During former Governor Scott Walker’s administration, there were a lot of changes to how Wisconsin’s natural resources were being managed and talked about that didn’t sit right with Terry Daulton.
“There were a lot of cuts made to science positions and a lot of changes made in the way that our natural resource agencies in Wisconsin could talk about topics like climate change,” recalled Daulton. “There were quite a number of people in the research and science field who lost their positions or took early retirements and were very frustrated with the inability to continue to communicate science to the public.”
That concern eventually led to a group of about 40 people meeting during a snowstorm at Kemp Natural Resources Station in Woodruff.
From that meeting came the idea for Wisconsin’s Green Fire.
“An organization to use science to advocate for good public policy in Wisconsin around topics like forestry, wildlife, climate change, clean water, clean air, things that Wisconsin citizens care about,” said Daulton.
Daulton is one of the founding board members of the organization that has since grown to be a non-profit with a couple hundred science policy people and a membership of more than 700 people.
She says priorities are partially driven by top-of-mind issues in the state like PFAS contamination, but also by the volunteers that are available and have a certain expertise.
They regularly put out reports on policy based on the data available and they make experts available to communicate that science.
“One of the things about doing science advocacy is that it's not saying you need to choose x or y outcome, but it's saying, listen to this science that has to do with what may happen if you choose x or y,” said Daulton. “It's basically using that science, educating people about how their choices may play out in the future based on what we know about the real world.”
Daulton will be talking about Wisconsin’s Green Fire and the work they do at Science on Tap Minocqua tonight, April 3rd.
It starts at 6:30 p.m. at Rocky Reef Brewing Company in Woodruff.
“I'm hoping people go away with a renewed sense that they too can use science to make their lives better, to make all of our lives better, and have a more informed way of making decisions that benefit our communities,” said Daulton.
You can also stream it online.
