Wisconsin’s Green Fire cites power imbalance in environmental protection
Wisconsin’s Green Fire is releasing the newest in our series of Opportunities Now policy assessments titled, Imbalance of Power – How Wisconsin is Failing Citizens in Conserving Natural Resources and Protecting our Environment. WGF is a group of conservation professionals and committed citizens dedicated to promoting sciences-based management of the state’s natural resources. The paper…
How does your shoreline measure up? Take this survey!
Natural shorelines are a key to healthy lakes. The Wisconsin DNR now helps you check the healthiness of your property’s shoreline by taking the Shoreland Evaluation Survey. This free interactive survey walks you through your property from the upland area where your home or cabin stands, through the area near and on the shoreline, and…
Sunset on Birch Lake: Inside the glow
It was a Tuesday evening about eight o’clock, the July 4 weekend just over, the visitors gone home. I was out in the boat watching a couple of slip bobbers as the sun slowly dipped through the horizon’s haze toward the treetops. Mine was the only boat on the lake, just me and the water,…
The dance of the snapping turtles!
You spend enough time on your lake and over time you see things you’d never seen before and may never see again. Many years ago while fishing, daughter Sonya and I saw a deer swim all the way across Birch Lake, pursued by someone’s dog. Three years ago while snorkeling on a reef I stopped to…
Michigan report suggests wakeboating restrictions
A new report from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources looks at the impacts of wakeboats and offers recommendations to limit their effects on lake environments and the safety of other people enjoying the water. The report observes that operating wakeboats so as to create large waves “increases bottom scour is an emerging threat to…
Exploring threats to our lakes — and the remedies
“This book will forever change how you think about lakes and the Northwoods. And it offers insights into what you can do to protect our beloved lakes…” Jake Vander Zanden, director of the Center for Limnology, University of Wisconsin–Madison I’m pleased to announce the release of my newest book, Ripple Effects, by The University of Wisconsin…
How healthy is your shoreline?
The biggest threat to Michigan’s inland lakes is the loss of nearshore habitat. In the U.S. EPA’s National Lake Assessment, half of Michigan’s lakes were rated as poor, with another 20% as fair, for lakeshore habitat. Only 10% were listed as having problems with nutrients. Key causes of problems for the lakes include high-impact development…
Fish and weeds: Exploring the connection
We know that aquatic vegetation helps attract fish and shelter young fish from predators. But the precise interactions between fish and plants are not well understood. That leaves many questions about how to manage aquatic plants to support fisheries goals. Now the Midwest Gracial Lakes Partnership has awarded a $60,155 grant to the University of…
A book about walleyes? It’s about time!
Anglers treasure walleyes as tasty table fare, and as those mysterious fish that bite best at dusk or at night, and take a minnow-dressed jig with the deftness of a pickpocket.Now this fascinating species is immortalized in a book by Paul Radomski: Walleye: A Beautiful Fish of the Dark, published by University of Minnesota Press.…