40. Tom Stolp — Inside the Cedar Gorge Clay Bluffs Scandal
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Tom Stolp was on the frontlines of the fight to protect the Cedar Gorge Clay Bluffs project in Wisconsin back in 2022. At the time, he was the executive director of the Ozaukee Washington Land Trust. Today, he leads Restoring Lands, a land trust focused on the Milwaukee River Basin, which was formed in 2025 through the merger of his former organization with the River Revitalization Foundation.
On our last episode, I spoke with Tom’s colleague, Charles Carlin of Gathering Waters, an alliance of Wisconsin’s land trusts. Charles discussed the critical role of land trusts and introduced the Cedar Gorge Clay Bluffs scandal as it was unfolding. If you haven’t heard that conversation yet, I highly recommend listening to it alongside this one.
I spoke with Tom on August 24, 2022—just days after Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers rescued the Cedar Gorge Clay Bluffs project. He used federal pandemic recovery funds to bypass a legislative loophole that allowed an anonymous Republican lawmaker to block a state conservation grant with a secret pocket veto.
As I explained in the last episode, this specific scandal set off a chain reaction. It ultimately led Wisconsin’s gerrymandered, Republican-controlled legislature to completely defund the state’s beloved conservation fund, the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program, allowing it to expire on June 30, 2026.
Now, the future of the program rests on the upcoming election on November 3, 2026. Voters will go to the polls to decide who will succeed Governor Evers and which party will control the legislature. Most importantly, this marks the first time the entire state legislature will be decided under fair, non-gerrymandered maps.
While the Cedar Gorge Clay Bluffs survived this political battle, the broader future of Wisconsin's land stewardship is on the ballot next week. The story Tom tells in the midst of this scandal shines a light on what is at stake.
I’m John Fiege, and this is Chrysalis. You can subscribe at johnfiege.earth, where you will also find show notes and all episodes of the podcast, plus my writing, photographs, and films.
I begin my conversation with Tom talking about the Cedar Gorge Clay Bluffs on the shores of Lake Michigan.
Here is Tom Stolp.
Notes and Media Recommendations
- Tom Stolp, Executive Director of Restoring Lands
- Restoring Lands: The 2025 Merger of Ozaukee Washington Land Trust and River Revitalization Foundation
- Gathering Waters: The Story of the Cedar Gorge Clay Bluffs Nature Preserve
- Gov. Evers Funds Major Conservation Projects, Including Cedar Gorge-Clay Bluffs
- Wisconsin Supreme Court Decision: Evers v. Marklein (2025 WI 36)
- Legislature’s finance committee rejects funding for Wisconsin’s largest land conservation effort
- What States Can Learn from Wisconsin’s Win for Fair Maps
- The Cap Times: Skewed priorities led to death of Knowles-Nelson
- Chrysalis Podcast: Episode 39 — Interview with Charles Carlin
Credits
This episode was researched by Brodie Mutschler and edited by Sarah Westrich and Alice McClain. The podcast assistant is Domenica Klamm. Music is by Daniel Rodríguez Vivas. Mixing is by Morgan Honaker.
