Designating June 2025 as Pollinator Awareness Month in Wisconsin.
SJR61 is a joint resolution that designates June 2025 as Pollinator Awareness Month in Wisconsin. The resolution is largely commemorative and explanatory, laying out findings about the ecological and economic importance of bees, butterflies, and other pollinators to agriculture, native plant reproduction, biodiversity, and food production. It highlights the role of pollinators in Wisconsin’s fruit, vegetable, and specialty crop sectors, and notes that pollinator populations have declined because of habitat loss, pesticide use, and disease.
The resolution also promotes pollinator-friendly practices and public awareness efforts. It references habitat features such as native flowering plants, undisturbed nesting areas, water sources, reduced pesticide exposure, and public education signage, and it cites the “No Mow May” movement as an example of local action that can benefit pollinators. The measure does not create a regulatory program, funding mechanism, or enforcement provision; instead, it expresses the Legislature’s support for pollinator conservation and awareness during June 2025.
SJR61 does not amend state statutes, create new legal duties, or change agency authority. Its practical effect is symbolic: it formally recognizes June 2025 as Pollinator Awareness Month and uses legislative findings to encourage pollinator-friendly land management, public education, and conservation-minded practices on both public and private property. Any legal impact is limited to the resolution’s commemorative designation and its potential to influence voluntary behavior, outreach, and local awareness efforts.
The overall sentiment around the resolution appears strongly positive and bipartisan. The bill was introduced by a large group of senators and cosponsored by many representatives from both parties, suggesting broad support for the general goal of protecting pollinators and recognizing their importance to agriculture and the environment. The text frames pollinator conservation as beneficial to farmers, consumers, educators, municipalities, and community groups, and there is no recorded committee or floor opposition in the provided materials.
No specific controversy is reflected in the provided bill text, voting history, or committee materials. The resolution is nonbinding and celebratory, so there is little apparent policy conflict. The only potentially sensitive themes are the references to pesticide use, lawn-mowing practices such as No Mow May, and habitat management on public and private land, but the resolution presents these as awareness and best-practice issues rather than mandates. As a result, any disagreement would likely be limited to general views about land-use preferences or environmental policy emphasis rather than the resolution’s legal effect.