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The investigation detailed how a handful of political insiders engineered a $500,000 hunting and fishing grant in perpetuity for some of their friends and political supporters. The taxpayer-funded grant from the state of Wisconsin went for teaching and promoting the sports of hunting and fishing, but the newly created receiving organization, the United Sportsmen, didn't have any experience doing that work. Instead, the group had been doing political work and lobbying, often for goals at odds with those of some other outdoors groups, such as supporting a massive proposed pit mine in an area used by hunters and anglers. In spite of that, lawmakers wrote the grant qualifications to exclude more experienced groups and target their ally, which had the support of one of the state's wealthiest and most influential campaign donors. In doing so, the lawmakers knowingly but surreptitiously put at risk millions of dollars in federal conservation funds for Wisconsin.