Moving Forward Together
We’ve been an instrumental partner in protecting all that makes Wisconsin great to the thousands of supporters in every corner of our state.
The challenges we face require enduring attention and a bold strategy. Our engaged members and supporters give us the reason and resources to be your voice for Wisconsin’s environment.
Foundation Story
It was the 1970s and rivers were catching on fire. Wisconsin’s own Fox River was practically dead. In response, national environmental leaders like Gaylord Nelson founded Earth Day, and the National Environmental Policy Act was passed.
It was in this context that a handful of foresightful Wisconsinites, led by Doug La Follette and Peter Anderson, recognized the need to have an organized effort to protect Wisconsin’s cherished yet vulnerable environment. Knowing that ensuring concrete protections for our air, water, and landscapes required an active voice within the Capitol, La Follette and Anderson formed our organization under the name Wisconsin’s Environmental Decade on that first Earth Day in 1970.