Transcript
Saving Knowles-Nelson with Alex Madorsky (Hour 2)
The Todd Allbaugh Show · Tue Sep 30, 2025
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Good afternoon, everybody.
Todd Alba along with Mr. Aaron Zomer is our producer and engineer.
It is six minutes past the hour of three o'clock.
Welcome into hour number two of the big broadcast on this Tuesday, September 30th.
2025, it's a great day to be a Wisconsinite.
30 days have September, April, June, and November.
All the rest have 31, except February, which has 28, except in a leap year, which has 29.
And just one of those things you learn as a kid, and it sticks
say it- None of your teachers ever told you that?
Really?
And I always have to check.
I was just drilled into my head as a kid.
My grandma used to say it all the time.
30 days have September, April, June, and November.
Well, good.
We gave you news you can use.
Indeed.
News I can use.
On today's show.
Stay tuned.
Coming up here in just a little while, we're going to have a great conversation about conservation and the nails.
Why do I, why can't I say that?
Nelson Knowles, Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund, Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund.
Great.
We've talked about it before on the show.
Alex is going to be back.
It's not conservation Congress.
Thank you from the nature conservancy.
That's what I was trying to say earlier.
So Alex is going to be here from the nature conservancy.
And they're great folks.
And he'll describe the history.
of this great conservation program and where we're at in this process to save it.
Because the bipartisan budget, the past Republican controlled legislature with Democratic votes and the signature of Democratic Governor Tony Evers did not include funding for this very important program.
It's something that's near and dear to my heart as a guy who loves the outdoors and conservation.
So Alex is gonna be here from Nature Conservancy,
and talk about Noel's Nelson stewardship program.
You will not want to miss this conversation.
And again, in full transparency, you're listening to a show that was recorded yesterday.
As we sit here 24 hours before showtime on Tuesday.
We're actually coming to you from the past.
Wouldn't it be great if we came to you from the future?
Why can't we do that summer?
Maybe someday.
We could come to people from the past.
I think one someday we're gonna come on, we're gonna pre-record and say, we're coming to you from tomorrow.
days.
I think it'll be a lot of fun.
I'm in Shawno doing some family stuff, nothing serious, just helping out dad as a minor oral surgery, things are going on, just helping out my stepmom with that.
We'll be coming to you live from Shawno tomorrow.
On Wednesday, Trigvielson packed quite low on as per usual and then on Thursday as well.
And Friday, who knows where we'll be?
It's a mystery.
It's a mystery show on Friday as we record this.
So stay tuned.
You never
know.
You never know where we're going to be.
So we got that out of the way of our guests coming up here.
Oh, I don't we got to do.
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Nobody enjoys humor anymore, Summers.
yeah, people are saying very serious these days.
Very serious.
All right.
Uh, we're going to talk a little bit more here momentary.
We say out tomorrow we're live in Seanal along with Trivielson and, uh, Pat Crite low.
And by the way, have you listened to quite low lately?
If you haven't six until nine, it's a great program mornings with Pat Crite low.
Grab your cup of coffee, whatever your beverage is, tune in.
And then tomorrow, Kratlow's gonna be here live when we're in Shawna, Wisconsin.
Lots of sports today, because I figured this, I figured at least these things aren't going to change.
Here's the problem of pre-recording shows these days.
It used to be, well, you know, I'll talk about this thing in the news and that.
Well, with today's news cycle, four hours, something's old news.
It's insane.
I'm thinking, well, sports, that's not going to change.
By the way, our phone lines will be back open tomorrow.
You can call and talk live to Todd.
Enzoomers.
If we haven't been canned by the lawyers.
From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, as Wisconsin Badgers coach Greg Gard adapts to transient era, he sticks to core values.
Great story from John Steep.
I believe it's Steep or Steepy.
S-T-E-P-P-E, maybe it's step, maybe the E silent.
Great reporter.
College Athletic says Wisconsin men's basketball coach Greg Gard sees it is quote, slowly moving towards a more stable environment, unquote.
