Officials with the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation said they've received information showing a staggering drop in the amount of fines assessed for environmental violations and it’s alleging state agencies are being lax on polluters.

Federation executive director George Meyer said data leaked from an unnamed source shows that the total amount of penalties assessed against environmental violators in 2015 was $306,000. The group said that’s a drop of nearly 80 percent from 2014 and nearly 90 percent lower than the 10-year average for fines.

"It could be partially (state Department of Natural Resources), it could be that they’re not doing any inspections. It could be that they’re not following up with those inspections or it could be the Department of Justice isn’t going about their former process of seeking appropriate penalties," said Meyer.

In the past, Gov. Scott Walker said that his goal is to have zero violations issued by the DNR and instead have the agency work with people and businesses to get back into compliance with state law without resorting to legal action. Meyer said that’s a laudable goal, but some cases are serious enough to warrant substantial fines and that punishing bad actors is good for business overall. He said the public deserves to know if state agencies are being soft on polluters.

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"We want to hear what their answer is and prove that there is nothing going on wrong, which isn’t going to happen and if, in fact, this continues, the citizens of the state are going to have an opportunity to look at how the current administration is doing this and make their voice heard either to the Legislature or during the elections," said Meyer

In a statement, the DNR said the agency takes environmental enforcement seriously and has referred between 35 and 41 major cases each year to DOJ between 2010 and 2014. A statement from DOJ spokesman Johnny Koremenos said the total amount of penalties doesn't tell the full story about how DOJ ensures environmental violations are resolved and compliance is gained.

"As a proud supporter of Wisconsin’s sporting heritage and an avid outdoorsman, Attorney General (Brad) Schimel takes his prosecutorial role seriously and ensures all referrals received by the Wisconsin Department of Justice from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources are thoroughly reviewed and DOJ attorneys work diligently to do what’s best for Wisconsin," said Koremenos.