Last week I gave you a little taste of the natural beauty of where I live in the Minocqua area of Northern Wisconsin. Again, I sit and watch loons and eagles as I write. The other birds carry on a chorus in the background with the frogs chiming in. Nature is almost everywhere.

On a drive through to town the other day I almost hit a bear! In the summer, people come from across the country to enjoy this area because of its natural beauty and the 2,500 lakes that freckle Oneida and Vilas county (just 2 of the 72 counties in Wisconsin). I live in the 3^rd most lake-rich area of the world, and the lakes are fresh and clean because of our natural wooded landscape and the extensive wetlands here.

A Unique Recreational Atmosphere

It’s not all bird watching and canoeing though, people go on pontoon boat cocktail cruises, fish, and waterski. In fact, in my teens I was part of a waterski show that preformed 3 nights a week. So it is the combination of a wilderness feel with recreational atmosphere that people like so much. It is really something you don’t see too many places.

So this is where I live year round, but in the summer we move from our 7-acre off-water property to an island just a quarter mile down the road. The island is very old school, very primitive compared to most places on the lake. There is no landscaping of any kind, no lawns, just natural shoreline. The primitive condition of the island is why there is so much wildlife here. We have a lot of undeveloped habitat in a natural condition and that is why we have had eagle’s nests, otter’s dens, and even loon’s nests on the island.

Three Pieces of Habitat

What a lot of people don’t understand about habitat is there are sort of three big pieces to it. The first is just sheer volume of habitat. The more the merrier. The second is the less fragmented, the better. That means the less the habitat is cut into smaller pieces by roads, towns, gravel pits, etc. the better. The third, and this is where we as land owners usually screw up, is that structure is really important. Structure is like the furniture in a room. You could have a dance hall worth of space but without some furniture it won’t be fun to hang out in very long. So with habitat, you need layers going from the ground up to the tree tops. Things like rotting logs on the ground, rocks, bushes, brush piles, trees, standing dead trees, all add to the quality of habitat. Fishermen get this and that is why they fish by weed beds, coral reefs, logs in the water, and when all else fails they make fish cribs and add them to the water. Structure is really important.

When it comes to structure, humans often have a hard time with it. We find it messy and we clean it up, we clear it. I am guilty of this too, and as a horse person, I have a far reaching impact on with regards to  the extent I clear land (although I don’t have any real pasture and my horses do have to live in the woods). However, we do plant lawns and clear brush. The point I am trying to make is, what you do on the land matters, and around our houses we tend to simplify habitat.

Changes to Zoning Laws

So recently many of the laws have changed in Wisconsin. We actually passed a law that said that no municipality could have regulations protecting the environment that were more protective than the state standards. That means that a local Northwoods community can do nothing  to decide to protect their lakes from greater development than we see in the City of Milwaukee. That means that municipalities could not restrict mining operations in their small towns if the overall state standards allowed for mining operations. Now, I am all for regulations that allow a lot of flexibility for landowners and where people are not caught in the red tape of bureaucracy every time they want to do something with their land, but an anything-goes policy on land development is dangerous for habitat and things that cannot be replaced disappear quickly.

Last week, our local newspaper, Lakeland Times, ran an article called “The Pendulum Swings” talking about all the changes to shoreland zoning. It basically outlined the anything-goes mentality of the current standards. Ironically, this article was in the outdoors section of the paper with all the cute stories of tourists enjoying nature. To me, it seemed like there should be a call to action to let people realize that our shields are down and the starship is under attack, and it just got me thinking all week long that we may be heading for a bit of trouble.

The Landscape of Being  a Leader

So, I don’t write to promote a political agenda. And, as much as it may seem like it, I am not writing just to vent. I am writing because, sometimes to be a leader means that you need to share your experiences and work to protect others. For years, I studied natural resources. I earned a master’s degree in forestry with a focus on landscape ecology. I worked with wildlife, plant, land-use planning, restoration, endangered species, multiple-use, and I feel I have a deep understanding of what’s at stake with some of these issues. Just like I would look to an economist for economic advice, or an MD for medical advice, I want to share insight on these natural resource issues. So, I am writing today just to encourage everyone to think about what is going on in your community. What sort of demands are we are putting on the natural landscape we live in? Think about how this is affecting habitat. What sort of choices are you making that affect habitat composition and function?

You see, at least around here, nature is not just a splendid backdrop, but the backbone of our tourist-based economy. The choices we make matter. This is true for anyone who breathes air and drinks water. So, this week I ask as you run around enjoying summer, that you take a moment and think about how you are going to be a leader and protect what we love for all of us and future generations. Happy travels.

Keep leading,
Rad