We're moving into the right direction, Gard says, but we've got a ways to go yet.
I think there's a lot of things that we can do now to how to answer that.
How is revenue sharing going to work?
What's the number it's going to be in addition to revenue sharing through third party?
NIL contributions.
At the same time, Guard has not so slowly adapted to the ever-changing college athletic landscape.
That was evident last year when Missouri transfer guard John Tanje led a team to the Big Ten tournament title game while playing in a much quicker tempo than the Badgers have historically used.
It'll be evident again this year as the Badgers or as Wisconsin leadings on nine.
Newcomers that's incredible to me.
I mean just just shows you how much and someone who's watched college basketball for a long time All my ways all the all the way back into the late 80s early 90s during my time at you'd be a Plattville I Mean to think of Bo Ryan team coach team or in the early days of Greg guard would have had nine new people You would have thought well, that's something's wrong there and I own the transfer portal have changed everything.
It's all changed
So five transfers and four incoming freshmen on the team.
Guard will have only one year to work with it all, but one of the transfers giving him a much shorter on-ramp for the development that his predecessor and boss, Bo Ryan, had when leading the Badgers to back-to-back Final Four appearances, but is all part of how he has ushered an evolution of Wisconsin basketball amid the realities of the transfer portal and player compensation.
Guard says, quote, I think you'll you have to stick to your core values.
He says of his adaptations during a visit with the Journal Sentinel Root newsroom, quote, and obviously how we want to play has changed a little bit.
We've evolved specifically offensively and have really moved the needle from what we've done on the end of that end of the floor.
But the other parts of your program off the court academically, those things all start with recruiting.
Good people and whether you're going to be here for eight months.
You're going to be here for five years You still want really good people in your program unquote.
I think Gardo has nailed it and This is why there's a huge difference in my opinion Between the UW basketball program men's basketball.
Do we still have a women's program?
Bring baseball back.
Anyway, I think there's a huge difference between the men's basketball program and the football program.
Because Guard has kept the best of the foundation of men's basketball from Dick Bennett and Bo Ryan to now Greg Guard, and he's adapted.
And the football program, in my opinion, just hasn't done that.
And what you hear Gardo saying here,
is that it comes back to good, and not to say there aren't good people on the football program.
There's great people.
But the success, as you see in men's basketball, very similar to what Brewer's manager Pat Murphy keeps saying, which is, it's about the who.
It's about the guys you have in the room.
Doesn't always mean you have to have the best talent, at least on paper.
Certainly not the highest paid players.
It's about the chemistry of the guys and gals in the room.
That's what creates success a lot of time, and Greg Gard and Pat Murphy have found a way.
We're gonna come back, talk about some other great people in terms of conservation.
Don't go anywhere.
We're gonna talk about stewardship fund on the other side.
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Now, 22 minutes past the hour.
Glad to have you along on this Tuesday, September 30th, 2025.
Zommer is on the board there.
Appreciate that.
A little outdoor music appropriate for our next guest here.
He has been on the show before.
Glad to have him back.
He is the Associate Director, Assistant Associate.
Associate,
I'll take either.
Oh, no, it's fine.
We want to make sure we get it right.
Associate Director of Government Relations at the Nature Conservancy here in Wisconsin, Alex Madorski.
Alex, how are you?
I am great on this.
Bomb me but lovely week yeah,
as we say a full disclosure We recorded this yesterday on Monday, but it's gonna be ball me through pretty much through Friday at least so Yeah, it in some ways.
It's nice to get a little bit more of quote-unquote summer in but from environmental or conservation
not exactly normal for Wisconsin
Not exactly normal.
I am more of a fall guy myself, but you know what?
I'll soak in the rays while I can.
A good way to look at it.
I was
out getting some vitamin D on, uh, on the shores of Lake Mendoza this weekend.
So great.
It's kind of chilling there.
It's a beautiful.
And also, uh, I think I talked about this a little bit yesterday, went for a walk.
