According to an Aug. 7, 2023, letter from FWS Acting Regional Director Charles Traxler, the DNR has acknowledged that it sold logging permits on state Wildlife Management Areas, or WMAs, without documenting the habitat value of the sales before the permits were issued. The letter was obtained this past week by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, or PEER, and was released to news media, including the Timberjay. The Timberjay has confirmed that approximately $21.62 million in federal funding is currently on hold.
The DNR is allowed to sell timber for commercial purposes, but it can’t utilize federal dollars dedicated to habitat improvement to pay for work associated with those sales without documenting ahead of time how the sale actually improves the conditions for wildlife.