DNR unveils first biennial habitat work plan, warns funding constraints will limit scope

The Department of Natural Resources presented its first biennial habitat work plan to the Natural Resources Board on Aug. 13 in Madison, laying out statewide and ecological-landscape priorities for habitat work while flagging funding shortfalls and staffing uncertainty.

The plan compiles existing habitat planning across fisheries, wildlife, natural heritage conservation and forestry into a single document intended to standardize reporting and to make the department’s habitat priorities and proposed treatments more transparent. "The department owns approximately 1,600,000 acres of the 35,000,000 acres of total land in Wisconsin," Tim Lazotte, land and habitat conservation supervisor, told the board, noting that state-managed lands can include the only remaining habitat for some priority species.

Board member…