I'm not going to say where just out of due respect, but was walking at one of Dane County's wonderful mini nature parks.
And I was walking past, uh,
a couple, they were walking a little slower than I was, and I kind of looked over, the gentleman and I made eye contact, and I said, how are you guys doing?
And he said, fine, I stopped, I turned around and said,
Governor!
How are you?
And there are former Governor Jim Doyle and former First Lady.
We're out walking alone, just taking it all in.
We had a nice chat.
I thanked him for his service.
But I think that epitomizes Wisconsin's outdoors.
It's where whether you're a former governor or just a schlep talk show host like me, we can all meet out on our nature trails and we're all equal in nature.
That's right.
We are all equal in nature.
That is a lovely way to put it, Todd.
And you never know who you'll bump into.
I was on Lake Mendota myself this weekend.
I won't call it a hike because I was with my three and a half and one and a half year old daughters.
So when my wife and I weren't corralling them, we were moving at a leisurely pace, but it's great.
You know, there were college students there, senior citizens, everybody from every walk of life enjoying the great outdoors here in Wisconsin.
One of those things that makes it possible is something called the Knowles Nelson stewardship fund.
We're going to get into that in a little while here.
But I thought it was a good time because, you know, as much as I like to hope people always listen to the show, we get new listeners all the time.
And that's one of the other great things about this program and this network.
For those that aren't familiar with the Nature Conservancy, tell folks what that is and the difference or connection between the national organization and the state
organization.
Sure.
So the Nature Conservancy is the planet's largest conservation and environmental nonprofit.
We are in 79 countries in all 50 states.
Wow.
Here in Wisconsin, we've been doing good work since 1959.
We've helped protect over 240,000 acres of this state's most precious lands and waters for all to enjoy.
And we are part of one big umbrella.
So I.
love this state.
I love this state organization, but I'm also proud to be part of our global work.
And the Nature Conservancy is it is
it completely funded through private donations?
Are there taxpayer dollars?
Is there a jointly?
How is the program
operate in terms of funding?
Sure.
So we do work with some federal and state grants, but overwhelmingly we are funded.
I think I'm going to sound like a PBS ad here.
Overwhelmingly, we are funded by generous donors like you at home on the radio dial here.
And there are so many great conservation minded donors in this state and across the country and across the world.
People love being able to get out in these spaces.
They love being able to hunt, to fish, to watch wildlife, to just enjoy the outdoors with their loved ones.
And we're very grateful for all the donors who help make us.
help make that possible.
In the world we live in of information silos and and online presences where people in my opinion far too often only look at that which reflects what we want to believe to be true.
I think that there are stereotypes or or things that get put out there and one of the cool things about this program is we get to break that down.
You kind of hit on it there, Alex, expand on it a little bit.
The nature conservancy
And not that there's Jerry Seinfeld once said, not that there's anything wrong with that.
This is not a far left granola crunching.
Oh, we hate anything this development.
This is this is a program, as I understand it, that as you said, whether you hunt, whether you're fish, maybe you vote on the right or whether you're a bird watcher like our friend, Matt Ross Child and vote on the left.
The Nature Conservancy has membership and donors from all different political spectrums because this is something that should bring us
together.
all different walks of life, all different political views because they should bring us together.
It's somewhat unique among organizations that operate in the political sphere, whether we're talking locally in Wisconsin or on the national level where our board chair is from a Republican U.S.
Senate Majority Leader, Bill Frist.
We have people who are staunch Democrats, staunch Republicans, independents,
but they agree on one thing, the importance of protecting nature and the great outdoors.
I'm so
glad you named those members because you have the bona fides to back it up.
Some people say, oh, you know, we're bipartisan.
You've actually reached out.
And I think this is a bigger deal.
I want to just let this slide because in today's day and age, to get people who identify with partisan parties to come and serve on the same board,
We don't hear that much anymore, unfortunately.
We don't hear it that much anymore.
And unfortunately, Todd, as you alluded to in this world that is so divided, people are reading entirely different things.
