Commentary: Wisconsin DNR budget – plenty of blame to spread all around

When it comes to the politics of how to best spend a multi-billion-dollar state budget surplus, everyone’s been an expert lately.

If I were governor for a day, I’d give all taxpayers a rebate, fill a few million potholes and still have enough left to boost Wisconsin’s tourism economy by finally tackling some of the needed upgrades at fish hatcheries, state parks, and public boat launches.

There would be no fish stocking or pheasant stocking cuts. In fact, I’d raise more and higher quality fish to be released in waters that need them, and more birds – hen and rooster pheasants – would be planted on public hunting lands and private properties that have excellent overwinter habitat.

Last month, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Bureau of Fisheries Management officials announced they would have to close two fish hatcheries and make significant cuts in the stocking of muskies, walleyes, inland trout, brown trout for Lake Superior, and pheasants because the Joint Finance Committee (JFC) didn’t release funding in a timely manner.

Fish hatcheries in Brule and Osceola would be closed, and about 40,000 fewer muskies (inland), 240,000-plus fewer trout (inland and Lake Superior), and nearly 300,000 fewer walleyes for inland waters would be stocked.

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While the DNR pointed fingers at lawmakers for not approving license fee hikes, some legislators fired back.

In a JFC meeting broadcast on WisconsinEye late Tuesday afternoon (May 13), Sen. Romaine Robert Quinn (R-Birchwood), blasted the agency.

“We passed our budget last July – nine months ago – and then we get a request from the DNR on March 31 saying that if we don’t respond within 12 days, they’re going to permanently close two fish hatcheries and cut stocking for this year,” Quinn said. “That is absurd.”

Quinn said that earlier, legislators allocated $2.5 million to fix two hatcheries, and Gov. Tony Evers vetoed the move.

At the JFC meeting, the committee eventually approved the DNR’s request for about $2.8 million for fish culture and stocking, fish monitoring and assessments, and fisheries habitat management and protection.

About $1.3 million was for raising and releasing fish.

“We’re going to make sure that stocking continues to take place at levels that we all expect,” Quinn said. “And if (DNR) can’t figure out how to do it in our own hatcheries, they better contract with private hatcheries to do it, and we’ll give them the flexibility to do it.”

Later that night, in a Facebook post responding to a citizen who said the DNR plans on cutting pheasant stocking, Quinn wrote, “We just forced them to stop those cuts, as well. It was in a different motion but worth noting.”

Who’s playing whom?

When it comes to playing politics, it used to be easier to tell who was on the right side of a rule proposal, budget request or anything else that might affect an outdoor lover’s favorite pursuits.

Things have been a lot harder to decipher since 1995, when former Gov. Tommy Thompson convinced lawmakers to make the DNR secretary a cabinet appointment.

Prior to 1995, all DNR secretary candidates were interviewed and hired by the seven-citizen Natural Resources Board to keep that key job role as independent as possible.

Back then, I could talk with just about any DNR employee, quoting them in even a highly-controversial story. Today, DNR employees must check with their supervisors and the DNR communication department supervisor before providing reporters much more than a sanitized message filtered down from whatever party controls the governor’s office.

One thing is clear, however.

Many hunters, trappers, and anglers realize that some sort of license fee increase is necessary. Nonresident license fees last increased in 2023; it’s been 21 years for residents. With inflation, how many businesses could survive without fee increases the past two years, let alone the past 21?

In recent years, the DNR’s fish and wildlife account has faced a shortfall of about $16 million. A coalition of conservation and sporting groups supported raising fees last year. Thousands of citizens who voted in person or online during April’s fish and wildlife meetings were also in favor of a fee increase and some sort of alternate funding.

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Republican lawmakers shot down license fee hikes proposed by Gov. Evers last year. The increases were so steep that it almost seemed as though Evers wanted to force the Republican lawmakers to object. Or, he wasn’t serious about a fee increase in the first place. But instead of offering an alternate fee plan, lawmakers did nothing.

I’d like to see a $5 hike in the general fishing license and a $6 jump for gun, bow and crossbow deer hunting – to $25 and $30, respectively. Those are round numbers that aren’t hard to swallow, yet would raise about $11 million for the fish and wildlife account. Add some smaller increases on other resident licenses and stamps, $10 to $15 extra on the conservation patron license, and a nonresident increase in line with other Midwest states. That would take care of the deficit.

At the same time, there needs to be accountability on how our money is spent. I’m all in on fish and pheasant stocking, in-the-field fish and wildlife management and research, and public access/public land habitat restoration, but not more bureaucracy and CWD testing.

Some have suggested a one-time fee for kayaks, canoes and other watercraft not already requiring registration. There’s been talk of a one-eighth of 1% sales tax going toward natural resources and a stamp or pass to use or access public lands. I’d pass on the registration fee for non-motorized watercraft, support that splinter of a sales tax, and support the idea of a public-lands access stamp or pass, but only for citizens who do not already have a hunting, fishing, or trapping license.

The idea behind a public lands access permit should be to find a way for our non-license-buying public to contribute to natural resources management. Hunters, fishermen, and trappers already do so by buying our licenses, applications, and stamps.

Kevin Naze is a longtime outdoors reporter from Door County who spends his free time fishing Lake Michigan and its tributaries. Email any comments on Naze’s commentary to Editor Dean Bortz at dean@outdoornews.com.