A group of 15 young people in Wisconsin is challenging state laws that they say worsen the climate crisis and violate their constitutional rights following a landmark climate ruling in Montana.
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The Fox River empties into Lake Michigan in Green Bay, where city officials have proposed a resolution acknowledging that local bodies of water have a right to be protected. (Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources)
Two Republican legislators have proposed legislation that would prevent local governments from enacting “rights of nature” ordinances — laws that grant natural entities legal rights — claiming that such ordinances are “incompatible with America’s founding principles.”
The proposal from Rep. Joy Goeben (R-Hobart) and Sen. Steve Nass (R-Whitewater) was released after the Green Bay City Council voted 9-1 last month to direct the city’s sustainability council to begin drafting a “rights of nature” resolution.
The concept of granting natural entities legal rights is relatively new in American government, but countries around the world have enshrined legal rights for nature into their constitutions. In Wisconsin, the Menominee and Ho-Chunk Nations have written rights of nature provisions into their tribal constitutions. Two years ago, the Milwaukee County Board enacted its own rights of nature resolution that promises to protect the health of the Menominee, Milwaukee and Fox rivers and Lake Michigan.
The Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights has been working for years to track and support the passage of rights of nature laws around the world. The organization’s executive director Mari Margil says these laws are meant to help protect the environment.
“As environmental crises deepen, supporters of the bill are trying to make it harder to protect the environment,” Margil says of the Goeben and Nass proposal.
While the Republican legislation, if it manages to pass the Legislature, is unlikely to be signed into law by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, critics say the proposal is an example of kneejerk Republican opposition to pro-environment ideas and another instance of Republicans from northeast Wisconsin attempting to meddle in Green Bay city politics.
A co-sponsorship memo supporting the legislation states that these types of ordinances threaten the integrity of the legal system and property rights.
“Allowing and promoting this ideology represents a dangerous shift in legal precedent,” the memo states. “It would allow nonhuman entities to sue in court, threatening property rights, stalling development, and burdening the judicial system.”
Goeben did not respond to a request for comment.
Rep. Ryan Clancy (D-Milwaukee), who helped write Milwaukee County’s resolution as a member of the county board in 2023, tells the Wisconsin Examiner the idea of granting bodies of water legal rights isn’t so different from corporations having legal “personhood.” In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in its Citizens United decision that corporations have the right to free speech.
“It is wholly disingenuous to say only real tangible people have rights and then fight explicitly for those rights for corporations,” Clancy says. “It’s frankly frustrating to see Republicans take these really popular measures, these are broadly popular things, and rather than engaging with us in dialog, just trying to block these things through process. It’s a disingenuous way to go about it. Let’s talk about the things that necessitate these pieces of legislation.”
He adds that legislators have the power to do more than just write legislation. Goeben’s district is in the Green Bay suburbs but doesn’t include any of the city, but, Clancy argues that she could go to city council meetings and speak with people about these ideas instead of trying to blanket ban them without any dialog.
“It would be a much more earnest process to show up in Green Bay and go to those meetings and voice your concerns there,” he says. “We have bully pulpits, I show up at the city council, county board, school board meetings, both in my capacity as a legislator and as a parent and community member. Make your case there rather than trying to ban it.”
A number of Green Bay area officials expressed frustration at Republicans again involving themselves in Green Bay city politics. Earlier this year, Green Bay-area Republicans Rep. David Steffen (R-Howard) and Sen. Eric Wimberger (R-Oconto) proposed a bill that would limit the types of flags allowed to be flown at government buildings. Many Green Bay residents saw the bill as an effort to weigh in on a local debate over the flying of LGBTQ Pride flags.
“Given the challenges our communities are facing, from our housing crisis to fully funding our public schools, I am always surprised by elected officials who don’t represent this city wasting time on policies that don’t solve real problems or fund actual solutions,” Rep. Amaad Rivera-Wagner (D-Green Bay) says.
Joey Prestley, the Green Bay city council member who has led the local rights of nature effort, says the resolution — which hasn’t been drafted yet — is meant to serve as a non-binding advisory statement that city government will consider the environmental effects of its decisions throughout the development process.
“Historically, the human actors have been the ones who have had the rights and the natural features have not been able to have people speaking for them,” he says.
Prestley says the idea for the resolution started after a group of residents objected late in the process to a new housing development. The development would be near the Niagara escarpment, a geological feature residents want to protect, but didn’t hit the thresholds that would instigate involvement from the federal Environmental Protection Agency or state Department of Natural Resources.
“My hope with a resolution would be maybe we consider these — all environmental features — but especially these ones that are important to our region, earlier in the process, and more thoroughly in the process, so we don’t have people coming up in the 11th Hour and saying, ‘wait a second, you can’t build this housing development,’” Prestley says.
He adds that if that consideration and discussion of the environmental effects came earlier, it could have been a more constructive discussion rather than turning into a heated local debate that had the potential to kill a housing project in a city that, like much of Wisconsin, is in dire need of more housing. The Green Bay city council approved the 160-unit project in April
“If it had been earlier in our process, it could have been more collaborative, and it could have been neighbors and environmental advocates working together with the developer and the city to make sure it’s a plan that benefits everybody, everybody who engages with the environment, everybody who relies on the environment, everybody who appreciates the environment,” he says.
In proposing a resolution, he adds, the objective is “not trying to compel anyone, but really trying to adapt as a philosophy for the city that we want to consider nature as the original inhabitants of the land did before we were here.”
