2026 VCLRA Winter Newsletter Published
Articles on climate impacts, connecting youth to clean water, reaching out to new shoreline owners, Blue Heron award winners, a new bill on wake enhanced boating and more…
Wishing You a Joyful Season and a Happy New Year!
As the year comes to a close, we wish you a season filled with peace, good health, and time well spent with those who matter most. Thank you for the…
Video Coverage: 2025 Six-County Lakes & Rivers Meeting
Did you miss our 2025 Northwoods Six-County Lakes and Rivers Meeting? No problem — view the full event video, speaker presentations plus event photos.
2025 six-county meeting presentations & photos
View photos and presentations from our recent six-county lakes & rivers meeting held on July 11th at Nicolet College.
Vilas County Northern Wisconsin ToolBox Workshop
Attend a free workshop and learn how to use a Toolbox to help you protect your lake – without the cost of a consultant and lake management plan!
VCLRA’s Summer 2025 newsletter has taken flight!
Read about our six-county lakes and rivers meeting on Friday, July 11th, an update on enhanced wakesurfing, VCLRA's Northwoods Businesses for Clean Water (NBCW) initiative, celebrating our night skies and more…
VCLRA’s Winter 24-25 newsletter is out!
Read about our revised membership process, a new state-wide coalition on wake boats, climate change, Blue Heron award recipients and more…
Happy Holidays
This holiday season, we are grateful for your steadfast trust, collaboration and support of VCLRA as we celebrate another remarkable year.It has meant so much to have you as an…
Video and photos from 2024 six-county meeting
Missed our 2024 Northwoods Six-County Lakes and Rivers Meeting in July? No problem — view the video plus event photos online.
Our Summer newsletter is out!
IN THIS ISSUE: News about the the July 12th six-county lakes and rivers conference, impacts on walleye fisheries from climate change, an update on the citizen resolutions to regulate wake boats, more.
Wakeboats now regulated in Vermont; WI overwhelmingly favors restrictions in WCC poll
Vermont’s new wakeboat regulations are now in effect. Here in Wisconsin, participants in the annual poll by the Wisconsin Conservation Congress overwhelmingly supported statewide restrictions on wakeboats and the regulation of ballasted wakesports.
Annual Spring Hearing and Public Input Opportunity: Wakesurfing
The Wisconsin Conservation Congress (WCC) and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will once again offer their annual opportunity for the public to provide input on a variety of questions, including wake boat regulation, online starting at noon April 10 to noon on April 13, 2024.
Six-County Lakes Meeting: FINAL UPDATE
“Protecting Our Waters: We’re All Connected” is the theme for the annual Northwoods Six-County Lakes Meeting, set for Friday, July 12, at Nicolet College. The program will include discussion on the connections among water resources and the people who use them, along with presentations on the impacts of climate change.
Northwoods Six-County Lakes Meeting Set for July 12, 2024
“Protecting Our Waters: We’re All Connected” is the theme for the annual Northwoods Six-County Lakes Meeting, set for Friday, July 12, at Nicolet College. The program will include discussion on the connections among water resources and the people who use them, along with presentations on the impacts of climate change.
VCLRA’s 2024 winter newsletter available
Celebrating 30 years of protecting our Vilas waters, Wakesurfing legislation; Vilas short-term rental ordinance; Northern Lakes Toolbox; How trees benefit lakes; Blue Heron Award and more!
Happy Holidays from VCLRA
We've worked tirelessly this year on a number of issues impacting our lakes; achieved a substantial increase in outreach to our lake families and organizations through our web and print communications; saw a record level of
Vilas County passes zoning ordinance regulating tourist rooming houses
The Vilas County Tourist Rooming House Ordinance passed with a unanimous vote last week.
Wakesurfing regulators host public input sessions Nov. 13
Rep. Rob Swearingen and Sen. Mary Felzkowski, who have drafted wakesurfing legislation as reported in our earlier posts, will be hosting listening sessions on Monday, Nov. 13 to hear public input.
UPDATE from Wisconsin Lakes on wakeboat legislation
Wisconsin Lakes released this ACTION ALERT yesterday regarding regarding the proposed wakesport bill LRB-3518
SOAR Wisconsin River Cleanup
A dozen students and teachers from the SOAR Charter High School participated in a river cleanup along a stretch of the Wisconsin River in Eagle River. Wildwood Outdoor Adventures graciously provided about a dozen canoes and kayaks, paddles and life vests for the event.
Rushed legislation on wakeboats under consideration
State-wide legislation regulating wakesurfing with simply a 200-foot minimum distance from shore criterion for wake boats is under consideration. This would be an attempt to preempt research and discussion by all stakeholders, which has been underway here in Wisconsin and in several other states.
2023 Six-County Lakes and Rivers Meeting Video
View the video recording of the 2023 Northwoods six-county lakes and rivers meeting, which featured a balance of learning and discussion of key issues affecting our lakes and rivers.
2023 VCLRA Summer Newsletter
News about the the July 14th six-county lakes and rivers conference featuring a panel on law-enforcement challenges affecting the health and enjoyment of our lakes; update on wake boat resolutions and more!
2023 6-county lakes & rivers workshop
REVISED: This year's 6-county lakes & rivers meeting will take place on July 14th and include updates on Wisconsin legislation, invasives and other issues of interest to our lake community, plus highlight the role of law enforcement on maintaining the health and enjoyment of our Northwoods lakes and rivers.
WCC Spring Hearing accepting input on regulating wake surfing
VCLRA is again requesting your input to the 2023 Wisconsin Conservation Congress Annual Spring Hearing on REGULATING WAKE SURFING ON WISCONSIN LAKES AND RIVERS. Input can be provided online from noon April 10 to noon April 13.
