Fish and wildlife spring hearings happening virtually April 10-13
The Wisconsin Conservation Congress (WCC) and Department of Natural Resources (DNR) invite the public to get involved in April during the annual spring hearing public input opportunity.
The WCC/DNR Spring Hearings focus on natural resource-related questions and proposed rule changes. They will again be held in a virtual format, as they have been since 2020. This year’s online questionnaire will be open from April 10 at noon through April 13 at noon via the Wisconsin Conservation Congress Spring Hearing webpage (https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/about/wcc/ springhearing).
New this year will be open houses in each county to allow the public to ask questions and learn about resource management in their neck of the woods. Open houses will be held from April 3 through April 6. More details will be made available on the DNR’s even calendar (https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/events) and spring hearing webpage as soon as details are finalized.
DNR staff and WCC delegates will be on hand at these open houses to discuss local issues of importance, answer questions from the public and open a dialogue between the public, the DNR and the WCC about areas of interest and concern.
In addition, the WCC will hold elections for their delegates at each of these open houses. Two of the five WCC seats will be up for election in each county.
The Wisconsin Conservation Congress is the only statutory body in the state where the public elects delegates to advise the Natural Resources Board and the DNR on responsibly managing Wisconsin’s natural resources for present and future generations. The congress accomplishes this through open, impartial, broadranged actions. Learn more about the WCC and how to become involved in resource management decisions on the Wisconsin Conservation Congress webpage (https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/about/wcc).
Resolution process
Each year citizens have an opportunity to submit ideas as resolutions to the WCC. In mid-January, the WCC District Leadership Council agreed to support the annual spring hearings resolution process via an online process.
Wisconsinites can submit proposed resolutions via the online process which opened Wednesday, Feb. 15. Resolutions must meet the following criteria:
The concern must be of statewide impact.
The concern must be practical, achievable and reasonable.
The concern must be within the mission and vision of the Wisconsin Conservation Congress.
An individual citizen may submit no more than two resolutions per year. Those interested in submitting a resolution are encouraged to reach out to the resolution review committee or their WCC County Chair for guidance in drafting a resolution.
Additional tips on preparing a resolution are available on the WCC and DNR’s Spring Hearings website.
Resolutions will be accepted until March 1. At the close of the submission process, the resolutions will be reviewed by a committee of WCC delegates to ensure they meet the criteria for inclusion and will be prepared for the online input which kicks off on Monday, April 10 and will close on Thursday, April 13.
For further information or questions, contact Terri Roehrig, vice chair Wisconsin Conservation Congress at 920-540-2775.
