How the Fish & Wildlife Money Was Spent

Revenues from license sales and stamps are key to conservation efforts in Wisconsin.

This money, combined with a state share of federal excise taxes from consumer purchases of hunting and fishing equipment, makes up the Fish and Wildlife Account, the chief source of funding for the fish and wildlife conservation programs the Department of Natural Resources manages in Wisconsin.

Account Portions: Total

The $97.4 million Fish & Wildlife Account funds 770 of the DNR's 2,704 employees.

For printable versions of a detailed explanation of the Fish & Wildlife Account and how the DNR spent this funding in fiscal year 2007 on your behalf, please see any of the following documents:

• Your Investment in Wisconsin's Fish & Wildlife
  Double-sided Brochure PUB-CE-258 2008 [PDF 1.4MB]
• Wisconsin's Fish & Wildlife Annual Report 2006-2007
  31 Page Report PUB-CE-259-2008 [PDF 792KB]
• Chart: DNR Expenditures for Fish and Wildlife in FY07
  [PDF 577KB]

Protecting the Fish & Wildlife Account

There are strict limits on how fishing and hunting license revenues can be spent. Any increase in fishing and hunting license fees will go only to support existing conservation programs, not new ones.

Safeguards assure Fish & Wildlife Account Funds support only hunting and fishing.

• State statutes and federal regulations prohibit the diversion of fish and game licensing fees to other purposes (25.29(3)). Federal and state auditors check the account. So hunters and anglers can have confidence that license money cannot be used to offset the state's general tax deficit, nor can DNR use the revenue for any other purpose.
• Funding levels for fish and wildlife programs are established by the Governor and Legislature through the budget process. DNR has had little or no growth in fish and wildlife staff since the fee increase effective in 1997, and the agency has taken steps to reduce costs and increase efficiency. Conservation programs held positions vacant, cut travel, delayed new equipment purchases, and put many youth education efforts on hold. The agency also eliminated its fish toxicology program, reduced wildlife research and the grassland acreage DNR maintains.
• Statutes limit administrative costs to no more than 16 percent of Fish & Wildlife Account expenditures and DNR is well under that limit (25.29(3)).