Prestley says it’s easy to spin the rights of nature discussion as “the work of a crazy person” who wants “to get trees to sue the city,” but actually he says he’s trying to make sure the city considers the potentially damaging environmental effects of its actions after decades of managing the harmful contamination of the Fox River.
“There was not enough people speaking up for the damage that was happening to the river back then, and it created something that affected the whole community,” Prestley says. “People used to swim in the river. Nobody touches the river now. Maybe we should consider the environment. That’s not a radical idea, that is a sensible idea, considering what we’ve done in the past in this community, and thinking about how we want to move forward.”
Prestley says the proposed legislation seems “silly” and notes a number of city actions, such as wetland reconstruction, that have benefited the environment. He says that if the Legislature isn’t going to help, it should get out of the way.
“I think we’re trying to do good things in Green Bay for the environment,” he says. “And I think the state’s responsibility should be to help with the good things, or to do their own thing.”
The lawmakers proposing the bill, “they’re not helping us,” Prestley says. “They’re not helping the people, they’re just opposing things, and I don’t know why.”
Correction: This report has been updated to correct the vote count when the Green Bay City Council passed a measure to draft a proposed resolution on the rights of nature.
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Gov. Tony Evers is telling state agencies not to wait for Republican-led legislative committees to sign off on a backlog of administrative rules covering topics ranging from wolf management to professional licensing.
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Last week, 22 cars of a Canadian Pacific train came off the tracks near Reeseville in Dodge County.
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A Milwaukee street flooded by the storms that swept the city Aug. 9 to Aug. 11, 2025. (Photo courtesy of Anne Tuchelski)
The scale of damage in Milwaukee County left behind after unprecedented flooding last week is beginning to come into view. Over 300 volunteers from the county’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM), Wisconsin Emergency Management (WEM), and local partner organizations have assessed 3,434 homes for property damage from a storm that brought upwards of 10 inches of rain to some areas. As of Monday, 53% of the homes inspected have been categorized as “destroyed” or having sustained “major damage.” Public infrastructure has sustained more than $34 million in damage, according to preliminary evaluations
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley thanked local agencies for assisting in recovery and damage assessment efforts in a press statement Tuesday.
“I joined our damage assessment teams in the community last week and spoke directly with residents affected by flooding,” Crowley said. “I’ve heard your stories, your challenges, and your calls for help. But I also heard your resilience and witnessed neighbors helping one another. That spirit of service is what defines Milwaukee.”
The Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs announced Tuesday that teams from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will arrive Thursday to visit communities, accompanied by state personnel. The teams will verify damage. Teams will interview homeowners, renters and business owners to document property damage and the impact of the storms and flooding. Their work will help determine the extent of damage and inform the state’s request for federal assistance.
“The safety and well-being of Wisconsin residents is our top priority,” said Gov. Tony Evers in a press statement. “These severe storms have caused significant hardship, and we are committed to ensuring that those affected receive the support they need. The collaboration between state and federal agencies through this damage assessment process is critical to unlocking the resources necessary for recovery.”
After FEMA completes a preliminary damage assessment, the agency’s regional administrator will make a recommendation on whether the president should declare a disaster, allowing for federal disaster assistance to be sent to Milwaukee County and other Southeast Wisconsin communities.
Over 12,000 calls have been made to 211 in Milwaukee County, and residents are encouraged to continue reporting damage to that number or to make an online damage report here. The data will be used to persuade the Trump administration that Milwaukee requires federal assistance.
Community and local government organizations are continuing cleanup efforts, and volunteers are encouraged to register at Crisis Cleanup, a program providing free service to those in need. Emergency shelters established by the Red Cross have also served dozens of residents displaced by the flood. The Milwaukee Health Department is reminding people to assume any standing water in the street or around homes is contaminated with sewage, and to avoid the spread of mold in homes, which can be harmful to health.
The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection is also advising that people seek “trustworthy” contractors, and to keep an eye out for scammers. “Vulnerable consumers are often targeted by scammers,” said department Secretary Randy Romanski. “Property owners should stay alert and that quick and easy fixes may be too good to be true.” People should especially be cautious of door-to-door crews which use “high pressure tactics to solicit business”, the department warns.
The rain that fell overnight on Aug. 9 overwhelmed roads, highways, and neighborhoods. Many people were forced to abandon their cars on the roads as the water rapidly rose. Firefighters worked to rescue people whose homes had become inundated, as residents were forced to brave the downpour to check on vulnerable loved ones.
In Wauwatosa, Hart Park looked as if it was underwater, and wetland habitats in the County Grounds natural area were swallowed by water and became small lakes. The Wisconsin State Fair closed early as rain fell, pooling water to knee or waist level as people waded to their cars. Local dumps have seen lines of cars stretching down the block, and filled with damaged furniture, clothing, and equipment.
Some Milwaukee residents expressed that they didn’t feel the city was prepared for the level of flooding. Researchers have long-warned that climate change would bring more intense rainfall and greater risks of floods in Wisconsin. In 2020, it was estimated that 273,400 homes in Wisconsin were at substantial risk of flooding, nearly twice what FEMA estimated.
Flooding also severely affected other parts of southeastern Wisconsin. State agencies warned that following the floods, the Waukesha County dam was at a high risk of failure, and would need to be reinforced.
FEMA teams have also been inspecting other communities in southeastern Wisconsin. The Wisconsin National Guard was also deployed to parts of the state, assisting with rescue and recovery efforts, and providing specialized vehicle support.
Greg Engle, the WEM administrator, said on WISN Channel 12’s “UpFront” program Sunday that federal assistance was likely to take time.
