advocacy

Bird Champions

We usually think of champions as winners of athletic contests but another definition kicks off this blog. Champion can also mean a person who is a determined, dedicated, competent, and untiring advocate and protector of a cause or people or, in the case at hand, of birds, bugs, and their homes. We have some such champions in our midst and they deserve our thanks.

Photo by Matt Reetz / SoWBA

Conservation Congress 2024 Results

Thanks to all of you who participated in the DNR's Spring Conservation Congress Hearing and Expressions of Opinion (the DNR and Conservation Congress doesn't like to call the voting voting). With the help of conservation organizations such as Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance and folks like you, we might have made some progress on some important issues. 

Photo by Arlene Koziol

Middleton and Madison move toward building cities safer for birds

Middleton, WI is the newest municipality in the country to adopt a bird-safe glass ordinance as of February 20, 2024. The ordinance, which matches the one implemented in Madison in 2020, requires buildings over 10,000 square feet to use bird-safe design or bird-safe glass.

Photo by Steve Kersting FCC

Urge Governor Evers to VETO the hunting dogs on public lands bills

If you saw our action alert last week, you know that the Wisconsin legislature was discussing a set of bills that would remove WDNR-imposed restrictions on hunting dogs accessing public lands during spring. I’m sorry to say both the Assembly and Senate passed the bills, but it’s not too late to voice your concerns! Governor Evers needs to hear from you if you want to prevent these proposed laws to take effect this spring.

Photo by Gary Shackelford

Action Alert: Wisconsin's wildlife need YOUR voice today!

A bad and dangerous bill will come before the Wisconsin State Assembly on Tuesday, February 13. We cannot let this bill pass as it endangers the lives of bears, bobcats, foxes, raccoons, cranes, deer, and other wildlife.

AB-512/SB-545 will repeal all the regulations that currently prohibit hunting dogs from pursuing wild animals in northern Wisconsin in late spring and early summer. This will wreak havoc with many wildlife species but we are especially concerned with the effects on nesting and young birds.

Photo by Carolyn Byers