Gov. Tony Evers Tuesday sent a letter to the Trump administration demanding the U.S. Department of Agriculture designate certain northern Wisconsin counties as primary natural disaster areas due to drought conditions.
The department has designated Burnett, Pepin, Pierce and Washburn counties as primary natural disaster areas, but Evers said 16 other Wisconsin counties that meet all the primary disaster declaration criteria have been neglected in the administration’s disaster designation.
The 16 counties include Ashland, Chippewa, Florence, Forest, Iron, Marinette, Oneida, Price, Vilas, Barron, Bayfield, Dunn, Polk, Rusk, Sawyer and St. Croix.
According to Evers, the U.S. Drought Monitor map dated Oct.8 shows that approximately 20% percent of Wisconsin is now in extreme drought or worse.
Evers said in the letter that farmers, growers and small business owners across northern Wisconsin are making difficult decisions about how to finance the months ahead and cover losses due to the prolonged drought conditions.
“Every week without a drought designation is another week they make those decisions without the federal support for which many already qualify,” Evers wrote. “I urge you to act on these requests swiftly and issue these drought designations without any further delay to ensure Wisconsin’s farmers and producers can get the support they need.”
