MADISON — Thanks to donations from thousands of Wisconsin’s hunters, anglers and other outdoor enthusiasts, the Cherish Wisconsin Outdoors Fund has announced that this year it will be able to fund five habitat conservation projects totaling over $129,000.

The Cherish Wisconsin Outdoors Fund, a public-private partnership between the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the nonprofit Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin, will fund habitat projects in Dane, Green, Oneida, Ozaukee, Vilas, Washington and Walworth counties this year.

The fund supports habitat management and ecological restoration projects on state-owned or managed lands in Wisconsin, including state natural areas, parks, trails, wildlife and fisheries areas, recreation areas, and forests. The DNR and NRF encourage hunters purchasing their licenses to consider donating to the Cherish Wisconsin Outdoors Fund to help support conservation around the state.

Dane and Green Counties received $19,935. Cherish funding will support the removal of invasive brush along approximately one mile of Story Creek and the adjacent prairie and oak woodland at Brooklyn Wildlife Area. This project will create angler and trapper access to Story Creek and improve habitat for a multitude of wildlife by removing invasive species.

Created in 2012 by an act of the Wisconsin State Legislature, the Cherish Wisconsin Outdoors Fund is a public-private partnership that provides a permanent source of funding to care for Wisconsin’s public lands for generations to come.