State Advisory Committee Will Decide Thursday if Sportsman's Group with Ties to GOP Will Receive Grant
Wednesday, August 28th, 2013 -- 8:21 AM
-A state advisory committee is moving forward with the process of deciding whether to award a $500,000 grant to a sportsman's group with close ties to GOP politicians and conservative groups.Scott Gunderson, the No. 3 official at the state Department of Natural Resources and the chairman of the Sporting Heritage Committee, said the group would meet Thursday as planned to decide whether to give the award to the United Sportsmen of Wisconsin Foundation.
Gunderson said he was not planning to take new applications for the grant, which was designed to get youths interested in hunting and fishing. United Sportsmen has no history of doing the kind of training that would qualify for the grant but is the only group that has applied for it.
The grant was quickly approved in May in a session of the Joint Finance Committee on a motion written by Assembly Majority Leader Scott Suder. Suder says the grant process was fair and open and United Sportsmen is "eminently qualified."
But, the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation says it looks like the grant was designed for one group.
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