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…
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.
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.
I read the Winter 2021-22 Newsletter article regarding Wake Boats. [See page 6 of the winter newsletter.] It may be of interest to readers to know WI currently has State Statutes which offer some relief from documented wake boat damage.
(more…)
The Vilas County Youth Conservation Poster Contest is held annually to promote youth awareness of local land and water conservation issues. Vilas County Land & Water staff partner with teachers, home schoolers, and other educators to offer lessons that meet academics standards. This year Land & Water staff were able to go into classrooms with soil samples and vegetables to teach the theme of “Healthy Soil: Healthy Life”.
(more…)
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…
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.
(more…)
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.
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…
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.
The Vilas County Youth Conservation Poster Contest is held annually to promote youth awareness of local land and water conservation issues. This year’s theme was “Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities,” and the winning poster was created by Izabella Mitchell. Her entry will next compete with nine other county winners in WI.
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.
Finally we can say goodbye to 2020! Each of us faced unprecedented challenges that truly reshaped our focus and priorities.
The Vilas County Lakes and Rivers Association (VCLRA) awarded our Blue Heron Shoreland Stewardship Award to Debbie Millar of Ballard Lake for restoration completed on her lakefront property. This award was presented at our “Celebrate the Lakes Day” on July 10, 2020 via Zoom Conference Call. Congratulations to Debbie Millar!
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…
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…)
On March 20, 2020, the Vilas County Public Health Official declared that a Public Health Emergency exists in Vilas County. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the national spread of the COVID-19 virus, Vilas County Government issued the following inter-county Travel Advisory. It urged seasonal or second home owners to stay away from the area due to high community transmission in outside areas. It also noted the very limited healthcare infrastructure in Vilas County and the high population of older adults that are most vulnerable as other factors for issuing the advisory.
Focusing on Resilient Lakes and Rivers is the theme for this year's annual Lakes & River Convention, which will be held on April 1-3 at the Holiday Inn Convention Center in Stevens Point. For the first time, the lakes focus of this annual event has been broadened to include rivers and streams...
This year, we are pleased to recognize Northland Pines High School senior Noah Miller as our 2019 VCLRA scholarship award recipient.
As a follow up to investigations into the economic value of waterfront properties in Oneida and Vilas Counties, researchers from UW-Eau Claire, researched the link between water clarity and the sale prices of waterfront homes.