TO:                        All Wisconsin Legislators

FROM:                 Charlie Mitchell, Founder, Scenic Wisconsin

                              Gary R. Goyke, President of Scenic Wisconsin Board of Directors

RE:                        Opposition to Billboard Bills (AB 502/SB 497 and AB 521/SB 525)

DATE:                   January 5, 2026

Scenic Wisconsin is opposed to pending legislation that would substantially change state law relating to regulation of billboards. This letter lays out the reasons for our opposition.

• AB 502 & SB 497, relating to outdoor advertising signs that are affected by transportation-related projects

Companion bills AB 502 and SB 497 would allow outdoor advertising signs, commonly known as billboards, which need to be removed to make way for highway reconstruction such as widening, to be transferred to a place elsewhere in the community. Billboards could be relocated by the billboard owner even if the billboard does not conform to local ordinances. This process of relocating undermines local community efforts at highway beautification.

Additionally, the bills would require that the Wisconsin Department of Transportation pay the cost of relocating a billboard whenever a public project affects the billboard’s visibility. This measure will raise the cost of highway projects and taxpayers will bear the additional expense.

The bills also provide that billboards be evaluated separately from other buildings that may need to be removed at the same time because of a highway project. This special treatment gives the billboard owner an advantage to gain a higher buy-out amount in the condemnation process, and taxpayers bear the expense.  We are in agreement with the League of Wisconsin Municipalities testimony opposing these bills.  (For your convenience, we will send the League’s testimony to you via email.)

• AB 521 & SB 525 relating to removal of vegetation obstructing outdoor advertising signs

Companion bills AB 521 and SB 525 would allow clear cutting of trees and shrubs on the public right-of-way along our major highways to provide better views of outdoor advertising signs. Clear cutting would be allowed for a distance of 500 feet along the roadway near the sign.

However, trees and shrubs are valuable assets that provide safety benefits to motorists that use the highways. This vegetation is paid for by taxpayers.  Under management of the state Department of Transportation, trees are used as snow, wind and light screens. Trees reduce erosion and help prevent flooding. Trees are planted by the DOT to serve as living snow fences. While the billboard owner would pay $300 per tree that is part of a snow fence that is cut down, it is not good public policy to be cutting down snow fences.

Other provisions of these bills are objectionable because they reduce supervision of tree removal by the DOT. The sign owner would need to apply only once, then will have permission to cut trees whenever they want in the future. Now the owner must apply each time they want to remove vegetation and do it in close coordination with the DOT.  We do not believe it best to change the state statutes but rather to potentially work through the administrative rule process.

For greater details about the impact of these bills, please see the DOT testimony submitted in opposition to SB 525 in November of 2025.  (For your convenience, we will also send the DOT testimony to you via email.)

Billboard owners have no inherent right to have a sign or billboard be visible from a highway. The purpose of the highway program is public transportation, and it should be managed for that purpose, not as an advertising corridor.

We sincerely request your careful review of these bills and ask that you not adopt them as the session draws to a close. 

The mission of Scenic Wisconsin is to preserve and enhance the visual character of Wisconsin. We believe that America’s scenic heritage is fundamentally important to individual and collective well-being, to economic prosperity, to a healthy ecology, and to the quality of everyday life. Our objectives are to support and promote programs and policies that protect natural beauty in our environment, preserve landscapes and streetscapes, protect historic and cultural symbols such as barns, conserve trees, and improve the appearance of communities.

Scenic Wisconsin is a 501 (c) 3 organization dedicated through advocacy to preserving and enhancing the scenic character of Wisconsin communities and its rural countryside.  You may visit us at www.scenicwisconsin.org or get to know more about us at our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/scenicwisconsin/.