FEMA’s help is “going to be critical because we don’t have a similar program here in the state,” Engle said, adding that, “we want to get that assistance to our families and folks in Wisconsin, but I will say it’s not immediate.”
Engle said that state teams are working as quickly as they can, and that the FEMA Region 5 team from Chicago has been helpful, and federal personnel have embedded with the state emergency management agency to provide support with planning and training.
“We expect they’re going to be very supportive, but I cannot guarantee that we’ll get approved for a disaster declaration,” he said.
Asked Tuesday about the ongoing flood recovery efforts and the possibility of FEMA sending assistance, Sen. Tammy Baldwin replied that “confident and Trump administration are two phrases that I don’t necessarily always put in a sentence together.”
Baldwin said that she believes that “the president has said very disparaging things about FEMA before the start of his term. He even talked about abolishing FEMA and the responsibility should gravitate towards the states after a natural disaster. He’s changed his tune as he’s wont to do, especially after the Texas flooding, so I want to keep his feet on the fire, hold him accountable as we face significant damage in Southeastern Wisconsin.”
The senator described touring communities to see the damage first hand and pledged to continue pushing Trump to send federal aid to Wisconsin.
The coal-fired Mill Creek Generating Station operates in Kentucky last year. President Donald Trump’s administration has ordered some retiring coal plants to stay online, even as they have struggled to remain economically viable. (Photo by Liam Niemeyer/Kentucky Lantern)
Mandates from President Donald Trump’s administration to retain aging coal plants could cause a massive spike in energy costs, according to an independent analysis commissioned by several environmental groups.
Orders from the U.S. Department of Energy to save coal plants from retirement could cost ratepayers more than $3 billion per year, according to a report from Grid Strategies, a power sector consulting firm. It was carried out on behalf of Earthjustice, Environmental Defense Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council and Sierra Club.
Under Trump, the agency has issued emergency orders to maintain operations at coal plants that were scheduled for retirement. While federal officials say the coal plants need to stay online to avoid blackouts, power plant owners and state regulators planned their closures because they were no longer economically viable or needed for reliability.
“DOE mandates override those well-informed decisions, inflating electric bills for homeowners and businesses and undermining the competitiveness of U.S. factories and data centers,” the Grid Strategies analysis found.
Across the country, coal plants have phased out as they’ve struggled to compete with cheaper renewables and natural gas. A 2023 analysis by Energy Innovation, a nonpartisan think tank, found that 99% of existing U.S. coal plants “are more expensive to run than replacement by local wind, solar, and energy storage resources.”
But Trump, who has pushed to unleash more fossil fuel development and to stymie wind and solar, has ordered a retiring coal plant in Michigan to stay online, along with an oil and gas plant in Pennsylvania.
“Based on the trend to date and indications that DOE has approached the owners of many retiring fossil power plants about potentially mandating their retention, DOE may attempt to mandate the retention of nearly all large fossil power plants slated for retirement between now and the end of 2028,” reads the Grid Strategies report.
The cost of keeping those plants online would be immense. By 2028, if Trump were to mandate the retention of all fossil fuel plants slated for retirement, the annual cost to ratepayers would be more than $3.1 billion, the analysis found.
The report also considers a number of aging plants that are not yet scheduled for retirement. It finds Trump’s actions could create a “perverse incentive,” causing plant owners to claim they’re planning to shut down, inducing the feds to step in and keep them open, with the cost borne by ratepayers.
Accounting for that possibility, the report found that ratepayer costs could reach $5.9 billion per year to keep the entire aging fossil fuel fleet online. California, Texas and Colorado would see the highest increases in electricity bills.
Stateline reporter Alex Brown can be reached at abrown@stateline.org.
Stateline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org.
Wisconsin’s recently passed budget doesn’t include the extension of a popular land conservation program, but it does include two earmarks for environmental projects in the home district of the state’s most powerful Assembly Republican.
After Republican legislators declined to reauthorize the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund in the state budget, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers vetoed five natural resources projects, criticizing the Legislature for choosing “to benefit the politically connected few” instead of supporting stewardship through the statewide fund.
“I am vetoing this section because I object to providing an earmark for a natural resources project when the Legislature has abandoned its responsibility to reauthorize and ensure the continuation of the immensely popular Warren Knowles-Gaylord Nelson Stewardship program,” Evers wrote in his veto message.
However, Evers didn’t veto other natural resources projects, including two totaling $15 million in Assembly Speaker Robin Vos’ district in southeastern Wisconsin west of Racine. Asked why Evers spared those projects, his spokesperson Britt Cudaback referred Wisconsin Watch, without specifics, to the agreement between Evers and legislative leadership that cemented the $111 billion two-year budget.
Local environmental earmarks in the state budget are nothing new, but the latest examples highlight how such projects can take on greater political dimension when not overseen by civil servants at the DNR and the Legislature’s budget committee, as has been the process for more than 30 years since the creation of the Knowles-Nelson fund. Legislators have allowed the program to inch closer to expiration while attempting to secure stewardship programs in their own districts.
The Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund supports land conservation and outdoor recreation through grants to local governments and nonprofits and also allows the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to purchase and maintain state land. The program is currently funded at $33 million a year until the end of June 2026.
Local governments and nonprofit organizations can apply for Knowles-Nelson grants during three deadlines every year, and DNR staff evaluate and rank projects based on objective criteria including local public support, potential conservation benefits and proximity to population centers.
