| In this issue of Compass Points, you’ll find our latest news on forests, ethanol, lead-free fishing, and a review of 2025-26 Wisconsin legislation. We have new upcoming events in-person and online. Keep scrolling for job opportunities, more ways to get involved in conservation (through WGF and elsewhere), and links to WGF in the media. This month, I also added a new section where we offer congratulations to folks winning some amazing awards related to conservation in Wisconsin.
Thank you for reading and being a part of Wisconsin’s Green Fire. Special thanks to everyone who donated during our spring appeal! You keep the fire burning in our bellies! You can continue to show your support with a gift of any amount. I welcome your thoughts, questions, and feedback at info@wigreenfire.org.
– Carolyn Pralle, WGF Communications and Outreach Coordinator |
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Join us at Nicolet College in Rhinelander on June 4th from 6:30-8:00pm. Alongside several partners, WGF is hosting a public town hall meeting about our national forests and the “roadless rule.” We will take public comments and submit them to the Federal Register. The special guest speaker is Dr. Mike Dombeck, former leader of the Bureau of Land Management and the US Forest Service.
Click here to RSVP via the Sierra Club. Scroll down for more details in the EVENTS section of the newsletter. |
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WGF co-signed an open letter to the U.S. House of Representatives opposing proposed legislation on “year-round E15” ethanol fuel.
As our letter states: “enactment of this legal change would likely drive a 50% substantial expansion in ethanol use. Such a shift would require dedicating vast additional acreage to ethanol—exceeding half the size of Indiana—with serious consequences for our climate, natural resources, wildlife, and consumers.”
Image: “Heartland Corn Products Ethanol Production Facility in Winthrop Minnesota”
by Tony Webster via Flickr, CC BY 2.0 |
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Have you been out fishing yet this season? It’s not too late to do a “tackle box audit” and make the switch from lead gear to non-toxic alternatives. Lead weights and jigs can be deadly to birds and other wildlife even in tiny amounts.
Learn how you can “get the lead out.” You’ll protect our wildlife and may even have a more successful fishing season.
Image: Tackle box, photo by James DeMers via Pixabay |
| In this review of 2025-2026 legislation at the Wisconsin State Capitol, WGF Policy Director Paul Heinen summarizes the legislative outcomes for several key conservation and environmental issues from around the state.
Image: “Looking northwest along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard toward the Wisconsin State Capitol” by Chris Rycroft via Flickr in fall 2025, CC BY 4.0 |
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| June 4, 2026 | 6:30-8:00pm
Nicolet College – Northwoods Center | 5350 College Drive, Rhinelander, WI
25 years ago, the US Forest Service (USFS) held more than 600 public meetings in the process to create the Roadless Rule, which protected millions of acres of forests and grasslands in the USA by limiting the building of new roads and logging in these areas. The rule could soon be repealed. The USFS’s process to repeal may not include a single public meeting. |
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| Instead, Wisconsin’s Green Fire and several partner organizations are holding our own public town hall at Nicolet College in Rhinelander on June 4th from 6:30-8:00pm. During the town hall, we will take public comments and submit them into the Federal Register during the public comment period. We want to hear diverse perspectives. You are invited to join us for this free public event.
The special guest speaker is Dr. Mike Dombeck who led the rulemaking process for the roadless rule as the chief of the USFS. For additional context, read WGF’s comments from September 2025 opposing the rescission of the Roadless Rule. |
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Join us June 3rd at 3-4pm CT for our free virtual event series, Green Fire Cafe. All are welcome at this coffee-klatsch style online gathering!
Come chat with WGF leaders and learn alongside peers about the latest in conservation and policy in Wisconsin. |
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| Thank you to all who attended our Nitrate Watch Spring Meeting on May 12th. If you missed it, click here to view the recording.
Go to our website for all the details on becoming a Nitrate Watch volunteer. You’ll also find tips about sampling and answers for troubleshooting common issues with data entry. Email us with your questions! |
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- Help monitor local precipitation around Wisconsin: The Wisconsin State Climatology Office seeks volunteer precipitation observers around the state. Volunteers measure and report rain, hail, snowfall, and snowpack depth (or liquid water equivalent). While daily observations are encouraged, those who can report occasionally are also welcome. The process takes less than three minutes per day and requires a standardized rain gauge, which costs approximately $45. Sign up through the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS). Email stclim@aos.wisc.edu or call 608-263-2374 with questions.
Photo: CoCoRaHS rain gauge, courtesy of Kevin Erb. |
- Nitrate Watch: Calling all community scientists! Join our growing group of volunteers collecting data about nitrate in Wisconsin’s drinking water and surface waters. Participants get a free water testing kit.
- Contact us about getting more involved in WGF. Do you have deep knowledge or expertise about a conservation topic WGF is working on? We are seeking new volunteer team members.
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Congratulations from WGF!
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| May is Clean Air Month. Congratulations to Blake Johnson, fifth grader from Samuel Clemens School in Milwaukee, whose poem “Our Clock is Ticking!” won the 2026 Air, Air Everywhere Poetry Contest! We wholeheartedly hear your call that “the time is now, / let’s save the air and teach everyone how!”
Congratulations to WGF member, Fred Strand, for winning the 2026 Noel J. Cutright Conservation Award from the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology (WSO) for outstanding contributions to bird conservation in Wisconsin. |
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Wisconsin’s Green Fire needs your support!
Your donation assures that conservation issues around the state are addressed with the best scientific information available. Thank you! |
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| Looking for more ways to support WGF?
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| Newsletter edited by Carolyn Pralle, WGF Communications and Outreach Coordinator
May 22, 2026 | Background image: Round lobed hepatica by Kerry Beheler. |
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| Wisconsin’s Green Fire® | 715-203-0384 | info@wigreenfire.org | www.wigreenfire.org |
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