A message from the Wisconsin Wetlands Association Board of Directors:
We’ve all seen a lot of news coverage in the past week regarding a pause on federal funding. A lot of uncertainty remains about what funding has been paused and what funding might yet be paused, and this uncertainty is likely to continue for some time.
We appreciate everyone in our community who has reached out to ask how the potential federal funding pause affects Wisconsin Wetlands Association (WWA) and what they can do to help.
Is WWA affected by a potential pause on federal funding?
We don’t know enough to say yet. Possibly.
We currently have 3 projects funded directly or indirectly by federal grants and 3 awards that are pending but we were expecting to receive. Combined, these grants make up a third of our current annual budget.
Here’s the list of active projects:
- Our project to produce short videos about how Tribes in Wisconsin are protecting and caring for wetlands and watersheds is funded through a partnership agreement with USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
- Our project with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection (DATCP) building capacity to support voluntary wetland restoration is funded through a sub-award of a grant from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
- Our flood risk assessment and community capacity building project in the Lake Superior Basin is funded through a sub-award of a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The three pending projects include proposals that were invited by our state agency collaborators but are in various stages of the review process. Source funds for pending projects come from EPA, NOAA, and the U.S. Department of Transportation.
At this time, all of our federal grants are operating as normal.
How is WWA operating in the midst of the uncertainty?
We are currently reviewing our expenses and developing contingency plans based on different scenarios that might come to pass in the coming days, weeks, or months. The pause in federal funding may not impact our programs, but it could. So we are operating in “business as usual” mode for now. We will keep our community informed as the situation develops.
We have been working hard in recent years to reduce our dependence on grants by increasing our unrestricted revenue (gifts from generous members and donors like you) and private foundation funding. Our recent strategic plan strengthened this commitment.
What can you do?
As we learn more and get more answers to the many questions we (and all of us) have, we may reach out to you, our members, with ways you can help. In the meantime, you can:
- Host a community gathering to help bring together WWA members in your area as well as introduce more people in your community to wetlands and WWA. Contact beilfuss@wisconsinwetlands.org if you’d like to know more about this opportunity.
- Let us know about any new community or foundation grant programs you find out about that have priorities you think are well aligned with WWA’s current work. Please forward the details to director@wisconsinwetlands.org.
- Follow WWA on Wetland News and Alerts for updates on when and how you can most effectively advocate for the continuation of federal conservation funding programs and ongoing or increased investments in wetlands as solutions by the State of Wisconsin.
Thank you so much to all our members and donors.
Your donations really do matter and help us continue our work and weather times of uncertainty like this. Because of you and our long-term commitment to organizational health (including operating reserves), WWA is in a good position to withstand a potential funding pause.
No matter how the coming weeks, months, and years progress, we will continue to promote wetlands as solutions for healthy land, watersheds, and communities as we have for more than fifty years. If you have further questions, please contact Tracy Hames at 608-250-9971 x1 or director@wisconsinwetlands.org.
Thank you,
WWA Board of Directors:
Alison Peña, Chair
Nicole Staskowski, Vice Chair
Gretchen Pfeiffer, Secretary
Tod Highsmith, Treasurer
Jim Ruwaldt
Susan Schumacher
Photo: Winter snow scene of marsh and stream at Fair Meadows in Southern Wisconsin by Gary Shackelford