It's hard to know what's news and what's not.
And it can be difficult for people to get along with their neighbors and people with different political views when they aren't even looking at the same news sources.
And that's why we think it's great to
bring people with really diverse points of view together.
all in favor of nature.
I could not agree more, and I'm so glad you've taken time out to be with us today.
Alex Madorski is our guest, the Associate Director of Government Relations at the Nature Conservancy.
Come on back, we'll discuss about how this impacts specifically a very wonderful Wisconsin program.
Not going to want to miss it, but stay tuned now for a little farm news.
Our farm director, Pam Yonkey, you're listening to the Tonnell Ball Show across Wisconsin on the Civic Media Already
out there.
Sometimes you just gotta let it take you when the roller coaster ride meets the till for work.
It's a big old beautiful world.
Welcome back to the title of our show on the Cinecredia already.
Now we're going to get a Chesney for you.
Outdoors guy.
He's more a Caribbean, but he's only a group in Tennessee, but yeah, water.
land, mountains, it's all important and I think it's where we could all come together.
Welcome back to the program.
Glad to have you along on this Tuesday, the 30th of September, 2025.
In fairness, we pre-recorded this show yesterday, back with an all new live show tomorrow before we get back into a little conversation on nature.
Don't forget, we are right in the middle of our text to win.
word for this hour, the green and gold text to win word.
The word this hour is golden, golden, G-O-L-D-E-N, golden.
And it is a multi-state contest.
It is a multi-state contest.
So text in the word golden for the civic media, green and gold.
multi-state text to win contest far few rules, uh, fewer rules are with the, with the conversation, which is why I love having our guest here, uh, for the rest of this half hour, Alex Madorsky was the associate director of a government relations at the great organization called the nature conservancy.
Alex, again, thanks for being here.
And before the Pam Yonkey farm report, we started to talk a little bit and, and, you know, have a hold of the.
a couple 100 state coffee over this.
I'm just, and you find this in your realm of your issue areas of nature, conservancy and conservation, I truly believe that we have gotten to the point in America where there are times now when a guy who works in media like me, let alone the average person out there who's kind of a,
laissez faire type of consumer information like What's actually the truth?
And I hate to say that is that too dour or I think there's so much miss and disinformation and people are so segmented you could have someone say no I I listen to X news source and I didn't mean that as X in Twitter But a news source and I know that that's not true when because of the source they're listening to it simply isn't is that harder to get the message out these days
I think it
is a bit harder to talk about some of these issues than it used to be.
I'll draw back to our ancient history in the state capital, Todd, working as staffers.
And I remember when I was working part time in the state Senate, fresh out of college, back then things really were much more convivial, you know, legislators of different parties would go and hang out.
Uh, in each other's offices, they would chat like old friends.
The, the opposition was not the enemy.
Let's put it that way.
And I think too often people just have lost sight of that in our contemporary culture.
And it is one reason I'm proud to work on programs like the Knowles Nelson stewardship program that we'll discuss in a moment because it was created in a bipartisan fashion.
passed by a Democratic legislature signed into law by Governor Tommy Thompson, named after two great statesmen, one Republican conservationist, one Democratic conservationist.
And this really is sort of a feel good program that's great for every sector of our state that people should be proud of at a time when it can be very difficult to want to stay involved in politics and pay attention to the news.
It's
a hard world out there in some ways right now, and that's why we have to preserve this state's great natural heritage.
It's something we all love and enjoy.
That's a great segue into talking about the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program.
Named after two, Wisconsin Governor Warren Knowles and Gaylord Nelson, who is also the founder of Earth Day, one Republican, one Democrat.
As you said, signed into law by Governor Thompson, passed by a Democratic legislature.
We've had Tia Nelson, the daughter of Gaylord Nelson on this show before, from the state park that's named after her father on Earth Day.
And she says, as the daughter of Gaylord Nelson, you know, I'm still very good friends with Governor Tommy Thompson.
And we talk privately a lot.
