Login
Has biennial state funding for the Wisconsin DNR dropped by $100 million over 30 years?
Wisconsin Watch partners withΒ GigafactΒ to produce fact briefs β bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.
Yes.
State funding of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has been reduced by more than $100 million per biennium in the past 30 years.
A key factor: smaller debt payments.
DNR received $334.3 million in state general purpose revenue in the 1995-97 state budget and $226.2 million in 2025-27.
Thatβs a reduction of $108.1 million, or 32%.
Between the two periods, debt service dropped from $234.7 million to $103.4 million.Β
A Wisconsin Reddit user posted Nov. 22 about the cuts.
A 2023 report on DNR by the nonpartisan Wisconsin Policy Forum said those savings have been used to fund Medicaid, K-12 schools, prisons and tax cuts. Republicans have controlled all or part of the state budget process for all but one cycle since 1995.
The DNR is charged with protecting and enhancing air, land, water, forests, wildlife, fish and plants and provides outdoor recreational activities.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
- Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau: 1995-97 Wisconsin State Budget
- Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau: 2025-27 Wisconsin State Budget β Natural Resources
- Wisconsin Policy Forum: This Land Is Our Land
- 2025-26 Wisconsin Blue Book: The Executive
- 2025-26 Wisconsin Blue Book: Wisconsin governors since 1848
Has biennial state funding for the Wisconsin DNR dropped by $100 million over 30 years? 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.
