Fenwood project unfunded in budget
The state legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance (JFC) did not include in its 2021-23 budget funding for the Fenwood Creek Subwatershed project in Marathon County, it has been reported.
In the project, the county had hoped to pay farmers in the subwatershed up to $40 an acre for conservation-minded farming techniques such as managed grazing. The budget for the project is $610,000 each year for six years.
The project, meant to be a “pay for performance” pilot project for all of Marathon County, is the Conservation, Planning and Zoning (CPZ) Department’s top environmental priority.
A spokesperson for Sen Kathy Bernier (R-Chippewa Falls) confi rmed on Monday that the approved JCF budget, which now heads to the state assembly and senate, did not include funding NEWS
for the county initiative.
CPZ land and water director Paul Daigle on Tuesday said the county was too late in the budget process to ask for funding. He continued to be hopeful that members of the state assembly and senate will add in funding for the Fenwood project as they review and act on the JFC budget.
Marathon County board chairman Kurt Gibbs on Tuesday said the Executive Committee would review the status of the Fenwood project and consider whether to ask non-profits and conservation groups for funding.
