Wisconsin Conservation Congress 2019 Spring Hearings Update
Annual spring fish & wildlife public hearing and WCC county meeting
Over 10,700 people participated in the annual Spring Hearings input opportunity this year. The public hearings were held in all 72 counties on April 8 for people who wanted to attend and comment on proposals in person. In addition, a new online option was available to individuals this year who couldn’t attend. While 3,402 attended a hearing in person, another 7,310 participated using the online opportunity.
2019
Please note, there was an error in the formula used to calculate the previously posted results from the April 8 Wisconsin Department of Natural Spring Fish and Wildlife Rules Hearings and Wisconsin Conservation Congress county meetings. The issue was related to merging the in-person results with the online input. The responses provided through the online option were accurately captured by the system and are now correctly reflected in the results posted today. The DNR apologizes for the error and any inconvenience the inaccurate results posted online April 17 may have caused.
* There is an error in the background of question 24. Commercial harvest of shovelnose sturgeon IS allowed in Wisconsin (not Minnesota). The majority of this harvest occurs on the Iowa/Wisconsin boundary waters.
* There is an error in the background for question 11. It currently reads, "Our surrounding states do not have closed seasons for bass." However, Minnesota has a closed season for bass. Michigan, Iowa and Illinois all have a year-round season for bass, though it is a catch-and-release season on some waters.
*Note for question 16: The Winnebago System is defined in NR 20.03 (19) Wis. Admin. Code:
" 'Lake Winnebago system' means Lakes Buttes des Morts, Winneconne, Poygan, Winnebago and all their tributaries from their mouths upstream to the first dam including the Fox river from Lake Winnebago upstream to the dam above Princeton and all its tributaries from their mouths upstream to the first dam and the Wolf river from its mouth upstream to the dam in the city of Shawano and all its tributaries from their mouths upstream to the first dam including Cincoe lake, Partridge Crop lake adn Partridge lake in Calumet, Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Marquette, Outagamie, Shawano, Waupaca, Waushara and Winnebago counties."