Despite not authorizing the fund through the state budget, Rep. Tony Kurtz, R-Wonewoc, and Sen. Patrick Testin, R-Stevens Point, committed to reauthorizing the fund and introduced stand-alone legislation in June to reauthorize the stewardship fund at $28.25 million per year for the next four years.
The two projects in Vos’ district received a total of $15 million in state taxpayer dollars from the general fund and were the only natural resources earmarks mentioned in the state budget agreement between Republicans and Evers.
The only larger natural resources earmark — a $42 million grant for a dam in Rothschild — was added by the Joint Finance Committee and included in the final state budget, though it wasn’t mentioned in the agreement. That grant isn’t funded with general fund revenue, but rather a separate forestry account, which includes revenues from the sale of timber on public lands.
In a statement on the inclusion of funding for the projects, Vos, R-Rochester, touted how $10 million for the Echo Lake Dam will save Burlington residents an average of $3,000 in taxes that would otherwise fund the project. Upgrades to Echo Lake will cost as much as $12 million including $3.5 million for dam modifications and up to $5 million for lake dredging.
For years, city officials in Burlington have grappled with how to address the Echo Lake Dam. In 2022, the Burlington City Council considered removing the 200-year-old dam but ultimately voted to keep it after residents expressed support though an advisory referendum. The dam needs upgrades because it doesn’t meet DNR requirements to contain a 500-year flood.
The Browns Lake Sanitary District also received $5 million for the removal of sediment in Browns Lake. Local residents have raised concerns over sedimentation in the lake, affecting the lake’s usability for recreation and ecological balance.
In a website devoted to the Browns Lake dredging, Claude Lois, president of the Browns Lake Sanitary District, thanked Vos for including $5 million for the project and advised residents: “If you see Robin Vos, please thank him.”
DNR spokesperson Andrea Sedlacek directed Wisconsin Watch to Evers’ spokesperson, declining to answer questions on whether the two projects in Vos’ district could have been covered by Knowles-Nelson funds. The Echo Lake Dam project tentatively received a grant for over $700,000 from the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund last fall for development of gathering spaces adjacent to the lake.
Vos did not respond to a request for comment.
Other conservation projects were vetoed by Evers, including a $70,000 dredging project on a section of the Manitowoc River in the town of Brillion. Ultimately, the DNR and the Evers administration provided funding for the project after Sen. Andre Jacque, R-New Franken, and local farmers criticized the veto, claiming that they were at risk of flooding without funds for the dredging project.
Rep. Rob Swearingen, R-Rhinelander, said he was surprised and disappointed with Evers’ veto of the Deerskin River dredging project in his district. He called Evers’ reasoning a “lame excuse, using the Knowles-Nelson program as political cover” in an email statement to Wisconsin Watch. Swearingen said he and Senate President Mary Felzkowski, R-Tomahawk, were considering alternative funding sources, including introducing stand-alone legislation to finance the dredging project.
Swearingen declined to say what he thought about the projects in Vos’ district getting funded. Other Republican lawmakers with vetoed projects in their districts didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Rep. Deb Andraca, D-Whitefish Bay, a member of the budget-writing Joint Finance Committee, told Wisconsin Watch she supports Evers’ vetoes because the earmarked projects did not go through the process the DNR uses to evaluate the benefits of particular projects.
Andraca said while several earmarked projects were likely strong contenders for Knowles-Nelson, without the DNR’s process of evaluating project merit, the most beneficial projects may not receive funding.
“We need to make sure that we’re taking into account that the best, most important projects are being funded, not just the projects that are in someone’s (district) who might have a little bit more sway in the Legislature,” Andraca said.
Paul Heinen, policy director for environmental advocacy organization Green Fire, lobbied for the first stewardship fund in 1989. Heinen said legislators have pushed for stewardship projects in their districts through the state budget process for as long as the stewardship fund has existed.
“The DNR has a process by which they go through to analyze projects, and that’s all set up in the code and everything,” Heinen said. “But of course, just like Robin Vos and any other legislator, if they can get something in the budget, it’s faster and you don’t have to go through the steps in order to get something done.”
In the 2023-25 budget cycle, the largest natural resources earmark was $2 million for dredging Lake Mallalieu near River Falls.
Heinen said legislators are faced with a conundrum — they claim to oppose statewide government spending on stewardship, but want projects in their own districts.
“Publicly, they say they’re opposed to government spending in this boondoggle stewardship fund,” Heinen said. “But then when it gets down to something in their district, they are at the ribbon cutting.”
For years the JFC halted Knowles-Nelson conservation projects by not taking a vote on them, something critics referred to as a “pocket veto.” The Evers administration sued over the practice, and in July 2024 the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled 6-1 the Legislature’s pocket veto was unconstitutional.
“What the court said was that the finance committee by going back after the fact and blocking an appropriation that had already been approved by the entire Legislature, and that was an unconstitutional infringement on executive authority,” said Charles Carlin, director of strategic initiatives for Gathering Waters, an alliance of land trusts in the state.
Republicans have said trust issues with both the DNR and the Evers administration prevented them from releasing Knowles-Nelson funds without more control.
Kurtz and Testin’s proposed bill also includes new requirements for legislative approval for larger projects over $1 million in an effort to allow legislative oversight without the pocket vetoes.
The bill’s funding level is below the $100 million per year for 10 years that Evers proposed in his budget, but close to current funding levels of $33 million per year.
In 2021, the fund was reauthorized with $33.2 million per year for four years. In 2019, the fund was reauthorized for only two years, breaking a cycle of reauthorization in 10-year increments.
