The Wild Lakes Program

Program Objectives

Wild lakes in Wisconsin are rapidly disappearing due to development. The purpose of the Wild Lakes Program is to protect and preserve high quality endangered wild lakes. The goals of the program are achieved through the use of easements and land acquisition.

For the purposes of the Stewardship program, a “wild lake” is defined as:

A lake or flowage of at least 5 acres, or significant portions thereof, identified in the Wisconsin registrar of waterbodies, where human influence, such as structural development of its shorelands, is not significant or can be removed at costs deemed warranted by the DNR.

Grant Criteria

The DNR shall consider the following factors when evaluating wild lake projects, not listed in priority order:

• Existence of no or low levels of structural development on adjacent shoreland
• Lake or flowage has larger surface area
• The extent to which water quality and fish and wildlife habitat are threatened by development
• The extent to which the lake provides habitat for rare species or harbors high quality natural communities
• The extent to which the lake provides quality habitat for fish and wildlife
• The extent to which threats to water quality and fish and wildlife habitat can be protected through acquisition of property as determined by the percent of the lake’s shoreline or watershed captured by the acquisition
• Degree to which the acquisition reduces fragmentation of terrestrial or aquatic habitat as evidenced by the proximity to other public lands, clusters of lakes and linkages to other surface waters
• Other unique features, including but not limited to, natural scenic beauty, archeological, geological, or cultural features