Climate change: How it is affecting our waters. What we can do about it.
A recently released report on climate impacts to water resources in Wisconsin from the Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts (WICCI) shows that warming temperatures and changing precipitation patterns are affecting Wisconsin’s wealth of water resources. The last two decades have been the warmest on record in the state, and the past decade has been…
Colors on Water
Colors look the best when seen above and reflected in water. If that weren’t true, why would people line up in their boats each year to view the July 4 fireworks here on Birch Lake? Of course there’s another annual (though quieter) explosion of color over my lake and yours: The turning of the autumn…
If the bad guys were bigger…
A poster in my doctor’s office showed a boy looking down at his hands, which were infested with all sorts of big, ugly, wormlike green, purple and pink creatures. And the poster says, If germs were bigger, would you wash your hands more? It’s useful to think of this when we consider cleaning the boats…
Wisconsin Lakes and Rivers Convention set for April 19-21
The 45th annual Wisconsin Lakes and Rivers Convention will be held April 19-21 at the Holiday Inn Convention Center in Stevens Point. The theme for the 2023 gathering is “Building Trust Around Water Together.” Trust is an important part of everyday life: We have trust in our family members, friends, neighbors, healthcare professionals, teachers, and many…
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…