Mar 25, 2013

Donations to Wisconsin's endangered resources program hit 10-year low

The state Department of Natural Resource's Endangered Resources Bureau, which monitors threatened species and gets 25 percent of its funding from those donations, is looking for answers to the trend. The wolf license plate is the bureau's biggest benefactor, even though the bureau no longer manages wolves now that they're not endangered.

...DNR officials said they haven't been able to pinpoint the reason for the decline, but they are preparing a public education plan to better explain the importance of their work, said Erin Crain, the bureau's director.

"I don't know that we always do such a great job in telling our story," she said. "We have a compelling message that doesn't always get translated that well."