(The Center Square) – A pair of Republican lawmakers are questioning why the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is spending less than half of the state’s fish and wildlife money on hunters and fishermen.
A new audit shows DNR is spending 49.8% of its hunting and fishing money on programs that “primarily benefit hunters and anglers.”
“Wisconsin Statutes require DNR to spend hunting and fishing license fees only for purposes related to exercising its responsibilities specific to the management of the fish and wildlife resources of the State. DNR spends the funds for activities such as fisheries and wildlife management, law enforcement, customer service, license administration, and property and equipment management,” the auditors wrote. “We determined that $46.3 million, or 49.8% of Fish and Wildlife Account expenditures supported by state revenue, was spent for activities that primarily benefited hunters and anglers.”
Sen. Eric Wimberger, R-Oconto, and Rep. Bob Wittke, R-Caledonia, said 20 years ago Wisconsin was spending almost 60% of its hunting and fishing money on hunters and fishermen.
“These funds come from license fees & taxes on sporting goods and are supposed to be used on projects that benefit fishing and hunting across the state,” the two said in a statement. “The DNR must provide reassurance that it will be more accountable with its own finances before it comes back to the Legislature asking us to pass its costs onto outdoor enthusiasts.”
The two said there should be no reason for the Fish and Wildlife Account to be running a $16 million deficit.
State law limits DNR to spending no more than 16% of the Fish and Wildlife budget on administrative costs. The audit found that the DNR spent more than 10% on admin costs last year, though there were some exemptions.
“We found that DNR included $5.2 million of expenditures that should have been excluded because they were neither department or division level administrative costs, and DNR excluded $960,900 in division level administrative costs that should have been included,” the auditors noted.
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In fact, fixing those accounting mistakes is one of the nine recommendations that auditors made.
“There is no reason that the Fish and Wildlife Account should be over $10 million in deficit, while also spending less than fifty percent of its funds on activities that primarily benefitted hunting and fishing,” Wimberger and Wittke added.