Public hearing Oct 10th on bills to restore DNR Secretary appointment to NRB The Assembly Natural Resources Committee will hold a public hearing at 10 am on Wednesday, October 10th (Room 417 North) on two bills (SB 15/AB42 and SB 504) that would restore the appointment decision of the DNR Secretary to the Natural Resources Board. SB 15 and companion bill AB 42 would restore the appointment decision effective Jan. 2, 2011; AB 504 would restore the appointment decision effective the date the law is enacted.

Since 1995--when the legislature took authority away from the Natural Resources Board (NRB) and made the DNR Secretary a political appointee--the amount of political influence over natural resource management has increased and the credibility of the agency has declined. The DNR Secretary is a critical position that should not be susceptible to political pressure. Improving Wisconsin natural resources management means entrusting decisions to professional natural resource managers rather than the whims and motives of politicians. Restoring the NRB's authority to select the DNR Secretary will help remove partisan politics from natural resource decision-making.

The Wisconsin Association of Lakes supports the return of appointment authority for the DNR Secretary to the Natural Resources Board. It is in the best interest of lakes and all the people who enjoy boating, fishing, swimming, and living on lakes to have the DNR Secretary held accountable to the needs of the resource and mission of the Department rather than the Office of the Governor.

Please consider attending and testifying at the public hearing on these bills (October 10, 10AM, Room 417 North). If you are unable to attend, please contact your legislators (who are my legislators) and the Chair of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee, Representative Scott Gunderson ( Rep.Gunderson@legis.wisconsin.gov) to support the restoration of the DNR Secretary appointment to the NRB.

It has been seven months since the first citizen hearings on the budget, and three months since the supposed deadline for state budget adoption has lapsed. Still our legislature has been unable to send a budget packet to the Governor's desk that addresses the diverse needs of our state's natural resources, local governments, and citizens.

Some legislators are now proposing to act on only the highly visible and urgent education and local property tax funding sections of the budget. Allowing legislators to cherry pick only the most politically palatable fruit means the rest of the budget could be put off indefinitely. And that can mean that important funding for natural resource and other issues might be completely neglected.

We need a whole budget for the whole state, not piecemeal tinkering. When legislative jerry rigging occurs, programs that are important to Wisconsin citizen's quality of life are bound to fall off the budgetary jalopy. Wisconsin's number one water quality problem, polluted runoff, is a case in point.

Five years after the legislature passed the nation's first comprehensive polluted runoff rules, the funding promised for farmers to implement common sense practices to control polluted runoff remains woefully neglected. For the first time, the Governor's budget proposal--approved by the legislature's Joint Finance Committee in June--includes a modest proposal of $12 million dollars to help implement the rules. $12 million provides less than 25% of the estimated need; however, the increase in polluted runoff funding is a good down payment towards reducing polluted runoff and helping our lakes. But this and other critical budget proposals are languishing.

Worse, because of the continued failure to pass a budget, changes that should have gone into effect by the July budget deadline which would have generated revenue for this program remain undone. It's deficit spending in reverse. By delaying approving a budget, the time period to generate and collect funds from fees and other sources is reduced. Therefore, the gap between what was promised and what can be delivered continually grows. The longer the delay the more it costs all of us. There are no savings when needed programs remain unfunded and promises made by previous legislatures remain unfulfilled.

Now more than ever, it is VERY important that you call your State Senator and Representative (who are my legislators) and tell them to pass the budget in its entirety and to maintain all of the current Conservation Budget items--including funding for the Stewardship program and polluted runoff--that passed out of the Joint Finance Committee. Hearing from you will determine whether or not conservation ends up on the chopping block.

The special legislative committee charged with developing critical legislation needed to adopt and implement the Great Lakes Compact--an international agreement that would limit the extraction of Great Lakes water--has been disbanded.

Wisconsin has the dubious distinction of being the only state that has failed to introduce critical Compact legislation. Two Great Lake states (Minnesota and Illinois) have already passed Compact legislation. New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Michigan have legislation pending.

What legal protections are in place to prevent these other states and countries from taking our water? Not enough. The Great Lakes Compact is Wisconsin's best chance to maintain regional control of Great Lakes water resources and ensure water is available to support Wisconsin's citizens and economy in the future. Five years in the making, the Compact is the best chance we have to put preventative measures in place before states that are facing serious water supply issues--like California, New Mexico, Kansas and others--muster enough votes in the Congress to send our water elsewhere.

What's at stake Between them, Wisconsin's border lakes (Superior and Michigan) contain about a sixth of all the fresh surface water on the planet and more than half of the North America's. All five Great Lakes contain 20% of the world's freshwater and 90% of North America's fresh surface water. 40 million people get their drinking water from the Great Lakes.

