The Nature Conservancy. Protecting nature. Preserving life.™

Healthy land. Clean water. These basic necessities of life — provided by nature — make Wisconsin a great place to live, work and vacation. 

The Land and Water Conservation Fund — the U.S. government’s key program for protecting land and water—has helped The Nature Conservancy and other agencies and nonprofits protect land and water in Wisconsin for hunting, fishing and many types of recreation. Places like the Wild Rivers Legacy Forest, St. Croix National Scenic Riverway and Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. 

Time to Fund Land and Water Conservation 

The Fund balances the loss of one natural resource — offshore oil and gas — by using a small portion of the drilling fees to protect important land and water elsewhere. 

The program is authorized to receive up to $900 million a year. But despite an increase in energy production, funding for land and water protection has been low and unpredictable — diverted elsewhere by Congress. 

With America losing 1 million acres of working lands to development each year, it is now critical that we guarantee permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. 

The Nature Conservancy supports protecting America’s land and water through $450 million in FY 2012 funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). 

How the Fund Benefits Nature and People 

Some of Wisconsin’s and America’s most important natural areas were made possible by the Fund: 

• National parks and lakeshores like the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore
• Working forests like the Wild Rivers Legacy Forest
• Riverways like the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway
• Working farms and ranches
• Fish and wildlife refuges
• Neighborhood parks
• Beaches and land around rivers and lakes. 

These natural areas benefit people — through ensuring clean water supplies, supporting jobs and local economies, and protecting the great outdoors for wildlife and recreation. 

Your support for strong annual funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund will help save our most important natural areas in Wisconsin and throughout the U.S.  for all of us today and for future generations.