Wolf River Basin

Description

Wolf River Wetlands

Wolf River Wetlands, WDNR Photo

About the Basin

The Wolf River basin lies in northern and central Wisconsin and drains 3,690 square miles. It includes all of Waupaca County and parts of Forest, Langlade, Marathon, Menominee, Oneida, Outagamie, Portage, Shawano, Waupaca, Waushara and Winnebago Counties. Almost the entire 233,384-acre Menominee Indian Reservation (Menominee County) is within the basin. A portion of the 655,000-acre Nicolet National Forest extends into the northern part.

Basin Resources

The Wolf River basin is bordered by the Upper Green Bay basin to the north and east, the Upper Wisconsin River basin to the west, and the Upper Fox River basin to the south. The basin includes the entire Wolf River, which flows in a southerly direction until it joins the Upper Fox River just above the Lake Winnebago Pool lakes.

The basin lies in portions of the Northern Lakes and Forests and the North Central Hardwood Forests Ecoregions (Omernik and Gallant, 1988). Predominant land uses are agricultural -- dairy, cash-cropping -- and forestry. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources owns and manages more than 50,000 acres of public conservation and recreation lands in the basin, including natural areas, state parks, fisheries access areas and wildlife management areas (WDNR, 1994). Urban development is limited primarily to the Clintonville, New London, Shawano and Waupaca areas. Most of the counties in the basin have had moderate (< 3 percent) population growth since 1990 (WDOA 1994).

Much of the basin's economy is based on tourism. In 1993, more than $399.5 million in income was generated from tourism (Walters, 1994). Tourism likely created more than 10,500 full-time equivalent jobs here in 1993. (Davidson-Peterson Associates, 1994). The basin's water resources provide numerous recreational opportunities and are a major component of the tourism industry.

View Map

Watersheds, Waters

Click the links below to find water resource information for specific watersheds and their waters.

Watershed Name/View Details	Watershed Code/Map	Watershed Size	Lists (Streams, Lakes, Bays & Harbors)	Counties	Water Management Unit (WMU)	Major Drainage System
Arrowhead River and Daggets Creek	WR01	142.91 mi 2	WR01 Water Lists	Outagamie, Waupaca, Winnebago	Wolf River	Lake Michigan
Lily River	WR19	209.47 mi 2	WR19 Water Lists	Forest, Langlade	Wolf River	Lake Michigan
Lower Little Wolf River	WR06	153.6 mi 2	WR06 Water Lists	Waupaca	Wolf River	Lake Michigan
Lower Wolf River	WR04	119.95 mi 2	WR04 Water Lists	Outagamie, Waupaca, Winnebago	Wolf River	Lake Michigan
Middle Wolf River	WR14	133.78 mi 2	WR14 Water Lists	Outagamie, Shawano, Waupaca	Wolf River	Lake Michigan
Middle and South Branches Embarrass Rive	WR11	250.01 mi 2	WR11 Water Lists	Langlade, Marathon, Shawano	Wolf River	Lake Michigan
North Branch and Mainstem Embarrass Rive	WR09	312.62 mi 2	WR09 Water Lists	Outagamie, Shawano, Waupaca	Wolf River	Lake Michigan
Pigeon River	WR10	116.32 mi 2	WR10 Water Lists	Shawano, Waupaca	Wolf River	Lake Michigan
Pine and Willow Rivers	WR02	302.08 mi 2	WR02 Water Lists	Waupaca, Waushara, Winnebago	Wolf River	Lake Michigan
Red River	WR16	207.12 mi 2	WR16 Water Lists	Langlade, Menominee, Shawano	Wolf River	Lake Michigan
Shawano Lake	WR15	71.16 mi 2	WR15 Water Lists	Menominee, Oconto, Shawano	Wolf River	Lake Michigan
Shioc River	WR13	189.76 mi 2	WR13 Water Lists	Outagamie, Shawano	Wolf River	Lake Michigan
South Branch Little Wolf River	WR08	160.29 mi 2	WR08 Water Lists	Portage, Waupaca	Wolf River	Lake Michigan
Upper Little Wolf River	WR07	182.05 mi 2	WR07 Water Lists	Marathon, Portage, Shawano, Waupaca	Wolf River	Lake Michigan
Upper Wolf River and Post Lake	WR20	203.31 mi 2	WR20 Water Lists	Forest, Langlade, Oneida	Wolf River	Lake Michigan
Walla Walla and Alder Creeks	WR03	112.09 mi 2	WR03 Water Lists	Waupaca, Waushara, Winnebago	Wolf River	Lake Michigan
Waupaca River	WR05	290.77 mi 2	WR05 Water Lists	Portage, Waupaca, Waushara	Wolf River	Lake Michigan
West Branch Wolf River	WR17	266.11 mi 2	WR17 Water Lists	Langlade, Menominee, Shawano	Wolf River	Lake Michigan
Wolf River - Langlade and Evergreen Rive	WR18	179.74 mi 2	WR18 Water Lists	Langlade, Menominee, Oconto	Wolf River	Lake Michigan
Wolf River - New London and Bear Creek	WR12	142.49 mi 2	WR12 Water Lists	Outagamie, Waupaca	Wolf River	Lake Michigan

Projects

Reports

Monitoring Stations (hint: Choose watershed, click "Create Report")
ORW/ERW Waters
Impaired Waters (hint: click "create report")
Trout Waters

Plans

Watershed Plans

One watershed plan has been updated in this basin. This document is an update to the Wolf River Basin Plan. Contact Daniel Helf, Watershed Supervisor for information.