Access to water is vital to Wisconsin's economy. Many of Wisconsin's signature industries--fruit and vegetable processing, cheese-making, dairy farming, meat processing and brewing, and paper production-- need tremendous amounts of water to produce their goods. The Great Lakes water supply enables 200 million tons of cargo to be shipped (a $3 billion dollar industry in itself), supports a $4 billion dollar commercial/sport fishery, and drives 60% of U.S. manufacturing and 30% of U.S. agriculture.

The Compact applies to all surface and groundwater within the Great Lakes Basin. Groundwater from about a third of Wisconsin drains to either Lake Superior or Lake Michigan. The Great Lakes and the Great Lakes Compact is important to the future of all Wisconsin waters.

Stand together or stand aside Wisconsin must stand together with the seven other Great Lakes states and two Canadian provinces, pass Compact legislation, and agree to manage this resource regionally. If the federal government sees fit to manage Great Lakes water, the Great Lakes and Great Lakes states are likely to be left with the short straw to their own water.

Places across the country that have mismanaged their own water supplies are eying the Great Lakes to make up for their overused, depleted aquifers, and lack of local water conservation. Huge aquifers--such as the Ogallala aquifer that lies beneath America's breadbasket and supplies 30% of all the water used for agriculture in the United States--are rapidly drying up. And other states are poised to forcefully pursue acquiring water from the last place left in the U. S. with a sufficient supply--the Great Lakes. The Compact is needed to prevent other states from mining the Great Lakes region's water by tankers and pipelines.

We need a strong compact for a strong compact Please contact the Governor and your legislators (who are your legislators) to pass Strong Compact for a Strong Wisconsin that includes the baseline Compact and the following clarifications:

• Requires measurable, meaningful water conservation practices
• Requires the return of all diverted waters to the source in clean condition and via the most environmentally responsible route.
• Closes the bottled water loophole that would let multinational corporations profit from public water resources by allowing diversions one bottle at a time.
• Sets permit and monitoring standards for large water users within the Great Lakes basin.
• Maintains the integrity of the Great Lakes watershed by establishing fixed community boundaries.
• Assures an open, public approval process for diversion requests and provides public enforcement options.

In 2008, the Wisconsin Lakes Convention celebrates its 30th birthday! We will reflect on the accomplishments we have achieved by working together these past 30+ years and explore ways to build on those successes. The convention will focus on how Wisconsin lakes have changed over time, and what we have collectively learned over the years. We are looking for sessions/workshops that fit in the following categories:

• Success stories related to Wisconsin lakes
• Current research, lake science
• Water law and public policy
• Wildlife, fisheries or aquatic plants
• Citizen involvement
• Aquatic Invasive Species
• Lake organizations and their management
• Other lake/water topics

Who can submit an application?
Everyone! We encourage lake organization members and leaders, resource professionals, researchers, students, teachers, business leaders and others to submit proposals. A good mix of presenters makes for a good mix of sessions. If you have an idea or success story to share but are not sure how to develop or present the idea please contact Susan Tesarik in the WAL office (at 800-542-5253 (toll free in Wisconsin) or at 608-661-4313). We are happy to work with you to share your story.

Types of sessions:
There are three types of sessions: hands- on/interactive workshops, field trip(s), and concurrent sessions. The 3-hour workshops and field trip(s) will occur on Thursday, April 17. Concurrent sessions will take place on Friday and Saturday, April 18-19. Concurrent sessions will be 50 minutes each, but you can propose a 25-minute session and share the full session with another presenter covering a related topic.

In appreciation of their time, speakers will receive free registration to the convention on the day they are speaking. The submission deadline is Friday, October 5, 2007.

Submit your proposal online. If you have questions, please contact Kim Becken at 715-346-2116 or kbecken@uwsp.edu.

Who are the people, groups, leaders, and businesses that have made a positive impact to your lake this summer?

The Wisconsin Lakes Partnership gives out these awards each year in celebration of the extraordinary volunteer and professional efforts given to protect and improve lakes in Wisconsin. The Stewardship Awards represent our best collective effort to honor and celebrate all the incredible work that goes into ensuring the future of our state's Legacy of Lakes. Please join us in that spirit by nominating a deserving person or group today.

This year's nominees and winners will be celebrated at the 2008 Wisconsin Lakes Convention, to be held in Green Bay on April 17-19, 2008. Stewardship Awards nomination guidelines and online nomination form are online at the UW- Extension Lakes Program website. For more information on the awards or for nomination materials in another format, please contact the Wisconsin Association of Lakes office at 800-542-5253 (toll free in Wisconsin) or at 608-661-4313, or email us at wal@wisconsinlakes.org.

Nominations are due no later than February 22, 2008.