And he, good naturally, brags that he actually signed more land
in this state into conservation programs that her father did.
But and it's all a good natured, but if you would just say, well, who are they voting for for president or who have they voted for for us said probably very, very different.
But to your earlier point, there was a day in the state and the folks at Nature Conservancy are still keeping this alive, which I appreciate so very much, where you could come together on issues that were uniquely Wisconsin.
Tell us about this, the Knowles Nelson stewardship program.
Absolutely.
So the Knowles Nelson stewardship program is named after former governor and senator Gaylord Nelson, a Democrat and former Republican governor, Warren Knowles.
who created the state's very first land conservation program.
So continuing in that bipartisan spirit is the Knowles Nelson stewardship program.
It's a public-private partnership that allows conservation organizations like the Nature Conservancy to bring some money to the table and say, hey, these are great lands for hunting, for fishing, for protecting different valuable species and ecosystems for growing.
tourism, our forestry industry, and we'd like to invest in the future of this state's outdoors by moving these grants along and funding some great work, whether it's a suburban park or whether it's some beautiful land up north that is home to valuable species.
It's something that different local governments, nonprofit conservation organizations and county forest systems can use to help.
work together and protect our environment.
There's so many programs that I think a lot of our listeners have used and probably don't realize, whether it's putting a kayak in along a waterway or whether it's a public hunting area.
And they have no idea that that was made possible through the Knowles Nelson Stewardship Program.
That's right.
You know, when we do polling at the Nature Conservancy on this issue, every time it comes up, over 90% of voters statewide tell us
They support this program.
Doesn't matter if they consider themselves to be Republicans, Democrats, or independents, because I think once people get to know the program, they get to learn that, hey, this might not be here if my elected officials and legislators didn't work to make this happen.
And a tremendously high percentage of the state lives within a mile or five miles.
of a stewardship program, no matter where you live in the state, a stewardship project.
We are speaking with Alex Bedorsky.
He is the Associate Director of Government Relations at the Nature Conservancy, and we're talking about the Knowles Nelson Stewardship Program specifically in Wisconsin.
You know, I guess there's really no use of spending a lot of time into why we got here.
We've done that on previous programs.
Correct me if I keep me honest, the longer the short of it is in the joint finance committee process where the state budgets put together, this program didn't make it in various reasons.
Might have had to do with the court case and how these, the bottom line is it didn't get in.
And so this is left this program very important program in my opinion is left unfunded So Alex bring this up to date where we are now because both sides governor evers and democrats and republicans of the legislature Namely Jesus he's from whiskey.
He's from my part of the state southwest wisconsin curts.
Tony curts
is
on who's on the joint finance committee
Uh, senility.
I'm sorry.
Uh, but, but, uh, he is Republican.
He has said that he wants to save this.
His version, according to Democrats who's spoken with, doesn't go far enough.
Tell us where we're at, Alex, in terms of some sort of compromise that will keep this program going and not just going, but properly funded to continue where we are
at.
Sure.
So.
The program was traditionally reauthorized at a period of 10 years through the state budget process.
It was not included for reauthorization and funding in the state budget.
So now what we're doing is working with a couple of bills out there.
There's a Republican author bill and a Democratic author bill to try to get this program refunded and renewed.
The funding for the program will expire in June, 2026.
if we haven't invested in it again by then, and we're working with Republicans and Democrats very hard to make sure that happens.
And if it does not, let's be hopeful, but let's just lay, I think it's important to put the stakes out there because
I
think we need all our listeners across the state to contact their state senator, state representative and let them know they want this.
Tell us if it doesn't get renewed, what are the
consequences across the state?
If the program doesn't get renewed and there's a lapse in funding for it, we're not going to be able to do things like have and maintain more of those suburban parks, more of those
valuable fishing and hunting landscapes that are open to all that are free.
And we're not going to be able to protect some of the rarest species we have in this state if that funding lapses.
And those species include both game species and non-game species.
We have to protect them both.
So those are the stakes.
