Young Adults and the Future of Conservation

As Wisconsin Wayfarers celebrates its 10th anniversary, the program’s mission has never been more relevant. Wisconsin’s future depends on the next generation of conservationists. And in an increasingly online and uncertain world, young adults need meaningful connections to nature just as much as nature needs them.

Learn more in this guest blog by Lisa Charron, one of NRF’s first Wayfarers.

Wayfarers participating in the 2026 Great Wisconsin Birdathon as team ‘Millennial Falcons’. Photo By Naomi Hadley

When we started Wayfarers ten years ago, the world was a different place. There was a fierce battle happening between Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump for the U.S. presidency. The COVID-19 pandemic had not yet forced us into isolation and killed over 7 million people worldwide. AI was just a glimmer in the eye of some computer scientist. And while social media existed, it was not yet a main way the majority of people interact with the world.

Our mission in starting Wayfarers in 2016 was to ensure the future of conservation in Wisconsin. Like other conservation organizations, NRF was facing an aging membership profile and a lack of younger people joining. We formed a “Millennial Committee” of several NRF staff members and two staff-turned-volunteers (myself and Christine Seeley). Together, we created a community of young people with a passion for Wisconsin’s lands, waters, and wildlife and dedication to preserving them.

Wayfarers on a hike at Wildcat Mountain State Park. Photo by Emma Schatz

Nature needs young adults—and vice versa

Though the world has changed since 2016, the mission of Wayfarers is more important than ever. Federal funding for key conservation programs and agencies is under threat. The U.S. Government focuses on streamlining operations at federal conservation agencies like the EPA, DOI, and USDA and moving resources towards “energy dominance” rather than conservation.

In Wisconsin, funding for conservation efforts is also at great risk. The “user-payer” system (i.e., parks and recreation passes and hunter/angler licenses paying for conservation rather than the general tax base) cannot keep up with inflation as the number of licenses sold each year declines.

Moreover, the future of the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund, which has funded a great deal of conservation work in the state over the last 30 years, is currently unfunded. We need to draw more young(ish) people in to care about and fund the preservation of Wisconsin’s natural wonders.

But while Wisconsin’s natural resources need young people, I also think that Millennials and other young adults need Wisconsin nature. As a Millennial myself, I sometimes feel like my whole life is facing one crisis after another. With economic recessions, wars (or “conflicts” or “excursions”), public health crises, attacks on domestic and international human rights, the dismantling of the free press, and the increasing role of AI in human life, younger generations are dealing with a lot, to say the least.

Wayfarers at a DNR volunteer seed collecting event. Photo by Jared Urban

Decreasing our screen time

Meanwhile, we are online more than ever before, with social media and AI becoming primary ways we obtain information and interact with others. Social media overuse is tied to many mental health challenges, including anxiety and depression. Additionally, when we overload on upsetting new media (i.e. “doomscrolling”) we stress ourselves out even more. Meanwhile, the mental health impacts of intense and prolonged AI use are just coming to light with early research showing ties to psychological dependence, delusional thinking, and social withdrawal.

Basically, younger generations—Millennials and Gen Z in particular—could really benefit from “touching grass,” or trees, or spring ephemeral flowers, or the currents of the Wisconsin River, or the purple quartzite of Devil’s Lake State Park, or even a tiny, fuzzy, baby kestrel.

Wayfarers Wisconsin trivia night at Delta Beer Lab in Madison. Photo by Emma Schatz

Connecting young adults with nature

Each year since Wayfarers started, we have developed a slate of nature- and conservation-themed events specifically geared and advertised towards 20-, 30-, (and now) 40-somethings. Some of these events are pretty similar to NRF’s Field Trip offerings: guided hikes, paddles, and bike rides; educational events about a variety of conservation topics; and volunteer opportunities with the DNR and other organizations.

However, we also offer very low barrier-to-entry events like happy hours, board games nights, and trivia, usually with a conservation-themed educational component. We also have a few annual events that people come back to each year: a summer sunset paddle called the Glow Float, the Millennial Falcons Great Wisconsin Birdathon team, and (a new one that I hope will continue) winter solstice wreathmaking.

Group of Wayfarers showing off their wreaths. Photo courtest of Emma Schatz

Growing the program

I am proud of the breadth of experiences that the Wayfarers program offers young adults to connect with Wisconsin nature, with NRF, and with each other. We have found that these events bring in many types of young people, and especially those who may not have much prior experience with conservation or even being in nature!

Through these experiences, Wayfarers has grown its community. In 2017, 65 people attended Wayfarers events. In 2025, that number was 259. That’s 259 more people with a connection to Wisconsin’s lands, waters, and wildlife, and 259 more people likely to give their time and their resources to protecting them.

In this 40th year of NRF and 10th year of Wayfarers, I want to look forward as well as back. And I think Wayfarers will be essential in that future, not only for the continuation of conservation programs, as it was intended, but also for the well-being of each and every Wayfarer. Each event is an opportunity to look up from our screens, marvel at Wisconsin’s natural wonders, and have fun together. Each time we do that, it is a balm for our mental health and helps us build resilience to a constantly plugged-in and often distressing world.

Written by Lisa Charron, member of Wayfarers committee

40 years of connecting people with nature

The Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin is celebrating our 40th anniversary in 2026! Our mission is to protect Wisconsin’s lands, waters, and wildlife by providing funding, leading partnerships, and connecting all people with nature. The Wayfarers program is one of the ways we connect people to nature in our great state. We also get people outdoors through our popular Field Trips program, our annual Great Wisconsin Birdathon event, and through our many environmental education grants that help teachers take learning outside. Join us as we celebrate 40 years of connecting people to nature.