25 Years of Statewide Advocacy

Join as we celebrate and take a look back over the years

We're excited to share our 25th Anniversary celebration with you! We've put together a 25-year timeline with a few of the highlights over the years. We'll be sharing videos, testimonials, and story maps during the week of December 6th. Watch our social media pages and your e-news to see what your support over the past 25 years has meant to us and the state of Wisconsin.

25th Anniversary Special Appeal

Please make a special gift to celebrate this milestone anniversary! Your gift will help ensure we have the resources to forge ahead in the coming years.

We are committed to providing sound land use policies to help build healthy communities and to advocate for responsible transportation options. Together we will work toward a cleaner, healthier and more inclusive future for all the people of Wisconsin.

Thanks for being friends we can count on!

DONATE NOW

Or text : 608-405-6979

Reminder - we have a new address

1000 Friends of Wisconsin

PO Box 259704

Madison, WI 53725

22 Climate Bill Introduced

in State Legislature

Forward on Climate Bills

of particular interest

In November, a group of legislators released 22 bills to reduce the effects of climate change and make Wisconsin more sustainable. Representatives from across the state spearheaded these bills including Representative Greta Neubauer, (D)-Racine, who said, "We have no time to waste if we want to give young people a fighting chance. We have a crisis on our hands, but we also have an opportunity to make life better for each other and for the people who come after us." There are four bills in particular that forward the mission of our organization and we'll be fighting for!

Read a summary of each bill on our website.

LRB 3393 – Climate Change Local Planning

LRB 2013 – Complete Streets

LRB 0630 – Long-Range Transportation Planning

LRB 0248 – Urban Forestry Grants

These lawmakers ongoing commitment to reducing emissions and investing in Wisconsin communities will support local economic growth and have positive climate impacts. Our state needs more forward thinking leaders who strive to meet both local needs and address climate change! We'll keep you updates on the progress of these bills.

Federal Infrastructure Bill Passes

On November 15^th, President Biden signed the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill. With all the back-and-forth, it was easy to lose track of what programs made the final cut and how they will impact Wisconsin. To add to the confusion, the federal government reauthorized the regular 5-year transportation budget at the same time. So the infrastructure bill is really two bills, $650B of regular spending and $550B of new spending. The regular spending upholds the status quo with $300B going to highways and $90B going to transit. Click here for a summary of the pros and cons and what it may mean for Wisconsin.

1000 Friends of Wisconsin is excited by some of the new programs and the funding increases for passenger rail and transit but we worry that this infrastructure bill will be unable to meet our urgent environmental and equity goals.

Leopold Elementary Green Schoolyard Project Update

We've left the project in the capable hands of Leopold parents, staff, and community members!

Over the last few years, 1000 Friends worked with Leopold Elementary School to coordinate actions that would help create a more welcoming schoolyard and alleviate flooding issues on the playgrounds.

This past July, after our 22nd meeting, we left the project in the good hands of Leopold parents, staff, and community members to take it where they want to go. The team will be working on a comprehensive plan for the schoolyard to share with the incoming principal at Leopold this year. We are so grateful to Leopold School staff and community for allowing us to help coordinate the work, and are excited to see where the schoolyard goes from here! Take a look at the video and the detailed StoryMap that tells the whole story!

Leopold Project Leader Abe Lenoch

We want to give a special shout out to 1000 Friends' Abe Lenoch for his hard work and dedication to this project and to the Leopold community!

Active Wisconsin

Active Wisconsin is our new active transportation network. We will be hosting an Active Wisconsin network call on December 8th. If you are interested in learning more about the active transportation network, please visit the website Active Wisconsin. If you have questions or would like to added to the Active Wisconsin email list, please email Susan Gaeddert. We're always happy to add new members to the network!