Dane County Natural Heritage Foundation (one Groundswell’s previous names) Board President during the time when Bill was active with our organization. “At that time, I was coming onto the board of The Dane County Natural Heritage Foundation, and Bill was the current President and a cofounder of the organization.”
John said Bill greeted him with “an amazing smile and enthusiasm.”
“As time passed, I began to hear of all his environmental and other accomplishments,” John said. “The more time I spent with him, the more I admired him. He mentored me from the first meeting until his passing. As a result of my association with him I have followed my love for many of the same passions. I will truly miss his smile.”
Bill was inducted into the Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame on April 21. Watch for a recording of the ceremony at wchf.org/2026-induction-events/
On Wednesday, Groundswell Conservation Director Tony Abate spoke at the State Capitol in support of the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program — Wisconsin’s most important land conservation tool. Speaking up to protect the state’s longtime land conservation program is crucial because it provides funding to protect natural areas, wildlife habitat, farmland, and recreational spaces across the state. For more than 35 years, it has helped Groundswell permanently protect 75 properties and more than 6,000 acres.
Tony spoke before the Assembly Committee on Forestry, Parks, and Outdoor Recreation. The committee is considering a bill that would extend Knowles-Nelson funding for four more years. During his testimony, Tony raised concerns about parts of the bill that could delay or block important conservation projects.
The Wisconsin Examiner covered the hearing and quoted Tony in its article.
“Opportunities to provide such access sometimes only come once in a generation,” Tony said. “We are concerned with the funding threshold and the logistics of the proposed major land acquisition program. Real estate near population centers is expensive, and we often compete with non-conservation buyers to secure farmland or recreational lands.”
Groundswell believes Wisconsin must keep the Knowles-Nelson program strong and flexible. Without it, we risk losing once-in-a-lifetime chances to protect the lands we love. That’s why we’re calling on our supporters to contact their legislators now. Taking just a minute to send an email in support of Knowles-Nelson could preserve the dollars needed for this important program. Without renewed funding, many conservation projects would stall or even unwind.