“We don’t have funding for that anymore. We used to do more of that when we had more resources. We would really like to do that someday, but we’ll have to wait until we have more funding.”
This isn’t going to be a sermon about money. It’s going to be more of a reality check followed by a pleasant observation. Kiap-TU-Wish has been blessed with generous donors who spend money at our annual banquet and give freely to our spring appeal each year. Due to their/your generosity, we have funding to pay for eight Trout-in-the-Classroom programs in area schools, to send several youth to Trout Camp each summer, and to help the WIDNR with summer mowing costs along our streams and rivers. We also have funding to monitor the water quality and temperatures of our streams and to buy more rock to strengthen the habitat restoration projects that the WIDNR trout crew works on in our area. We have this funding because of your generosity. Thank you.
The statements at the beginning of this month’s Drift aren’t statements we hear from our chapter members. However, they are the kind of statements we are likely to hear more often from natural resource managers as time goes on. Let’s face it. We live in a fiscally conservative state with (according to the demographers) a stable, but aging population. Aging populations tend to pay less income taxes as more workers retire than enter the workforce. Unless our population suddenly increases, lower income tax collections mean that all of our statefunded agencies, like our WIDNR, are going to receive less funding and are going to be more stretched in the years ahead. They’re going to have to do more with less. Sometimes, they’re just going to have to do less. Our top-notch fisheries biologists and trout crew want to do the right thing in managing our natural resources. However, over time, they might be prevented from managing our resources in the way they want to, due to lack of resources.
So, what’s the answer?
I believe that we’re the answer! Or at least, that we’re moving in the direction of being the answer!
I believe that many of our Kiap-TU-Wish members are already helping plug gaps left by reorganizations and funding cuts. Think of the partnerships our members have built with area schools in the Trout-in-the-Classroom programs we sponsor, not to mention all the Kiap volunteers who staff the Bugs-in-the-Classroom sessions and Trout Release Days. Think of the water quality and temperature data that Kiap members faithfully collect throughout the year and share with the WIDNR. Think of hours spent with WIDNR staff planning future habitat restoration project sites and putting ongoing maintenance plans together for already restored sites. Then, think of the thousands of hours Kiap members spend each winter clearing those new project sites and maintaining existing sites. And, if that isn’t enough, Kiap members spend hundreds of hours behind the scenes each year advocating for stormwater retention ponds, sound agricultural practices and dam removals that benefit and protect our coldwater resources.
We are the answer because citizen volunteers like you and me are the people who are in the best position to plug funding gaps, simply by volunteering in places where we can make a difference. In particular, Kiap-TU-Wish volunteers are already making a substantial difference in the heath of our local coldwater streams and riparian corridors. And we’ll have the opportunity to make more of a difference as time goes on. In fact, something tells me that Randy, Loren, Pete and their merry winter brushing crew will offer us plenty of opportunities to get outside, get some fresh air and have fun making a difference over this winter. Come out and join the fun for a time or two, or volunteer with the Trout-in-the-Classroom programs, or with the chapter’s new Veteran Services Partnership. Wherever you fit in, volunteer and make a difference!
Happy Fishing! Scott
