Wisconsin Department Of Natural Resources 2020 Public Access Lands Atlas of Wisconsin A Directory of Places to Explore Wisconsin’s Outdoors A Directory of Places to Explore Wisconsin’s Outdoors — page 1 W elcome to the 2020 Wisconsin Public Access Lands Atlas. Wisconsin Introduction to the Public Access Lands Atlas is home to a wealth of natural resources. This comprehensive guide This atlas, compiled by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), is designed to help you locate and enjoy public lands. With responsible will help you discover some of Wisconsin’s greatest state natural use and management these lands will be available for many generations areas, trails and public access properties along with our forested for a variety of uses. Activities such as berry-picking and wildlife viewing, woods, deep clean lakes and rivers. These are your public lands are free and unregulated. Other activities like deer hunting and wild rice harvesting require a license or permit. and your connection to Wisconsin’s great outdoors. Always read the signs located at public land parking lots, trailheads and This Atlas not only includes State of Wisconsin public DNR lands, boat access sites. Because of changing property conditions, the activities listed on the property signs will be more accurate than static paper but also federal and county owned properties. maps, including this atlas. For more information about access to department land, contact the DNR’s Whether you are looking for a public hunting area, shing spot, hiking customer service center at 1-888-936-7463 or search the department web trail or a quiet place to simply enjoy a family outing, this guide will page at https://dnr.wi.gov. Keyword: Contact help you locate that unique Wisconsin property that helps make our Contact information for other land managing agencies and organizations state a destination trip for all to enjoy. is provided in the back of this atlas. Willow River State Park I hope you enjoy this year’s Atlas and that you take the opportunity to get outdoors. Find your Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program adventure and go wild in Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Legislature created the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program in 1989 to preserve valuable natural areas and wildlife habitat, protect water quality and sheries, and expand opportunities for outdoor recreation. The conservation and recreation goals of the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program are achieved through the acquisition of land and easements, development of recreational facilities and restoration of wildlife habitat. Preston D. Cole The general land acquisition component of the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program is the backbone of DNR Secretary-designee Wisconsin’s public lands program. It provides the funds for all Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources land Funded in part by the Knowles-Nelson acquisition not funded specically by other Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program components. This mandate Stewardship is extensive and includes acquisition in over 500 state park and trail, river and owage, shery, wildlife, and Program forest projects. Copyright © 2020 by Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources dnr.wi.gov Part of the funds from the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program are available each year in the form of grants PUB-LF-076 2020 ISBN-13: 978-0-9912766-3-9 to local units of government and nonprot conservation organizations (NCOs). These grants help fund land acquisition and recreational development statewide. Grants are awarded to expand the State Natural Area This publication complies with s. 23.09165(2)(bc), Wis. Stats. which states that the DNR “...shall make available program, for wildlife habitat protection, riverway and water quality conservation, state trails and acquisition to the public a written directory of all stewardship land that is open for public access...” and “ ...shall be updated at least every 2 years.” of local parks and nature preserves. Lands purchased in part with Stewardship grants are managed for natural resource conservation and nature-based outdoor recreation. They are open to the public, but are owned by the Publication Team: grantees, not the State. This directory includes an index of contact information for the organizations or local Jamie Brud, Jacob Cassidy, Pam Foster Felt, Jim Lemke, Thomas Meyer, Ann Scott, Kathy Shubak, Jamie Touhill governments that own or manage grant-funded Stewardship lands. Graphic Artist: Tingalls Design, LLC Cherish Wisconsin Outdoors Fund The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources provides equal opportunity in its employment, programs, services and As you page through this directory of the many gifts Wisconsin has as a direct result of the Knowles-Nelson functions under an Armative Action Plan. If you have any questions, please write to Chief, Public Civil Rights Oce of Civil Rights–U.S. Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20240 Stewardship Fund, we would like to invite you to learn about an easy way to support habitat management This publication can be made available in alternative formats (large print, Braille, audio tape, etc) upon request. of these special places. Consider for a moment the places that mean Wisconsin to you. The lake where your Please call the Accessibility Coordinator at 608-267-7490. grandfather taught you to sh. The forest you hiked with your family. The elds where you sighted your rst deer or turkey. The state park where you experienced camping for the rst time. How much do these places and memories matter to you? How much do you want them to thrive for your children’s generation... and the one after that? The Cherish Wisconsin Outdoors Fund was created so that we can start now to ensure the future enjoyment of our state’s remarkable natural wonders. When you invest and give to the Fund you help ensure the 1.5 million acres of publicly owned forests, barrens, grasslands, wetlands, streams and lakes in Wisconsin will be cared for today and for generations to come. To help make this eort a success, the DNR has partnered with the Natural Resources Foundation, which will In memory of Steven W. Miller oversee the fund. The purpose of the Cherish Wisconsin Outdoors Fund is to protect, restore and improve habitat DNR Facilities and Lands Bureau Director, 2003-2015 for Wisconsin’s plants and animals. Your donation to the fund will help support our state parks and forests, state wildlife and shing areas, state natural areas, and wild rivers—the places where we create memories. Photo Acknowledgments (clockwise from top left): Lakeshore State Park, Milwaukee--Photo Courtesy of DNR; Kettle Moraine State Forest-Southern Unit, Waukesha County--Photo Courtesy of Thomas Meyer; Capitol Springs Centennial State Park and Recreation Area, Dane County--Photo Courtesy of DNR; To learn more, please visit CherishWisconsin.org or call 866-264-4096. Van Vliet Hemlocks State Natural Area, Vilas County--Photo Courtesy of Thomas Meyer; Public Access Lands Atlas of Wisconsin, 2020 — page 2 A Directory of Places to Explore Wisconsin’s Outdoors — page 3 Using this Atlas Map Legend The Public Access Lands (PAL) atlas is Index Map of Public Access Lands Maps State-Owned Land designed to help you find publicly Township and Range Line accessible land in Wisconsin. In the 1840s, state surveyors created a gridwork to delineate the land of our new Land owned by DNR and 443 444 The atlas consists of four sections: state; this grid is referred to as the Public purchased with money from the 1) Atlas Introduction Land Survey System (PLSS). First-level grid Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund. 440439 442441 2) Legend and Map Index division is the Town (north to south) and 433432 3) 444 Maps Range (west to east). In Wisconsin, Range is Land owned by the state of 436435434 438437 4) Property Index and Contact Info Wisconsin, e.g. Department of Natural split into East and West sectors by the 89th 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 If you are looking for a specific property, meridian (located in the western quarter of Resources, Department of Transportation begin your search with the Map Index the state). or Bureau of Commissioners of Public Land 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 found on the back cover of the atlas or (BCPL). Stewardship funds were not used page 3. Locate the desired property in The crossing of the Town and Range lines to purchase these lands. 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 the Index and use the grid number to creates a Township, which is an area of 384 385 386 get the map page: about 36 square miles. PAL map pages are DNR Easement on Private Land 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 Grid number = Page number. organized by Town/ Range. Map extent is four 366365 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 If you don’t know the property location, townships. Private land on which the DNR holds use the Property Name Index to find the a permanent easement. Stewardship funds 345344343 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 page number(s) on which the property Section Line were used to purchase these easements. 323322321 is found. The second-level division of the PLSS is the 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 Section. There are 36 Sections per Township; Private land on which the DNR holds 320 Atlas Map Caveats 300299 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 Not displayed in the maps are publicly therefore a Section is one square mile.