A poll of 516 Wisconsin voters commissioned by environmental advocacy organization The Nature Conservancy found 83% supported Evers’ proposal, with 93% of voters supporting continued public funding for conservation. However, most respondents were unaware of the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund.
Funding for Knowles-Nelson peaked in 2011 and was reauthorized under both Republican and Democratic administrations. Former Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson was the first governor to approve funding for the stewardship fund in 1989.
“There was a lot of talk initially from mostly Republican legislators who were skeptical of the governor’s proposal,” Carlin said. “But it’s really only a huge amount of money in comparison to how the program had kind of been whittled down through the years.”
In a January interview with the Cap Times, Vos said the chances of Republicans reauthorizing the fund were less than half.
Andraca said she hears more from constituents about the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund than almost any other program.
“I seriously hope that my Republican colleagues are serious about passing something because it would be a real tragedy to lose something like this that has bipartisan support and has been so instrumental in preserving Wisconsin’s natural areas,” Andraca said.
Carlin said the failure to reauthorize Knowles-Nelson puts land stewardship organizations and local municipalities — the typical recipients of Knowles-Nelson grants — in “totally uncharted territory.”
Although Knowles-Nelson funding is set to expire at the end of next June, Carlin said local governments and land trusts face uncertainty in planning because they aren’t sure the Legislature will get the new reauthorization bill done.
“Similar to what you’re probably hearing from folks about federal budget cuts … this just totally scrambles the planning horizon,” Carlin said.
Heinen, however, is more optimistic the Legislature will vote to reauthorize Knowles-Nelson.
“90-plus percent of the people in the state of Wisconsin want the stewardship fund,” Heinen said. “Legislators know that. They’re not going to go running for reelection in November of next year and have their opponents say, ‘Why are you against the stewardship fund?’ So I’m really not worried about it at all.”
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Budget deal’s $15 million in earmarks for Robin Vos’ district highlight politicization of Wisconsin’s conservation funding is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
Exploration for metallic mines is fairly rare. But, in Taylor County, mining company Green Light Wisconsin is drilling for copper and gold. Such metals haven’t been mined in Wisconsin for almost 30 years, but that could change. As drilling is ongoing, Wisconsin tribes and environmentalists are worried about potential harm to water, wetlands and cultural sites.
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A train derailment in Dodge County spilled crude oil but caused no injuries. It is the second derailment in just over two years in the same area.
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There have been over 13,000 damage reports from residents in southeast Wisconsin, according to the most recent Impact 211 data.
The post ‘We have no AC and no hot water’: Milwaukee County residents still cleaning up from weekend storm appeared first on WPR.
The head of the policymaking board for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources said the agency has been facing a “slow, insidious loss of resources” that’s resulted in the loss of hundreds of positions over more than two decades.
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Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson joins city health department officials on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025, to give updates about the flood recovery efforts. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)
Milwaukee County continues to process the aftermath of a historic flooding that swept through the area last weekend. Although much of the flood water, which exceeded 10 inches in some areas, has receded, emergency shelters are still providing services to people displaced by the extreme weather, and community clean-up efforts continue.
At a press conference Wednesday, Mayor Cavalier Johnson said residents should call 211 to report property damage, which he called an important step towards achieving an official disaster declaration, which in turn could provide additional resources. Johnson said local officials continue to work with state and federal partners to access resources from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and noted a recent visit to the city by Gov. Tony Evers.
“We’re asking for the federal government to do their part and issue some relief to the folks here in Milwaukee with some assistance from FEMA,” Johnson said. The city continues to wait for President Donald Trump’s administration to respond to Milwaukee’s calls for support. Johnson encouraged residents to report downed trees, abandoned vehicles, standing water and to check on neighbors or loved ones.
The mayor praised Milwaukeeans for “stepping up,” helping senior citizens to clear out basements and clearing out storm drains. “We really appreciate the efforts of people all across our city who are stepping up to make this a safer place for everybody as we work to get through the aftermath of the storm,” he said. “We’re a resilient city, we always have been, we always will be, and we will get through this together.”
Johnson was joined by Mike Totoraitis, commissioner of the Milwaukee Health Department. Totoraitis said that calling 211 “is your best connection to resources at this point,” noting that “there are some large wait times on 211 during those peak hours.” Like the mayor, Totoraitis said that calling 211 is also one of the best ways to essentially convince the federal government to send assistance. “We know that many people have lost water heaters, furnaces, furniture, personal effects, there is a lot of damage that has happened,” he said. “Drive through neighborhoods across the city and see just debris and items out on someone’s driveway. So this is a critical moment to get those damage reports in, and then we’re also using that to help prioritize where we’re going to bring additional resources.”
Working with the Red Cross and other partners, Totoraitis said that the city is deploying hundreds of cleaning kits and other supplies. Meanwhile, the health department is monitoring signs of disease. Totoraitis said residents should assume any standing water in the streets or in homes is contaminated with sewage and avoid it.
The Red Cross has established two shelters, one on the near North Side and another on the South Side, to help people displaced by the flood. Dozens of people sought assistance from the shelters, a Red Cross worker told Wisconsin Examiner. The two locations have recently been consolidated into one shelter now operating out of Marshall High School, according to a Red Cross worker.
On Monday, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley thanked first responders, Evers, and the National Guard for assisting. “I know this is an incredibly challenging and devastating time for many of our residents, but I’m inspired seeing neighbors helping neighbors, businesses stepping up to support those in need, and the tireless dedication of our first responders and emergency management personnel,” said Crowley. “Milwaukee County is a strong and resilient community, and I know that by coming together, we will persevere.” On Tuesday, Crowley walked through storm-damaged neighborhoods near Brown Deer with officials from the county’s Office of Emergency Management.