And in terms of the stakes, in terms of time,
We need people to contact their legislators as soon as they can and as often as they can.
We've got until realistically late February, early March to get this program funded to continue on for its next cycle.
The legislature usually in an even numbered year, which is to say an election year, is usually done with its work by that early March, late February timeline.
So.
Those are the stakes, and that's the time we have to work with.
Alex Podorsky from
the Nature Conservancy is our guest here this half hour.
Alex, because you do this so well, you understand this stuff, you can put it in terms we can all understand.
But again, keep me honest, as I follow this, the biggest differences I see maybe at the 30,000 foot level is the Republican sponsored bill
wants to basically do a lot of maintaining of the lands, the public lands that we have, with a giving this entire state legislature a vote on acquiring new lands.
And the Democratic side, they would like to basically keep things as they are, which is say, hey, when these lands come up, you know, real estate deals, you don't have time to take this the entire legislative process.
And
acquiring new lands and maintaining them as is as important.
Do I have that right or is that
wrong?
I think that's right, Todd.
We are pleased that both the Republican and Democratic bills propose investing new money in maintaining that land.
These valuable conservation lands going forward because those one-time investments are great.
but continued investment in making sure those lands are great after acquired is both necessary and appreciated.
We also like to remind legislators and other folks that real estate and the Knowles Nelson stewardship program, they move at the pace of any other business, right?
So if we have projects that are bogged down in a legislature for several months or for years,
Then there are conservation minded property owners who will quite reasonably say, I really want to put these lands into conservation for future generations for not only my family and the public to enjoy, but it's hard for me to do that when I need to figure something out.
And I don't know how long it's going to take for these plans to.
Come into action.
I had a snarky smirk on my face as Alex was explaining this last part because we both worked in the building as they say in the state capital and we both understand and and I think you'll agree it doesn't matter what party is in charge
Oftentimes the red tape stereotype is there for a reason because it's deserved sometimes things can move quickly But it's your point things get bogged down and everybody wants to have their say so they can go home and score points to the local community And that's just anybody who's ever done a land deal in this state who's purchased real estate at your point
Sometimes you're gonna strike with the iron it's hot or you're gonna lose that opportunity and this isn't like one or two people are decided these things There's a board already in place through the DNR to do that But we'll come back and talk more with Alex Badorsky the associate director of government relations and the nature Conservancy about the Nels Nolson stewardship fund a vital program for all of us in this state You're listening to the civic media ready network
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Welcome back to the title of all show on the Civic Media already network where it is now eight minutes before the hour of four o'clock at the top of the hour ABC or CBS News depending upon which of our great stations you're listening to a check of weather with Brittany Merlot and her weather team.
I'm going to tell you what it is right now.
Hot, hot.
That is the weather across the state of Wisconsin or summery than fall.
But don't worry, it's going to arrive here.
And then we'll be saying, where's all that warm weather?
And then, of course, a great sports reporter, Mike Clemens.
continues to update us on sports around the state of Wisconsin.
In another edition, the Maggie Dawn Show, followed by another great edition with our friend of Nightlight with Pete Schwabba across the Civic Media radio network.
We're gonna be back tomorrow with an all new live show from beautiful Shawna, Wisconsin.
Pat Critello, Trigby Olsen will be our guest join us then, but right now, finishing up with our fine guest today, Alex Madorski, the Associate Director of Government Relations.
for the nature of conservancy.
And Alex, just again, thank you for your time.
This is so important.
This is something that's personally important to me.
And one of the things is, because for me, I think the outdoors is as healing of thing for me mentally and even physically than anything else I could possibly think of.
But also, I know this to be true because I've experienced it.
I know you've traveled around as well.
It's one of those things that binds us together as Wisconsinites and in a world where everything feels divided, it's so nice to talk about a program that brings people together.
Absolutely, you know, and I'm going to go cheeseball on you here, Todd.
Warning.
But my two daughters, when I was hiking with them, my wife the other day, really how I think about this program is what kind of legacy, what kind of state do I want to leave them, right?
