DNR uses restitution from kayaker to fund public service equipment

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is accepting applications for the Hunter Recruitment, Retention and Reactivation (R3) grant program. The deadline to submit grant applications is 11:59 p.m. CST on Sept. 15.The Hunter R3 grant supports projects that promote awareness, understanding and participation in safe, ethical hunting and hunting-related outdoor skills. These skills offer i...

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has announced the restitution received as part of a 2025 Green Lake County Circuit Court ruling against a kayaker who staged his death was used to purchase new sonar equipment for emergency response to public safety incidents and natural resource protection cases.Ryan Borgwardt staged a boating fatality on Big Green Lake, the state’s deepest in...

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has released both the hunting regulations (fall 2026-spring 2027) and the 2026 fall forecast series. Together, these resources contain most of the information that hunters will need to participate in hunting game species. The fall forecasts also include hunting and trapping outlooks for a variety of popular game species.New this year, the DNR pub...