On Wednesday, Wisconsin Policy Forum released a report warning that severe flooding could become more frequent. “Over the past 45 years Wisconsin has seen a dramatic increase in damage caused by flooding, as the climate has warmed, extreme rains have become more common, and urban development has continued,” the report states. “Increased flooding in turn has resulted in larger payouts on flood insurance claims, as well as increased federal and state payments for disaster recovery. With projections suggesting that continued climate change will further increase the likelihood of extreme rains, federal, state, and local governments will need to deal with the consequences.”
The report shows that during the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s, flood insurance damage claims for property in Wisconsin exceeded $40 million. Severe floods that struck Milwaukee in 2008 caused nearly $50 million in flood insurance damage claims. “Current projections show that the frequency of heavy rain events and the potential for devastating floods will continue to grow over the coming decades,” the report states. “Property owners, along with state and local governments, will be on the hook for the costs of cleaning up and rebuilding after these floods occur. As costs grow, they may begin to stress state and local budgets, especially if state leaders decide to cover a growing share of the rebuilding costs. In addition, there are some questions about the federal government’s long-term commitment to covering these costs, which may push additional costs onto the state.”
Many people are continuing to wrap their minds around the scale of the flood damage. When Evers visited Milwaukee County, he was joined by Rep. Robyn Vining (D-Wauwatosa) on a tour of the area Vining represents. Wauwatosa produced some of the most dramatic images of flood damage, with most of Hart Park seemingly underwater and overflowing wetlands in the County Grounds natural area.
Vining said in a statement that “the damage is serious, and the pain across the community is real. Let’s be good neighbors and take care of each other during this difficult time.”
Anne Tuchelski, a 29-year-old lifelong resident of Milwaukee in the Bay View neighborhood, saw people stepping up to help one another as a summer’s-worth of rain fell in the middle of the night last weekend across Milwaukee. Tuchelski realized something was wrong after her neighborhood’s main intersection was completely flooded. “I’ve never seen it like this,” she told Wisconsin Examiner. “My gutters were just pouring out and just slamming on the pavement…I’ve never seen this before.”
Tuchelski’s 85-year-old grandmother, who has also lived in Milwaukee for her whole life, had never seen such a storm before either. Tuchelski drove to her grandmother’s house in the middle of the night to check on her. The water was rising dramatically.
“That was really the kicker, was that it was happening in the middle of the night,” she said. Driving down the darkened, flooded roadways, Tuchelski saw people stranded in their cars. From 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. she used her SUV to offer people rides and to push stalled vehicles out of the water, “helping wherever I could.”
Tuchelski recalled one woman whose car was stranded in floodwater near the freeway. She’d left home to pick up her son, and needed her car to go to work in the morning. Tuchelski tried to get her to understand that her vehicle was flooded, and that the tow truck she’d decided to wait for likely wouldn’t come because of the scale of the disaster.
“It was just really heartbreaking to see her try to come to terms with the fact that the next day is going to change greatly,” Tuchelski said. She offered her a ride, but the woman refused. “It’s like she wasn’t grasping that nobody can come right now. Everybody’s overwhelmed, everybody’s doing their best, and the car’s gone. And you’re standing in the middle of the intersection at 3 o’clock in the morning. She just couldn’t grasp it, and I ran into multiple people like that who just could not grasp it.”
Another person Tuchelski encountered was in a U-Haul truck attempting to move their things, and seemingly unable to accept that it was all already gone or ruined. “I kept saying to her, ‘You have to leave it,’ and she’s like, ‘My stuff, my stuff,’ and I was like, ‘We can’t. It’s underwater.’ So it was just a repeated thing with people, where they just could not come to terms with leaving their belongings behind for their own survival, and their own well-being.”
Tuchelski herself lost many family tapes, pictures and dresses in the flood. Tuchelski’s family has lived in Milwaukee for over a century. Her grandmother’s basement is still flooded, and so is Tuchelski’s aunt’s basement. “My grandmother’s home has raised five generations of family,” said Tuckelski. “And just to see things float by and be damaged, it was really heartbreaking … Things that make our family, and have recorded these moments, and have become important to us, just floating by.”
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Blue Heron Captain Rual Lee invited WPR’s Robin Washington on the mission to report on the scientists’ work for “Morning Edition.”
The post A rescue mission and deep-water study aboard the mighty Blue Heron appeared first on WPR.
The new children’s book “Saving Our Sturgeon” tells the history of one of Wisconsin's oldest fish and how it was brought back from the brink of extinction.
The post New children’s book chronicles the near extinction, restoration of Wisconsin’s lake sturgeon appeared first on WPR.
Four New Nuclear Reactors and Forever Radioactive Waste in Calhoun County, Texas First Intervention Against SMRs in the U.S. LONG MOTT, Texas – This week, San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper (Waterkeeper) intervened to stop four proposed experimental nuclear power reactors targeted for Long Mott, Texas – a community in coastal Calhoun County – the first …
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The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is accepting submissions for Game Bird Observation through the end of August and Operation Deer Watch until Sept. 30.
The post State recruits citizen scientists to track wildlife populations appeared first on WPR.
The Bad River tribe and environmental groups are urging an administrative law judge to overturn key permits for Canadian energy firm Enbridge as it seeks to reroute an oil and gas pipeline around the tribe’s reservation.
