Wisconsin Legislative Council
ACT MEMO
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Prepared by: Anna Henning, Principal Attorney August 11, 2023
2023 Wisconsin Act 32
[2023 Assembly Bill 131]
Membership in County Land
Conservation Committees
Wisconsin law requires each county to create a land conservation committee. Among other
responsibilities set forth in the statutes or delegated by a county board, county land conservation
committees may adopt standards for land management practices, distribute funds, and carry out
projects. [ss. 92.06 (1) (a) and 92.07, Stats.] County boards must appoint land conservation committee
members who fulfill certain statutory criteria. [s. 92.06 (2), Stats.]
Prior law required one of the members of a county land conservation committee to be the chair of the
county’s farm service agency (FSA), or the FSA chair’s designee. However, a November 2021 letter from
the U.S. Department of Agriculture advised Wisconsin’s state FSA office that the service of an FSA
member on a county land conservation committee likely violates federal ethics laws.
2023 Wisconsin Act 32 removes the requirement to appoint one member to a county land
conservation committee who is the county’s FSA chair or the FSA chair’s designee. Instead, the act
requires a county board to appoint one member to the county’s land conservation committee who is a
person “engaged in an agricultural use.” For purposes of the act, a person who is “engaged in an
agricultural use” means a person who conducts any of the following activities for the purpose of
producing an income or livelihood: crop or forage production; keeping livestock; beekeeping; nursery,
sod, or Christmas tree production; floriculture; aquaculture; fur farming; or forest management.
Effective date: August 6, 2023
For a full history of the bill, visit the Legislature’s bill history page.
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