Wisconsin
Gov. Tony Evers increases Wisconsin’s commitment to plant 100 million trees by 2030
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WAUNAKEE — On the shore of Lake Mendota at the state park named for the holiday’s founder, Gov. Tony Evers on Earth Day signed an executive order pledging that the state will plant 100 million trees by the end of 2030 — an increase from the state’s initial commitment of 75 million.
Wisconsin first joined the global Trillion Trees Initiative, led by the World Economic Forum and American Forests, with an Evers executive order in 2021. The order also included a pledge to conserve 125,000 acres of forestland by 2030.
The governor told cabinet members and state employees gathered at Governor Nelson State Park on Monday that he was a freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Madison when Earth Day was first celebrated in 1970 — a result of Wisconsin’s former governor and senator Gaylord Nelson’s advocacy.
“We actually, at the UW-Madison campus, had a full day of Earth Day, and professors and others had teach-ins, and it was really extraordinary,” Evers told reporters after planting a tree with a group. “It’s something I still remember to this day.”
Here’s what to know about Earth Day and the governor’s tree-planting pledge.
How many trees have been planted since the 2021 pledge?
The state has planted more than 32 million trees since Evers issued his 2021 executive order.
According to an annual report from the state Department of Natural Resources, more than 9.8 million trees were planted and more than 3,000 acres of forestland were conserved last year. More than two-thirds of seedlings were provided by the DNR. About 22% were planted on private lands. and about 19% were planted on DNR, federal, tribal and other public lands. About 100,000 were planted in county forests, 31,000 in school forests and more than 37,000 were given to elementary school students last Arbor Day.
Since the early 1900s, the DNR’s reforestation program has supplied landowners in the state with more than 1.6 billion seedlings.
Private nurseries partnering with the DNR supplied more than 3 million tree for conservation purposes, in addition to trees supplied by private nurseries for landscaping.
What will 100 million trees do for the environment?
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a mature tree can store and exchange about 48 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in one year. That means 100 million mature trees could store and exchange an expected 4.8 billion pounds of carbon dioxide per year.
The state’s updated goal will also contribute to the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers’ bipartisan pledge to plant 250 million trees by 2033.
How many trees did Wisconsin plant in a normal year?
In the years before Wisconsin joined the Trillion Trees Initiative, the DNR nursery had distributed about 2.5 million to 3 million seedlings per year.
Why do we celebrate Earth Day?
While in the Senate, Nelson was frustrated by the lack of federal action on pressing environmental issues during. He advocated for “environmental teach-ins” at schools to prompt change, and on April 22, 1970, 20 million people, showed up at events across the country in support of a cleaner environment.
In the following years, Congress passed the Clean Water Acts, Clean Air Act, the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, the Federal Pesticides Act, the Environmental Education Act, the National Hiking Trails and the National Scenic Trails Acts. Under President Richard Nixon, the federal government also created the Environmental Protection Agency.
Earth Day has since become an international event celebrated in more than 180 countries.
What does Evers hope will come from the tree-planting effort?
“Certainly all the stuff that the trees do is right on target. They take carbon dioxide and release oxygen to the air and sequester the carbon into the ground. So they are doing their part,” Evers said when asked about his hopes for the new tree-planting commitment. “I think we as human beings can do a little bit better. We’re working on it. We have (electric vehicle charing stations) going now, and as people participate in purchasing those vehicles, that’s going to make a difference as well as, obviously, our big, big issues around making sure that we’re getting enough solar energy in our system and making that happen. So, we’re on the right track, but we have a long, long way to go.”
Laura Schulte of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed.
Jessie Opoien can be reached at jessie.opoien@jrn.com.
The crash happened shortly after midnight near the address of 471 N. Biron Drive.
BIRON – A 38-year-old Wisconsin Rapids woman is dead after a one-vehicle crash early Friday morning.
The crash happened shortly after midnight near the address of 471 N. Biron Drive. The initial investigation shows the vehicle was traveling north on Biron Drive at a high rate of speed and failed to negotiate a curve, according to a news release from the Wood County Sheriff’s Office. The vehicle left the road and hit a tree.
The Wisconsin Rapids woman was the only person in the vehicle, and she was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
The crash remains under investigation.
The Grand Rapids Police Department, Wood County Rescue, Biron Fire Department, Biron First Responders, Wisconsin Rapids Ambulance, Wood County Dispatch Center and Neiman’s Tow Service assisted at the scene.
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Editor Jamie Rokus can be reached at jrokus@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter at @Jamie_Rokus.
Wisconsin
Wisconsin elementary school teacher, 24, busted for ‘making out’ with 5th grader — three months before wedding
A 24-year-old Wisconsin elementary school teacher was arrested Wednesday for allegedly “making out” with her fifth-grade student — less than three months before her wedding.
Madison Bergmann’s alleged abuse of the 11-year-old boy came to light when the student’s mother overheard her son talk to the teacher on the phone, CBS News Minnesota reported.
The victim’s parents found alleged texts between the pair and the boy’s father then stormed into River Crest Elementary School with print-outs of the conversations.
The deranged text chain included messages from Bergmann allegedly discussing multiple encounters inside the classroom during lunch or after school.
She is also accused of telling the child how much she enjoyed him touching her and “making out,” the charging documents state.
Inside her bag, police also found a folder with the victim’s name on it containing many handwritten notes talking about how much they kissed one another, the charges allege.
In one of the letters, Bergmann allegedly wrote, “One of my cousins is in the 5th grade and I can’t imagine a man talking to her how we talk. I know we have a special relationship and I do love you more than anyone in the world but I have to be the adult here and stop.”
It’s not clear how long the abuse had been going on, but Bergmann told investigators she was given the boy’s phone number by his mother in December when his family invited who they thought was a beloved teacher with them to the Afton Alps for winter break.
That was the same month she became engaged to her longtime boyfriend, her social media shows.
According to the document, when officers asked about text exchanges between the two, Bergmann invoked her right to an attorney.
The accused pervert has since been placed on administrative leave and barred from contacting any district students, parents or staff, the Hudson School District told parents the same day as her arrest.
“Learning about a school staff member and alleged inappropriate conduct that breaches trust is deeply troubling for all of us,” the message states.
According to her social media, Bergmann was set to be married in July — less than three months from when she was arrested.
She began teaching at River Crest Elementary in 2022, a milestone she celebrated with a photo of her classroom on Facebook.
“Can’t wait for school to start!” she ominously wrote.
Bergmann now faces one count of first-degree child sexual assault. She was released on a $25,000 signature bond.
DE PERE, Wis. (WBAY) – A local teacher from West De Pere Middle School has been named one of five winners of Wisconsin’s 2025 Teacher of the Year.
Eighth-grade English language arts teacher, Bethany Counard was given a surprise ceremony during a school assembly this afternoon.
Family, students, and faculty were joined by members of the board of education to give the award.
A teacher can receive this after being nominated by the community for the Herb Kohl Educational Foundation’s “Teacher Fellowship”.
After an interviewing process, five of them are selected for this award.
Counard said she was surprised and left at a loss for words.
“The people that I work with now, have worked with in the past…teaching is such a team profession,” said Counard. “I felt overwhelmed just to hear my name.”
Officials say these five teachers will do one final interview with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction for a chance to represent the state at the Council of Chief State School Officer’s National Teacher of the Year program in Washington DC.
Copyright 2024 WBAY. All rights reserved.
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