The post Hearing begins on challenge to key permits for Enbridge’s project to reroute Line 5 appeared first on WPR.
Dozens of people packed into a room at Northwood Technical College in Ashland for the first day of hearings in a case challenging the DNR's decision to approve a permit for the reroute of the Line 5 oil pipeline. (Henry Redman | Wisconsin Examiner)
In more than five hours of public testimony on Tuesday in Ashland, the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa’s case began against a planned extension of the Canadian energy company Enbridge’s Line 5 oil pipeline through northern Wisconsin.
For decades, Line 5 has run from Canada across northern Wisconsin, through the Bad River reservation. In 2023 a federal judge ordered that the pipeline’s section on the reservation be shut down. Since 2020, Enbridge has been working on a plan to reroute the pipeline, which runs from far northwest Wisconsin 645 miles into Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, under the Straits of Mackinac and across the U.S. border into Canada near Detroit. It transports about 23 million gallons of crude oil and natural gas liquids daily.
The proposed new route would move the pipeline upstream of the reservation, which tribal members have argued doesn’t alleviate the environmental risks the pipeline poses to them.
Tuesday’s hearing was the opening day of testimony in the tribe’s case against the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ decision to grant permits for the Line 5 reroute. The case was argued before the Wisconsin Department of Administration’s Division of Hearings and Appeals, which gives parties the ability to challenge regulatory decisions by state agencies. Four weeks of hearings are scheduled in both Ashland and Madison. The final decision by DHA can be appealed to a state circuit court.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is also weighing its own permit decision on the reroute. That decision is appealable through the federal court system.
Before the hearing started Tuesday a line of people wound through the parking lot of Northwood Technical College. At the start of the day, the hearing room was packed, with an overflow crowd forced to watch a livestream from an auxiliary room.
Many of the people in attendance wore t-shirts stating “Support Line 5” or representing area unions. Tribal activists grumbled that Enbridge had chartered a bus to bring in supporters.
The pipeline reroute has already sparked hours of public comment and thousands of written comments. The DNR’s initial permit decision drew more than 32,000 written comments and an Army Corps of Engineers hearing on its permit decision in May drew two days of additional public input.
The day began with opening statements from the tribe’s attorneys, Clean Wisconsin — a non-profit environmental organization which has intervened in the case — and the DNR.
DNR attorney Michael Kowalkowski said that the department is confident the project will not result in “adverse” effects to the environment or local water after one of the “most comprehensive environmental reviews” in agency history.
But Stefanie Tsosie, an attorney for the tribe, said the proposed reroute “is not a solution.” She noted that the hearings were occurring as the wild rice harvesting season in the region begins. Wild rice is an important piece of the tribe’s culture and the wetland habitats the rice is a part of are a crucial layer of defense for the area’s waterways — including Lake Superior — against pollution from runoff and flooding. Tsosie said any errors in construction or accidents after the pipeline is operational could irreversibly damage the wild rice.
“The band is here taking a stand,” Tsosie said, because if an oil spill occurs and the environment is harmed, “the band has nowhere else to go.”
Evan Feinauer, an attorney for Clean Wisconsin, said the project poses far too much environmental risk for the DNR’s permit approval to stand, adding that a “spill of any meaningful size would be catastrophic” to the Lake Superior watershed.
While many opponents of Line 5 did testify, a large majority of the comments came from supporters of the project. Supporters of the project argued that they believe Enbridge’s plans do enough to protect the environment while providing an economic boost to the region and hundreds of construction jobs.
Even though the pipeline carries oil and natural gas from Canada through the U.S. and back into Canada, many area residents testified that shutting down the pipeline could raise their own energy prices and make it harder to obtain the propane they use to heat their homes.
The project “will generate direct economic activity, it will create 700 union construction jobs, stimulate local spending and provide contracts for businesses,” said Anna Rademacher, a representative of the regional economic development organization Area Partnership for Economic Expansion.
While the hearing Tuesday drew hours of public testimony, the meat of the case is yet to come with the parties bringing their arguments for and against the DNR’s permit decision in later court dates.
After the hearing, Tsosie told the Wisconsin Examiner the hearings Tuesday were a good baseline before the substantive parts of the case are heard.
“Obviously this is still really a contentious issue,” she said. “There are people who we saw today speak very passionately about protecting the water resources and protecting the area, and we saw people who we’ve seen before talk about the economic impacts. But this proceeding, the contested case proceeding, we’re really looking at the permit details, we’re looking at the evidence, we’re looking at baseline data, and so I think this is a good setup, but we still have four weeks of the case left.”
The case is set to continue in Madison Sept. 3 with additional public testimony. The beginning of the parties’ arguments is scheduled to begin Sept. 4.
Experts say that more severe wildfire seasons — and the smoke that comes with them — are a product of climate change. That means there will likely be more summers like this one on the horizon.
The post Is air pollution from wildfire smoke the new normal for Wisconsin? appeared first on WPR.
People arriving at one of Milwaukee's drop-off centers with all manner of debris from the August 2025 floods. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)
A line of cars filled with mattresses, downed tree limbs, chairs, dressers, and rugs could be seen outside a Milwaukee Department of Public Works (DPW) drop-off center on Lincoln Avenue Monday morning. Inside, long dumpsters were being filled with the ruined remains cleared out of roadways and people’s homes after flood waters blanketed swaths of Milwaukee County on Aug. 9 and 10.
