Wisconsin Senate Bill SB316

Wisconsin 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 6/10/25
• Refer: 6/10/25
• Report Pass: 2/13/26
• Refer: 2/18/26
• Failed: 3/23/26

Caption

An Act to renumber and amend 23.096 (2) (a) and 30.277 (5); to amend 23.09 (19) (d), 23.09 (20) (b), 23.09 (20m) (b), 23.0915 (2p), 23.0917 (1) (e), 23.0917 (3) (a), 23.0917 (3) (bt) 3., 23.0917 (3) (bw) 2., 23.0917 (4) (a), 23.0917 (4) (e) (intro.), 23.0917 (4j) (b), 23.0917 (5g) (a), 23.0917 (5g) (b), 23.0917 (5g) (L), 23.0917 (8) (e), 23.0917 (8) (f) 2., 23.0917 (12), 23.0953 (2) (a) (intro.) and 23.096 (2m) (intro.); to create 23.09 (19) (dm), 23.09 (20) (bm), 23.09 (20m) (c), 23.0917 (3) (br) 3., 23.0917 (3) (bu), 23.0917 (3) (dm) 9., 23.0917 (4) (d) 1m. g., 23.0917 (4) (d) 2m. c., 23.0917 (8) (h), 23.0917 (8) (i), 23.09175, 23.096 (2) (a) 1. and 30.277 (5) (b) of the statutes; Relating to: the Warren Knowles-Gaylord Nelson stewardship 2000 program and a major land acquisitions program. (FE)

Summary

SB316 reauthorizes Wisconsin’s Warren Knowles-Gaylord Nelson Stewardship 2000 Program through fiscal year 2029-30 and revises several of its land acquisition, property development, local assistance, and nonprofit conservation grant provisions. The bill keeps the stewardship program’s core conservation financing structure in place, but changes how funds are allocated and used: it lowers the set-aside for nonprofit conservation organization land acquisition grants, adds a new grant category for wildlife habitat work on public lands, and adjusts matching requirements for governmental-unit grants, including tighter limits when a grant is sought after a land purchase has already closed. The bill also creates a separate major land acquisitions program for projects over $1 million. Under that new program, the Department of Natural Resources could use or obligate funds for large conservation land purchases only if the project is specifically enumerated by legislation. DNR would have to submit annual lists of proposed major acquisitions, including costs and funding sources, and the legislature would decide which projects to authorize. The bill further limits stewardship funding for DNR land acquisition projects above $1 million, prioritizes property development over land acquisition within the stewardship program, and extends the program’s bonding authority and related fiscal-year limits to 2029-30.

Impact

SB316 would amend multiple sections of Wisconsin statutes governing the stewardship program and related conservation grant programs, including urban green space, local parks, nature-based outdoor recreation, county forest grants, and nonprofit conservation organization grants. It would extend the sunset date for stewardship bonding authority, alter set-asides and matching rules, create a new statutory framework for major land acquisitions, and add a new wildlife habitat grant purpose. The bill would also redirect some unobligated stewardship funds to specific hatchery projects and revise several fiscal caps and prioritization rules affecting the Department of Natural Resources and grant recipients.

Sentiment

The bill appears generally supportive of conservation and outdoor recreation funding, with bipartisan-looking sponsorship and no recorded committee transcript or vote opposition in the provided materials. Its structure suggests an effort to continue the stewardship program while tightening oversight of large land purchases and shifting some emphasis toward property development, habitat management, and legislatively approved major acquisitions. The fact that the bill ultimately failed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1 indicates it did not complete the legislative process despite its broad policy scope.

Contention

The main points of contention are likely to be the bill’s tighter controls on land acquisition spending and its shift of decision-making for large purchases from the executive branch to the legislature. Conservation groups and nonprofit land trusts may object to the reduced nonprofit acquisition set-aside, the $1 million cap on stewardship-funded DNR land acquisitions, and the requirement that major acquisitions be separately enumerated by law. By contrast, supporters of fiscal restraint or legislative oversight may favor the bill’s new approval process, lower nonprofit set-aside, and prioritization of property development and habitat management over direct land acquisition.