Wisconsin Lawmakers Save Nature Mag Scott Walker Wanted Dead

Wisconsin legislators have stopped Gov. Scott Walker's plan to kill off the state's popular nature magazine.

The Badger State's budget committee on Wednesday rejected Walker's plan to eliminate Wisconsin Natural Resources, a glossy magazine featuring nature-oriented articles like "Wild Parsnip Revisited" and "It's Elk Country Once More."

But Republicans voted to cut the magazine from six issues a year to four, overruling Democrats who had hoped to keep it as is, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

Sen. Jon Erpenbach, a Democrat, told the newspaper: "This is the end of the magazine as we know it. It's going to be phased out."

The magazine, self-supporting and funded through subscriptions and conservation license fees, has been published since 1919 by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

The mag states its goal is to encourage "residents and visitors to participate in outdoor activities, appreciate a healthy outdoor environment and contribute to its welfare."

But former editors told the Journal Sentinel the state natural-resources agency "made it clear" it wanted to shun stories about climate change and environmental regulation.

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