Mayor Cavalier Johnson joined DPW Commissioner Jerrell Kruschke at the dump site to provide updates about the flood response Monday. “Some of these stories that we’re hearing are truly, remarkably sad,” said Johnson, recalling that the first message he received was from his uncle, whose basement was filled with water. From the North Side to the South Side, west towards Wauwatosa and east towards Lake Michigan, the flood quickly engulfed roadways and homes.
“So my thoughts are with everybody, everybody who is dealing with issues trying to clear out a basement, folks that are enduring power outages, trying to sort out, figure out what to do with the car that has been flooded through,” said Johnson. “We’re working through the process of obtaining some disaster declarations so we can bring the appropriate aid to those citizens who have been affected by the downpour.”
Gov. Tony Evers has activated the Wisconsin National Guard to assist efforts in Milwaukee County. It’s unclear at this time what role, if any, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will have in Milwaukee, as the level of damage needs to meet a certain threshold in order for the agency to be activated. The agency has also been threatened with funding cuts and possible shutdown by the Trump administration.
Johnson stressed that the weekend storm, which dropped over 10 inches of rain in some areas, was extremely rare. Timmerman Airfield recorded over 14 inches of rainfall. “I think I said the other day that last time something like this happened was about a decade or so ago,” the mayor said. “I certainly hope that a storm like this is not visited upon this city for at least another millennium,” he continued, referring to the weekend storm being called a “thousand year flood.” Kruschke echoed the mayor’s comments about the rarity of the massive flooding over the weekend. Johnson said he’d heard on the news that it dropped essentially “a summer’s-worth of rain” in a single storm.
Yet research on climate change has long-predicted that Wisconsin would experience increased rain, more intense storms, and greater risks of flooding. In late 2020, a report from UW-Madison and state health workers warned that climate change in Wisconsin would mean more rainfall over fewer days, which would likely cause flooding. The report noted that the weather changes could have a cascade of health effects including heat stroke from increased heat (which also fuels more powerful storms), asthma and insect-borne diseases. In 2021, severe storms downed hundreds of trees in Milwaukee County. The following summer, communities across Wisconsin experienced heat waves, heavy rainfall, high winds and tornadoes over a couple of days, during which time people died from heat stroke, or after being swept away in flood waters during heavy rainfall. By 2022, global CO2 levels exceeded 400 parts per million, a red line which scientists warned would spur even worse effects.
Answering a question from Wisconsin Examiner about the climate trends, Kruschke said that heavy rainfalls have been documented for a long time, and that DPW is relying on historical data. Kruschke said that the city was not prepared for the volume of rain that fell so quickly. As for whether the city can adapt to future weather patterns, Mayor Johnson said, “I’ve been thinking about this since this storm happened.”
Johnson praised the DPW’s work with the Milwaukee Metro Sewerage District (MMSD) to create infrastructure to capture rainfall when it hits the ground. “So when you look at our construction projects in the city of Milwaukee, when you see bioswales in the street, that’s to make sure that we keep rain out of sewers. That’s to make sure that we keep rain out of people’s basements. When you see MMSD working to make improvements at the parks in order to capture more rainwater there, that’s in order to make sure that we plan for events like this. When folks are going out to install rain barrels in their neighborhood, that’s in order to make sure that we stop things like this. When you have folks out in the city, like they were during this flood event, making sure that the sewer grates are clear so that water is better able to get into the sewers and not in people’s basements, all of these things play a role, and all of these things make a difference.”
Johnson said the city will continue investing in “green infrastructure” from roadway design to the creation of outdoor classrooms that, in addition to providing experiential learning to K-12 students, also capture rain. “There’s a lot of work that’s going into this,” said Johnson. “I just imagine what this would’ve turned out if we hadn’t done that work over the past number of years. I mean, who knows how many hundreds of thousands or perhaps even millions of gallons of storm water that we were able to capture that didn’t end up in the streets, that didn’t end up in people’s basements.”
The city and county are continuing to assess the full scale of the damage, including how many homes have been affected and people displaced. Monday morning, the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office stated in response to an inquiry from the Wisconsin Examiner that there had been no deaths directly linked to the flooding. However, the Milwaukee Police Department’s Harbor Patrol did find a 49-year-old Native American man, identified as Juan Carlos Sierra Campos, who drowned in Lake Michigan on Sunday morning. An investigation is ongoing.
Kruschke said the public works department will continue working normal hours (7 a.m. to 3 p.m.), and operate special trash disposal procedures for people clearing out damaged or ruined property. Fees will be waived for city drop-off centers, with the centers operating free of charge until Aug. 17. Drop-off centers will also be open Mondays, when they would normally be closed. The drop-off centers are located at 3878 W. Lincoln Ave. and 6600 N. Industrial Road.
A small number of street sweepers are out on the roadways, and some communities are deploying dump trucks and other vehicles to assist. DPW is also offering special pick-ups for storm-damaged material. Among the items that will not be accepted are explosive or flammable products, propane tanks, large gas appliances, fluorescent light bulbs, wet or oil-based paint and material or vehicles from contractors or businesses.
Libraries, including the West Allis Library, are offering WiFi and computers for people unable to use their own. Cars that were swept away or abandoned during the floods may have been towed to alternate locations so as to not overwhelm the city’s usual tow yards. The city does not have a count of the number of cars towed or abandoned. Overnight parking enforcement will be suspended Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights.
Residents are encouraged to avoid wading through flooded areas or standing water. The possibility of contaminated water or hidden debris makes wading unsafe. The Red Cross has also opened two shelters for people who have been displaced by the flooding. The shelters are located at the Washington Park Senior Center (4420 W Vliet St.) and at Holler Park (5151 S. 6th St.).
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