June 2023 Council of Advocates Update
The Wisconsin Bike Fed Council of Advocates held its second meeting of 2023 on June 1st, hearing from legislative leaders Rep. Lee Snodgrass and Rep. Kristina Shelton about their vision for cycling and trails in Wisconsin, the Legislative Trails Caucus, and more
We were also fortunate enough to hear from David Spiegelberg at Travel Wisconsin about the wealth of opportunities the Joint Effort Marketing (JEM) Grant Program can provide to cycling stakeholders and enthusiasts around the state. If you wish to learn more about the JEM Grant Program, please visit Travel Wisconsin’s webpage on JEM grants. Thank you to all of our Advocates who were able to attend and add to the robust discussion!
Speaking of the Legislative Trails Caucus, there is an opportunity in front of Wisconsin cycling advocates right now to provide feedback on the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resource’s (DNR) draft to update the state’s Trails Network Plan. This draft was written by the DNR at the request of the Legislative Trails Caucus.
Earlier this week, the Wisconsin DNR announced: “The Trails Network Plan update is an interactive web map that allows users to see the potential trail corridors identified in the 2002 Plan as well as those corridors that have been developed into state and local trails. As part of the public input period, the web map contains an input form that allows the public to share which developed trail corridors they presently use and which trail corridors they may be interested in using in the future.”
Since the Council of Advocates was first introduced at the start of 2022, our membership has continued to grow, with 58 counties now represented. While this is great progress, our vision is to have a member from each of Wisconsin’s 72 counties – if you’re interested in advancing cycling and trails initiatives in Wisconsin and from a county that does not currently have representation, please see which counties are still needed by viewing our recent article here.
If you are interested in joining the Council of Advocates, or have any Council-related questions, please contact our Government Affairs Manager, Collin Mead, at collin@wisconsinbikefed.org.