Team Knowles Nelson

08/26/2026

08/25/2026

08/20/2026

In one of the last projects Knowles Nelson helped get across the finish line before its lapse in June, nearly 1,250 acres of forest in Vilas County are now permanently protected from fragmentation and development. 🎉

Intact forests. Clean water. Public trails. Working lands and the jobs they support. That's what's on the line without a restored, funded Stewardship Program.

On Thursday, the policymaking board for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources approved the agency’s request to purchase a nearly $1 million conservation easement from the Michael A. Uihlein Exemption Trust.

08/19/2026

Knowles-Nelson's future is in the hands of the next legislature, and last week's primary narrowed the field of candidates who will ultimately decide its future.

Relationship-building starts now - and that goes for the people who elect those legislators too! We've spent the summer talking with Wisconsinites from every corner of the state about why the Stewardship Program is worth fighting for.

Next up: Join us in Milwaukee on September 13 for a tailgate party with Friends of Wisconsin State Parks before the Milwaukee Brewers take on the Reds! ⚾

🔗 Read more in our latest Team Knowles Nelson update: https://knowlesnelson.org/team-knowles-nelson-august-14/

08/17/2026

Across every county in Wisconsin, the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program:

🚤 Funds public outdoor recreation facilities like boat launches, restrooms, and shelters
🥾 Builds hiking, biking, snowmobiling, and ATV trails
🏹 Keeps county and state forests open for public use
💦 Safeguards water quality
🌲 Protects natural areas
🦌 Secures wildlife habitats

State funding for Wisconsin's popular 37-year-old conservation and recreation grant program—the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program—officially lapsed at the end of June, after the Republican-controlled Legislature put nothing new in the state budget and failed to pass a reauthorization agreement before taking a nine-month election year break.

Can it be restored? Find out how in the link in comments.

✏️: Salina Heller

07/22/2026

What a beautiful day to tell your friends about the Knowles Nelson program. In case you missed it, I’ll be posting the full presentation from Charlie Carlin with Gathering Waters and Seth Taft with Friends of WI State Parks. Shout out to Nic at Seven Acre Dairy for donating the use of your beautiful venue.

07/09/2026

It was great to join Baird Creek Preservation Foundation in hosting State Senator Jamie Wall for a tour Hartman Prairie earlier this week - a property acquired with support from the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program.

We walked the land with Baird Creek's Charlie Frisk, Steve Lambert, Matt Rentmeester, and their Land Management interns, talking about what the Knowles-Nelson lapse means for future land protection... especially the urgency of acting fast on nearby parcels that could be key to connecting corridors before development pressure takes them off the table.

We also heard more from Baird Creek about their work building out the greenway and connecting it to the greater Green Bay community.

Thanks for being such a strong supporter of Knowles-Nelson, Senator Wall, and for spending the time with us!

07/08/2026

Over 90% of Wisconsin households live within a mile of a Knowles Nelson project: bike paths, beaches, boat launches, playgrounds, hunting land, hiking trails... 🥾🌲🏕️

Gathering Waters' Charlie Carlin sat down with PBS Wisconsin's Here & Now to explain what's at stake now that funding has run out, and why this doesn't have to be the end of the program.

Charles Carlin on a halt to funding for the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program.

07/01/2026

"What's done is done, and now we've just got to figure out how to fix it and get back on track as quickly as possible." 🎯

Knowles-Nelson's expiration won't just pause conservation work for a year. The ripple effects could last much longer.

Read more from the Wisconsin Examiner.

Wisconsin's Knowles-Nelson Stewardship grant program expired Tuesday after legislation to reauthorize it failed to pass the Legislature.