Interpretive Master Plan for Fox-Wisconsin Heritage Parkway VOLUME 1 Executive Summary Submitted to the: By: Fox-Wisconsin Heritage Parkway Interpretive Solutions, Inc. P.O. Box 204 732 Westbourne Road Kimberly, WI 54136 West Chester, PA 19382 In association with: Cornerstone Preservation, LLC Cross Plains, WI 53528 Ken Saiki Design Madison, WI 53703 HYDesign DECEMBER 2012 Wycko , NJ 07481 Interpretive Master Plan (IMP) Fox-Wisconsin Heritage Parkway Volume 1: Executive Summary Table of Contents Preface 1.1 Introduction: The Fox-Wisconsin Heritage Parkway………………………. 3 1.1.1 Purpose, mission, vision 1.1.2 What’s an Interpretive Master Plan? 1.1.3 What’s the purpose of interpretation? 1.1.4 What are the goals for the plan? 1.1.5 Who’s the plan for? 1.1.6 What will people do in the Parkway? 1.2 What’s so special about this place? ………………………………………….. 11 1.3 Our Themes and Stories……………………………………………………… 14 1.4 What’s in the plan? ………………………………………………………….. 21 1.4.1 What’s in it for everybody? 1.4.2 What’s in it for the Lower Fox River? 1.4.3 What’s in it for the Upper Fox River and the Pool Lakes? 1.4.4 What’s in it for the Lower Wisconsin River? 1.5 How will we know it’s working? …………………………………………… 36 1.6 Implementation Plan, Years 1-10 …………………………………………. 36 1.6.1 Personnel 1.6.2 Priorities 1.6.3 Action Steps Year-By-Year List of figures Figure 1: Map of Fox-Wisconsin Heritage Parkway Figure 2: Fox-Wisconsin Heritage Parkway Primary Interpretive Themes 1 1910 Statue of Father Marquette, facing the Mississippi in Prairie du Chien 2 Preface In August, 2011, the Fox-Wisconsin Heritage Parkway embarked on a journey of discovery – to investigate and understand its stories, and to find effective ways to convey them. Like the journey that inspired the birth of the Parkway – that of Father Marquette and Louis Joliet in 1673 – the full consequences of the journey may not be recognized for years. This Interpretive Master Plan articulates the significance of the Parkway. It identifies its essential stories, along with the needs and wishes of the audiences who will respond to them. Its recommendations cover interpretive services and programs; media; vital partnerships; and special projects for all three river segments. Some of the recommendations will be implemented within the next few years, while others involve long-range planning and a strategic approach to the future. With this initial planning phase complete, the Parkway can look forward to many opportunities to share the meaning and significance of the themes and stories that make this unique landscape and its people so distinctive, and so compelling. 1.1 Introduction: The Fox-Wisconsin Heritage Parkway The Fox-Wisconsin Heritage Parkway (Parkway) is an idea, a vision, a present-day concept, and a plan for the future. It has been in the works at least since 1989, when a group of citizens and organizations, including the Wisconsin Department of Tourism, Friends of the Fox, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, began to imagine a corridor running the length of two rivers—the Upper and Lower Fox River (and the Winnebago Pool Lakes that join them), and the Lower Wisconsin River—that would showcase the rich natural and cultural heritage embodied by this historic waterway, and highlight and promote it as an outstanding destination for tourism and recreation on land and water. Stretching more than 280 miles from the Bay of Green Bay in the north, to the Mississippi River in the south, the Parkway follows the historic route of the1673 journey of Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet as they became the first white men to encounter that great river from the north. In so doing, they forged a link between the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico, and opened the interior of the North American continent to the possibility of settlement and trade. The Fox-Wisconsin Heritage Parkway is a community-based, volunteer-driven 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to creating opportunities for promotion, interpretation, and celebration of an important Wisconsin resource. It seeks to be a synergist and a catalyst that will strengthen opportunities for residents and visitors to appreciate and enjoy these rivers and all they have to offer. The three river segments that make up the Fox-Wisconsin Heritage Parkway include the Lower Fox River, the Upper Fox River and Winnebago Pool Lakes, and the Lower Wisconsin River. The three river segments are quite different in character, culture, 3 history, and landscape. The Lower Fox is heavily industrialized, the Upper Fox meanders through once-bustling towns, at times becoming a marshy expanse that has confused the most intrepid way finders, and the Lower Wisconsin is a shallow, mostly unencumbered scenic river, whose drifting, constantly changing sandbars ultimately prevented its status as a prime transportation route in the Midwest. Connecting the two is “The Portage,” a human gateway more than 10,000 years old, where a walk of just 2,700 paces (per Fr. Marquette) bridges two watersheds and connects the Great Lakes Basin to the Gulf of Mexico. The historic, only partially restored Portage Canal now links the two, crossing the St. Lawrence River Continental Divide. The Portage Canal Heritage assets in the Parkway include 71 National Register of Historic Places sites, 25 National Register of Historic Places Districts, and ten National Historic Landmarks. The sites range from Frank Lloyd Wright’s famous Taliesin; to Aldo Leopold’s humble but iconic “Shack;” to Hearthstone, the nation’s first house lit by hydroelectricity; to Historic Indian Agency House, made famous by Juliette Kinzie’s account of life there on the Wisconsin frontier; to John Muir’s Fountain Lake Farm. There is something for every heritage tourist, from Villa Louis in Prairie du Chien to the Neville Museum in Green Bay. The Parkway is equally rich in natural areas. There is one National Wildlife Refuge, and more than 40 state natural areas of various kinds, including the White River Marsh Wildlife Area, where the International Crane Foundation has created a new summer home for whooping cranes. Recreational opportunities abound, with fishing, hiking, biking, paddling, and birding high priorities for lovers of the outdoors. 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