Ron Brown
State Senator
31st District
__________________
Referral of Agency Reports
State of Wisconsin
Department of Public Instruction
Madison
August 29, 2005
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
Enclosed is a copy of the "Legislative Report on Video Cameras on School Buses and Training of Bus and Alternative Vehicle Operators" as required by Section
30(4) of
2003 Wisconsin Act 280. The report is submitted to you as required by sec. 13.172(2), Wis. Stats.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Burmaster
State Superintendent
Referred to committee on Transportation.
State of Wisconsin
Groundwater Coordinating Council
Madison
August 2005
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
The Groundwater Coordinating Council (GCC) is pleased to release its 2005 Report to the Legislature. The GCC was formed in 1984 to help state agencies coordinate non-regulatory activities and exchange information on groundwater. For the past 20 years, the GCC has served as a model for interagency coordination and cooperation among state agencies, the Governor, local and federal government, and the university. It is one of the few groups in the nation to effectively coordinate groundwater activities in its state from an advisory position.
This report summarizes GCC and agency activities related to groundwater protection and management in FY 05 (July 1, 2004 to June 30, 2005) and provides an overview of the condition of the groundwater resource. See the Executive Summary for highlights and the GCC's recommendations in Future Directions for Groundwater Protection. The full report is available online at
http://dnr.wi.gov/org/water/dwg/gcc/rtl/gccreport.htm.
Highlights of the State's groundwater protection activities this past year include:
• Organizing the first meetings of the Groundwater Advisory Committee and taking steps to begin implementation of the new groundwater legislation
2003 Wisconsin Act 310;
• Completion of source water assessments for all 11,500 public water supply systems in Wisconsin;
• Incorporation of Wisconsin's groundwater monitoring strategy, including both quantity and quality needs, into the state's water monitoring plan;
• Developing a Groundwater Information Network email list to share information with a broad range of agencies and organizations interested or involved in groundwater education;
• Continued efforts through participation in teacher workshops, a groundwater festival for students, Farm Technology Days, county groundwater programs and other opportunities to share with others the importance of protecting groundwater.
A446
We hope you will find this report to be a useful reference in protecting Wisconsin's valuable groundwater resource.
Sincerely,
Todd Ambs
Chair
Groundwater Coordinating Council
Referred to committee on Natural Resources.
__________________
Agency Reports
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
Madison
August 30, 2005
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
We have completed an evaluation of the Hunter Education Program, which is administered by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Participation in hunter education is required for anyone who wishes to purchase a hunting license and was born on or after January 1, 1973. In 2004, 3,328 volunteer instructors and 47 wardens, some of whom were paid to teach, provided hunter education to 33,476 students, mostly children.
In fiscal year (FY) 2004-05, DNR spent $1.2 million to administer the Hunter Education Program. Approximately one-half of these costs were for the salaries and fringe benefits associated with 9.6 full-time equivalent employees who recruit and train volunteer instructors and students and provide administrative program support. The remainder was primarily for course materials and reimbursement of allowable instructor expenses. We identified no serious concern with the instructor reimbursement process.
Although a decline has been perceived in the number of volunteer instructors and students, we found increases in the number of volunteer instructors who taught at least one course, the number of courses held, and the number of students who successfully completed the program from 2000 to 2004. The number of hours DNR staff spent on hunter education also increased substantially in FY 2004-05, but not because additional wardens taught courses on paid time. Instead, more DNR staff time was spent on its public relations efforts and to reimburse volunteer instructors for allowable expenses.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by DNR and the instructors we contacted during our review.
Sincerely,
Janice Mueller
State Auditor