I want them to be able to enjoy not only all these wonderful things I did, but more of them.
And I want our state's tourism industry to continue to grow.
I did not have the privilege of growing up in Wisconsin.
I chose this wonderful state as a college student and beyond in large part because of the outdoor spaces we have access to.
And when my parents come up here to Door County or down in Stoughton where I live,
They're always blown away by the nature opportunities they have.
That's the way we want to keep it, and we want to keep growing this program.
Our friend, Trigby Olson, will be on the show tomorrow.
He's worked in state and federal politics as well.
He has a fond saying that former Governor Thompson taught him years ago, which was he used to say, Trigby, there are two types of politicians, those that want to be and those that want to do.
And I'm not trying to hate it.
I'm not going to call anybody out by name.
I fear there are too many people in our state legislature that want to be someone right now and want to take credit.
And then there are those legislators that want to do something.
And what needs to be done is for legislators to come together, work with Governor Evers, and craft a bill that can save the Knowles Nelson Stewardship Fund so that hunters, fisher people,
Outdoor butterfly and bird enthusiasts and kayakers all of us as Wisconsinites could continue to use the great outdoors Again, I'll go back to real estate.
It ain't getting cheaper and there are a lot of people that can't afford to own their own hunting land Didn't inherit a farm, but they love going out and hunting and that's due to a public hunting land and so Alex do you see Is there any sign of compromise here right now the capital to
to solve
this, and what can the average Wisconsinite do?
I think there's still a great opportunity to solve this, to continue on the great funding for this great program.
And there have been some great doers, as you've said, Todd, Representative Tony Kurtz from Western Wisconsin, Senator Pat Tastin from the Stevens Point area.
They are the authors of the Republican bill on the Democratic side, Senator Jody Habish-Sinneken and Representative Vincent Marisi.
They're working really hard, too.
We just need folks to find some common ground to contact their legislators and to make sure we can get something across the finish line that people can live with so that everyone can continue to enjoy great outdoor spaces.
And they can go to, uh, uh, call their state legislator assembly or set up personnel.
One of the best websites in the world, your website at nature conservancy is just nature
Nature.org.
It's very easy to find us there.
If you want to contact your legislator and you don't know how to do that or you don't know who represents you in the legislature, you can go to the Wisconsin State Legislature's website and they'll guide you from there how to contact who represents you via email, via phone.
And we've got a great opportunity to continue these investments, which are immensely popular all over the state.
It's an opportunity we can't miss.
So please do take that time to contact your legislators.
Two minutes left.
What do you feel is the biggest sticking point right now between these two bills?
Is it the fact that the Republicans want the whole legislature to vote on these acquisitions?
And is that it?
Is that the big stumbling block?
Or is it something deeper and more political?
I think there are a lot of legislators who have a lot of different perspectives on what the outdoors mean and how they want to weigh outdoor conservation versus other things.
But I think these bills are close enough that we should be able to find something that people can work with.
The DNR experts, as you've mentioned, the people who appraise real estate, they're pros.
We don't get a free pass.
They've got to say, yeah, this makes sense to us before things move along.
And we want legislative involvement as well.
We want involvement from Democratic and Republican legislators, but we don't want to go back to a place where there's an anonymous, indefinite veto over important conservation
programs.
I was in Fish Creek, Wisconsin earlier this summer and one of the beautiful parks right on Main Street there up in Door County has a great sign that says this was funded in part by the Knowles Nelson Stewardship Program.
And hanging out with my parents, wife, and daughter there, you don't get better than that.
News
you can use go to fish Creek and we thank Alex Madorsky at the associate director of government relations for the nature Conservancy Alex always a pleasure.
Thank you.
Thank you, Todd My pleasure to have you on stay tuned Maggie Dawn is next we'll be back with a live show from shuttle, Wisconsin tomorrow join us then Thanks to Zabers everybody else who helped on the show whatever you're fighting for whatever you believe in do not give up Keep banging your drum.
We'll see you tomorrow
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