Vilas County Local Regulation of Hazardous Wakes Workshop
If your town is considering a hazardous wake ordinance, you may want to attend this workshop at the Boulder Junction Community Center on March 8, 2023. The purpose of this workshop is to offer guidance on how to regulate hazardous wakes through local ordinances.
Winter 2022-23 newsletter available
Our Winter 2022-2023 newsletter is available. Read about Hazardous Wake Issues, Blue Heron Stewardship awards, AIS prevention and much more…
Happy Holidays!
As we bring 2022 to a close, I am deeply grateful for the work we've accomplished together to protect the beautiful lakes and waterways of Vilas County...
Wake Boats a hot topic at Wisconsin NRB
Last week, the Wisconsin Natural Resource Board met to examine the issues surrounding wake boats to look at actions, including new laws, to address the issues.
2022 Six-County Lakes & Rivers Conference Presentations
View the presentations from our most recent multi-county lakes & Rivers Conference
Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels.com
Spring 2022 newsletter available
Check out our latest newsletter. Learn about our upcoming, 2022 Northwoods Six-County Lakes & Rivers Conference (which incorporates our VCLRA annual meeting) on July 15th at Nicolet College, which returns…
Regulation of wake boats: an opportunity to provide input to state regulators
The public has an opportunity to influence state regulations through the 2022 Spring Hearing online input sponsored by The Wisconsin Conservation Congress (WCC), which is a liaison between the citizens of Wisconsin, the Natural Resources Board (NRB) and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Its purpose is to provide an avenue for public input and exchange concerning conservation issues in Wisconsin. Pending approval by the Wisconsin Legislature, what started as a Citizen Resolution can become a Wisconsin rule/law. To that end, WCC has submitted several proposed Citizen Resolution questions for Vilas County and Dane county. If these resolution questions pass the first step, they will follow the process toward a hazardous wake resolution at the state level. If successful, current State boating regulations and statutes could be changed to regulate wake boats.
2022 Six-County Lakes & Rivers Conference
Lake group leaders and members from six northern Wisconsin counties will convene for a discussion of the environmental impacts of wakeboats and other issues related lake recreational capacity on Friday, July 15th, and will return to an in-person event.
Winter 2021-2022 Newsletter available
Happy New Year! Our Winter 2021-2022 newsletter is available online (members who get print copies will get these by mail in a few weeks). Read about Wake Boats, the Northwoods…
Science on Tap: Using Science to Wrangle AIS
Wednesday, January 5, 2022 6:30 pm —
Live Event – Oakfire Pizza, Minocqua
UPDATE — due to Covid this is now a remote event.
Visit http://www.scienceontapminocqua.org/ to connect.
Michelle Nault is the statewide lakes and reservoir ecologist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Bureau of Water Quality and is responsible for providing technical guidance to a wide variety of lake management and restoration efforts. Michelle will discuss how the DNR and its partners use science to deal with these troubling aquatic invasive species.
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2021 Six County Lakes & Rivers Conference Video
View all presentations from the 2021 six-county lakes and rivers conference, which was hosted by Vilas and Oneida County Lakes and Rivers Associations on July 16th 2021. Attendees were invited from Oneida, Vilas, Forest, Langlade, Iron and Lincoln counties. Pat Goggin, lake specialist at the UW Extension Lakes, was the conference leader. Climate change, high water, development, and less state protections can all impact water quality in the Northwoods and were some of the topics addressed during the meeting by lake leaders and experts from Wisconsin and Minnesota.
2021 Spring newsletter available
In addition to our online (blog) Article and News items, VCLRA publishes 2 print newsletters per year that are mailed to members (unless a member requests digital only). The 2021…
2021 Multi-county Lakes Workshop
Vilas and Oneida County Lakes and Rivers Associations will again co-host a multi-county lakes workshop on July 16th 2021 at 9am-1pm. Climate change, high water, development, and less state protections can all impact water quality in the Northwoods and will be addressed during the meeting.
Our January 2021 newsletter is out!
Happy New Year! Our January/winter 2021 newsletter is available. Read about Lakes in the Time of Covid, the Northwoods Businesses for Clean Waters Program, and more.
Happy Holidays!
Finally we can say goodbye to 2020! Each of us faced unprecedented challenges that truly reshaped our focus and priorities.
Six County Lakes & Rivers Conference Video
Our June 2020 newsletter is available
Our latest newsletter (June 2020) is now available. It is notable for being the first newsletter published since the Covid-19 outbreak. Our board continues to work remotely on the issues…
Six-county lakes & rivers meeting agenda
Lake advocates and lake lovers from six northern Wisconsin counties are invited to an online discussion by Zoom video-conferencing of issues related to lake quality and protection on Friday, July 10. The live discussion, from 9 a.m. to 1 pm, will explore ways to encourage lake property owners to follow lake-friendly and environmentally responsible practices. Speakers will emphasize outreach to property owners as a way to advance natural shorelines and water-quality protection. Immediately following the multi-county lakes online meeting, both Vilas County Lakes and Rivers Association (VCLRA) and Oneida County Lakes and Rivers Association (OCLRA) will hold their annual board meetings in separate, virtual “breakout rooms” online.
(c) T F Ewing
Note from the President
The corona virus (Covid-19) has created an unprecedented global health and economic crisis. In this moment in time, we have in common with all other people on our planet the same fear, anxiety and stress over its impacts on the health of our family and friends, as well as its consequences for our society and economy.
Yet I look out the window and see an entirely peaceful and calming scene, seemingly detached from the human toll worldwide. It is amazing to look at our lakes and their natural surroundings and see that the natural world does not appear to have noticed our crisis or been impacted at all. Well, the skies are maybe a little clearer. (more…)