Mission

Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters Institute protects public health and natural resources in Wisconsin by enhancing the capacity of the conservation movement.

What We Do

Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters Institute works to connect conservation-minded citizens with the policy-making process through education, advocacy, public opinion research, and the implementation of voter participation techniques.  Our key programs include:

Holding Conservation Listening Sessions
Members of a wide range of conservation groups–including local lake associations, sportsmen groups, environmental organizations, farming groups and more - attend Conservation Listening Sessions to voice their conservation concerns.  The listening sessions are usually held in 8-13 locations across the state.  These lively and productive are used to set the Conservation Priorities.

Setting the Wisconsin Conservation Priorities
The Wisconsin Conservation Priorities represent the unified issue agenda of Wisconsin's conservation community.   The “priority” issues are the ones that conservationists are asking legislators to address this legislative session.  The issues are selected with broad input from Wisconsin citizens and conservation organizations.   Typically, more than 80 organizations - including local lake associations, sportsmen groups, environmental organizations, farming groups and more (link)- endorse the Wisconsin Conservation Priorities.

Hosting Conservation Lobby Day
Each year citizens from across Wisconsin descend on the Capitol to share their conservation values with their Legislators.  Since the first Conservation Lobby Day in 2005, the event has grown from just 100 citizens to more than 600!  Time and again, Conservation Lobby Day proves that when citizens come together to make their conservation values known, legislators listen, and conservation victories soon follow!

Advocating for Conservation Issues
Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters Institute monitors each and every conservation policy considered by the state legislature.  When opportunities exist to protect Wisconsin’s air, water, land or sporting opportunities, our team of field organizers moves quickly to engage citizens to effectively protect our shared conservation values. 

Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters Institute Board of Directors

Hilary Carroll, Madison

Hilary Carroll coordinated her first environmental campaign when she was 13, encouraging residents of Clintonville, WI to keep local waterways clean by not dumping waste down storm drains. Her interest in natural resources led her to a degree in Environmental Studies, Public Policy from Northland College. Since then, Hilary has worked with The Nature Conservancy, The Inland Sea Society, the River Alliance of Wisconsin and Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters on a variety of land and water issues. Hilary is currently the Director of Membership and Development for the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin.
Why I’m a Conservation Voter:   As a child, I always looked forward to my family’s annual camping trips.  Each year, it took a little longer to get to “nature” due to the always-expanding sprawl.  I’m a conservation voter because it’s important that Wisconsin kids will always have an opportunity to visit and explore undisturbed nature.

Jim Feldman, Oshkosh

Jim Feldman is currently an Associate Professor of Environmental Studies and History at the University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh. His research, teaching, and activism interests include changing ideas about wilderness and wild nature, nuclear energy and radioactive waste disposal, sustainability, and environmental history. He is finishing a book on the environmental history of Wisconsin's Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.  Jim is the faculty director of the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh's Campus Sustainability Council, which is dedicated to making the university more sustainable in all of its facets--teaching, research, operations, and community outreach. Jim earned his Ph.D in history from the University of Wisconsin - Madison in 2004, and also has an MA in history from Utah State University and a BA from Amherst College.
Why I’m a Conservation Voter:  I believe that all of us, no matter who we are or where we live, have a right to a clean and healthy environment, but that we have to fight to protect that right.

Jayne Meyer, Madison

Jayne is very active in the Wisconsin hunting and fishing community. She is a Dane County delegate to the Conservation Congress and an officer in the Yahara Fishing Club. Professionally, Jayne spent many years working in the legislature and as a Coodinator for the Regional Hazardous Materials Response Teams.  Jayne recently began a second career as an RN student and plans to graduate in May 2011.

Tom Thoresen, Fitchburg

Tom Thoresen is retired from 30 years of state service.  He spent 26 of those years at the Department of Natural Resources where he retired as the Deputy Chief Conservation Warden. Tom spent 16 years as a DNR Senior Manager and also served s a Field Conservation Warden, Recreational Safety Warden, Environmental Warden and Conservation Warden Supervisor. He is active on a number of issues to help restore Wisconsin's reputation for clean government. Tom serves on the Dane County Parks Commission and teaches Hunter Education.  Tom holds a Masters degree in Public Administration and lives in Fitchburg with his wife Kim and sons Daniel and Douglas. 
Why I’m a Conservation Voter:  My working career was dedicated to protecting and enhancing our natural resources so the public could have a healthy environment in which we could safely use and enjoy our resources.  It is important to pass these resources on to future generations in better condition than we found them. In today’s political world of power politics and special interests, it is critical to have a voice that informs voters for informed natural resource decision making.

Stacy Craig, Mason

Stacy Craig is the Coordinator of Applied Learning at Northland College, an environmental liberal arts college in northern Wisconsin.  Stacy hails from the dry, flat plains of South Dakota and was drawn to northern Wisconsin over a decade ago by the smell of fresh water. S he attended Northland College and has worked ever since to explore and teach the interconnectedness between natural and social capital.  Formally, she coordinated the LoonWatch program out of the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute, where she worked with hundreds of passionate citizen scientists around Wisconsin to monitor common loons as an indicator of lake health.  She resides with her husband and bird dog in a hand-hewn log cabin from the early 1900’s. She joined the board in 2010 and hopes to help serve as a liaison between Madison and the conservation community of the north.

Why I’m a Conservation Voter:  The word wealth comes from the Old English words “weal” (well-being) and “th” (condition), which taken together means “the condition of well-being.” As a child, I was given the gift of wildness: hikes to remote waterfalls, camping in the mountains with grizzly bears, casting lines into lakes and rivers. I have seen persimmon northern lights and a shooting star from Orion’s bow. I am a conservation voter because my experiences with these elements have instilled an awe that makes me think and love and live deeper. They give me great wealth that I hope to leave as an inheritance for those to come.

Marc Schultz, Onalaska

For more than two decades, Marc has been a leader promoting public involvement in state and federal legislation and programs that manage the Mississippi river and its tributaries.  Marc retired in 2003 as a UW-Extension Community Natural Resource and Economic Development Agent where he worked with and facilitated citizen and community leader collaboration. Marc’s prior work experience in public health, boating law, wetland hydrology, wild land recreation policy and forestry provides his science-based natural resource background.  Currently, Marc holds leadership positions with several state and local conservation organizations including the Town of Onalaska Board and the Joint La Crosse City-County Harbor Commission. He received a BS and MS in Natural Resource Management from the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point. Marc and his family have a home on a high bank of the Mississippi River.
Why I’m a Conservation Voter:  I’m a conservation voter because conservation of natural resources is a family value I grew up with.  I even attended college to study natural resources.  With this background, it’s imperative that conservation values be a major consideration in how I vote and participate in our political process.