March 2025: Protecting Lake Katherine: We Are Not Alone

It can feel almost overwhelming some days to think that we as a lake association and shoreline property owners have the responsibility of protecting Lake Katherine. Well, it’s not just overwhelming; it isn’t actually true.

The State of Wisconsin is charged with the responsibility of protecting public waters for everyone's use and enjoyment. The “Public Trust Doctrine”, a body of state constitutional, statutory, administrative and common law, is the basis for regulations to protect lakes. The doctrine provides the foundation for waterway and wetland regulations and county shoreland zoning standards. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is the state agency holding many of the protection responsibilities. Tribes with court-ordered off-reservation treaty rights have an abiding legal interest in the quality of many of Wisconsin’s lakes as well.

From a UW - Stevens Point Publication: “The oldest organizations interested in lake management in Wisconsin are its lake associations. The first association in Wisconsin was organized about 1898. Today, nearly 400 lake associations are in existence. Usually, lake associations are voluntary organizations with members who own land on or near a lake. They can be involved in various levels of lake management activities and vary from well-run lake management groups to loose-knit social groups. Lake associations may operate under diverse titles, but the purpose is normally the same. In most, it is to maintain, protect, and improve the quality of a lake, its fisheries, and its watershed. A lake association can be formed when any number of individuals concerned with lake issues decides to deal with them in an organized manner. Many associations opt to incorporate under Chapter 181 Wisconsin Statutes.”  [The Lake Katherine Association, Inc. was formally incorporated in 1973.]

Lake associations are individual entities not answering to any higher level of organizational structure other than the State itself. However, the amount of scientific, legal, and bureaucratic information as well as the complexity of local to federal government involvement in the protection and management of natural resources associated with lakes (water, invasive species, threatened and endangered species, plants, and shoreline forests) IS overwhelming. If every lake association had to go it alone, few would be able to understand, much less keep up with, all of the information, programs, funding opportunities, and ongoing science. Fortunately, in Wisconsin we have organizations that work at broader levels to support lake associations, and in many cases to partner with them.

Our lake association is most familiar with Oneida County Lakes and River Association (OCLRA), a non-profit organization that has a mission to “...protect and preserve the quality and riparian habitat of the inland waters of Oneida County by serving as an advocate and an information source for, and a communication link among lake and river associations and districts, county and ​local government, and the public.” Rob Hagge had served on the OCLRA Board for a number of years as Treasurer. For the last year plus LKA member Tommy Burrell has graciously stepped in to serve on the OCLRA Board. The spring LKA newsletter has a brief section on OCLRA current news. You can also visit the OLRA website from our own LKA site so that interested members can track current events and learn more about OCLRA activities. Not every county has an OCLRA analog, so we should be thankful for the efforts of volunteers who serve on that Board while concurrently serving on Boards of local associations.

We are doubly fortunate in Wisconsin to have a statewide non-profit organization that supports lake associations. Wisconsin Lakes exists to “...conserve, enhance and restore Wisconsin’s lakes to ensure their sustainability for the benefit and collective use and enjoyment for this and future generations”

From the WL website, “Formed more than 20 years ago following the merger of the Wisconsin Federation of Lakes (the statewide association of lake associations) and the Wisconsin Association of Lake Districts, Wisconsin Lakes works to develop statewide solutions for the challenges faced by our lakes while supporting strong local protection efforts. Our work has centered on legislative advocacy for strong statewide policy on clean water and lake sustainability for future generations, as well as robust education and technical assistance programs for citizens, lake organizations, government officials, and others.

We can all agree our lakes are a precious natural resource and one of Wisconsin’s top attractions. And, with the recent sunset of a long-term contract with the DNR to provide broad technical assistance, we are now entering an exciting new phase of lake advocacy and protection. Our plans include building targeted programs around organization building for lake groups, aquatic invasive species prevention, over-pumping of groundwater, and promotion of practices to improve habitat and shorelands to protect the overall health of lakes. Wisconsin Lakes is working to maximize its impact by amplifying the good work of all of our individual and lake association members.”

Wisconsin Lakes is part of a nationally recognized partnership that has been recognized nationally as a successful model of collaboration, working cooperatively with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR), which supplies technical expertise and regulatory authority, and with the University of Wisconsin-Extension (UWEX), which provides educational materials and programs while Wisconsin Lakes serves as the voice for concerned citizens, communities and lake groups statewide.  You can navigate to the WL website from the LKA site, as well as hear about regular current events from them in our quarterly newsletters.

The Lake Katherine Associations pays annual dues each spring to both OCLRA ($50) and WL ($200) to provide continuing support to further their missions that are like umbrellas over the focus we put on our precious lake. We believe this money (ten annual LKA membership dues) to be well spent.