Wisconsin’s trumpeter swan population is now surging after becoming almost extinct. We learn about the recovery of the trumpeter swan in the state. We also look into the growing list of celebrities and businesses boycotting states like Mississippi and North Carolina, after they passed ‘religious liberty’ laws that many say discriminate against the LGBT community. We also get the details of news that a state board knew public records changes were “significant,” even though it characterized the changes as not “sunstantive” to the media.
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Documents obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel show that members of Wisconsin’s Public Records Board knew the public record changes they made last summer were “significant” even though the board told the public and news organizations the change wasn’t “substantive.”
After reviewing hundreds of documents, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Mary Spicuzza said she saw an email from Georgia Thompson, the board’s executive secretary, alerting state records officers to expect “significant” changes to which records could be immediately destroyed due to the expanding definition of so-called “transitory records.”
“When we first reported on these changes, there was a lot of pushback from state officials who said these are not significant changes, these were routine clarifications, just expanding an existing rule that dealt with transitory records, or what records could be deleted or destroyed immediately,” Spicuzza said.
However, Spicuzza said the email seemed contradictory to the message that board members were giving the members of the public.
“It seemed to really kind of reinforce the idea that these were indeed, significant, sweeping or serious changes to what records could be deleted,” Spicuzza said.
Board members have said that the changes were in fact routine and only became more expansive by state lawmakers. But Spicuzza said she believes Thompson’s email tells otherwise.
An attempt to change Wisconsin’s open records rules last year was canceled after public backlash. Spicuzza said roughly 1,900 citizens wrote emails expressing concerns over the changes to transitory records.
“I think part of the reason that we saw such a public outcry was that this came on the heels of the Independence Day holiday last year during the budget, where leaders in the Legislature, on (the) Joint Finance (Committee), really made a last-minute change that would have … really cut back on what public records people could get and how they could monitor what the government is doing,” Spicuzza said.
Spicuzza added, “I think that there have just been a series of concerns about government transparency and how citizens and members of the media can monitor and see how government is working and how decisions are being made.”
Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel has been sympathetic to adding some restrictions to open records laws. He has also called for stronger guidance about what records should be retained, urging officials to error on the side of openness.
Gov. Scott Walker has drawn criticism for not releasing records on the state’s deliberation process. However, Spicuzza said the governor signed an executive order last month during “Sunshine Week” calling for state agencies to handle public requests promptly.
“I think that we’re at least hearing from the governor and state leaders that there are efforts to become more transparent,” said Spicuzza. “We’ll just have to see how those play out as we file more records requests.”
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Return Of Wisconsin’s Trumpeter Swan Population Is Point Of Pride For DNR Biologist
Wisconsin’s trumpeter swan population is flying high after years of reintroduction efforts by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and avian biologist Sumner Matteson.
Hunting and trapping eliminated the state’s swan population in the early 1900s, but now the DNR reports more there are more than 4,500 trumpeter swans across Wisconsin.
Since the late 1980s, Sumner and a team of biologists have used a number of techniques to raise and release the swans around the state, but first they had to go to Alaska to find usable eggs.
“There were no trumpeter swans in the wild back then,” said Matteson. “The only folks that had trumpeter swans were game farms.”
Once the scientists found the eggs, they brought them back to hatch at the Milwaukee County Zoo. DNR officials then experimented with a number of strategies for raising the birds, with mixed results. Matteson said using foster parents to raise hatchlings didn’t work too well, but decoys and captive rearing seemed to do the trick.
“The key lesson here is patience and persistence,” said Matteson. “When we started in 1987 with cross-fostering we experienced dismal success, but ever since the 2000s our numbers have soared.”
The success of the program is especially sweet for Matteson, who said that he spent 13 hours a day collecting eggs in Alaska. As an added bonus, a swan from one of the original eggs that he collected is still thriving in the wild decades later.
“That bird was hatched at the Milwaukee County Zoo on my birthday and is going to be turning 27 years old this year,” said Matteson. “They really are a graceful and beautiful symbol of our wetlands.”
The large trumpeter swan population has led the DNR to retire the program based on its success.
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Documents obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel show the state Public Records Board characterized the public record changes it made last summer as “significant,” even though the board told the public and news organizations the changes were not “substantive,” We get the details from one of the reporters covering this news.
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The Trumpeter Swan: A Comeback Story
Trumpeter swans were once abundant throughout much of North America including Wisconsin. But during the 19th century, overhunting and other factors greatly reduced their populations, eventually landing them on the endangered species list.
In the 1980s biologists in Wisconsin started reintroducing the species to the wild, and for the past several decades these recovery efforts have been a huge success. We talk to an expert who helped lead these efforts to bring back the trumpeter swan.
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Growing Boycotts Over North Carolina And Mississippi's 'Religious Liberty' Laws
North Carolina and Mississippi passed laws that allow faith-based businesses and organizations to deny service to members of the LGBT community, and a growing number of high-profile celebrities and businesses are showing their disapproval by boycotting those states. We talk to our guest about the controversy around ‘religious liberty’ laws, and how celebrities like Bruce Springsteen and businesses like PayPal and GE are joining boycotts.
Episode Credits
- Rob Ferrett Host
- Veronica Rueckert Host
- Amanda Magnus Producer
- Karl Christenson Producer
- Haleema Shah Producer
- Mary Spicuzza Guest
- Sumner Matteson Guest
- David Graham Guest
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