A view of Lake Michigan from Lion’s Den Gorge Nature Preserve near Grafton. The Ozaukee County Park, one of the few remaining undeveloped bluffs along Lake Michigan, was preserved with funding from the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program. (Joseph Gage/CC BY-SA 2.0)

With Wisconsin’s decades-old land conservation program due to expire this summer, Assembly Republicans passed legislation Thursday to keep it afloat through 2028.

But the bill would simultaneously decrease funding and increase legislative oversight of the Warren Knowles-Gaylord Nelson Stewardship program, moves that Democrats described as watering down the historically bipartisan pact.

The stewardship program lets Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources borrow money to buy land and set it aside for land conservation.

The program is currently funded at about $33 million per year. The Assembly GOP proposal, which was passed as two bills, would lower that to about $28 million, with $13 million of that borrowed and the rest from a segregated state fund for land acquisition.

The bill’s supporters described the legislation as a fix that would keep Knowles-Nelson alive, with opportunities to strengthen it over time.

“Let’s make sure we don’t lose what we have today. We can maintain the program. We can go ahead and make sure that we can keep the lands that we already have in good condition and continue to move forward,” said Rep. Shae Sortwell, R-Two Rivers. “I would rather take a half a cookie today rather than no cookie.”

Democrats criticized the GOP bill as giving too much power to a single legislative committee, and called on Republicans to return to the negotiating table.

“When we sat here seven months ago and worked on a budget, my colleagues immediately across the aisle on this issue of Knowles-Nelson promised that they would come back with a standalone that was better and stronger,” said Rep. Tara Johnson, D-Town of Shelby. “That is not what we have before us today.”

Wisconsin’s stewardship program has deep bipartisan roots, having been created in 1989 by former Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson with the help of a Democratic Legislature. It was renamed to honor Knowles and Nelson, two former Wisconsin governors who embraced conservation efforts, Knowles as a Republican and Nelson as a Democrat.

Lawmakers from both sides have supported its outcomes over the years, with land set aside for recreation, habitat and species protection, and climate resilience.

But the program itself has been subject to bitter partisan debate after a Wisconsin Supreme Court decision that found lawmakers on the Joint Finance Committee, which writes state budgets and authorizes state funding, were improperly blocking stewardship projects.

Since then, Republicans have argued the program does not have enough oversight because it no longer goes through legislative committee review. Some critics from rural areas also argued that removing too much land from the tax rolls makes it hard to fund local projects.

While Gov. Tony Evers requested $100 million per year over the course of a decade in his proposed budget last year, the final state budget included no money for the program.

During the runup to the budget’s passage, state Rep. Tony Kurtz, R-Wonewoc — a sometimes emotional defender of the program — said separate legislation would keep the program going but with more guardrails. His amended bill ultimately passed 53-44 Thursday, on pure party lines.

Rep. Vincent Miresse, D-Stevens Point, proposed an amendment to the bill that would have increased funding for the program, created an oversight board and done away with some restrictions on DNR acquisitions.

“We heard our Republican colleagues and northern neighbors when they said they want to maintain and improve what we already have,” Miresse said.

The amendment failed. A standalone Democratic proposal to reauthorize the program and double its annual funding has not moved forward.

In a letter to lawmakers earlier this month, Evers said he was “deeply disappointed” they had not reached a bipartisan deal on the program, and said he would only sign a bill that “appropriately supports both land acquisition and property management of Wisconsin’s valuable natural resources and public lands.”

His office said in a statement Thursday that the governor is monitoring Knowles-Nelson legislation.

“Gov. Evers remains hopeful that critical changes will be adopted to ensure legislation to reauthorize the Stewardship Program passes with broad, bipartisan support from legislators and partners alike,” said Evers spokesperson Britt Cudaback.