NRB approves revised master plan for Lower Wisconsin State Riverway
ASHLAND, Wis. -- Increased public access, newly designated trails, additional camping opportunities on the Wisconsin River, and lightly developed day use areas are changes that will be coming to the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway<http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/lands/lowerwisconsin/> under a draft master plan and environmental analysis revision approved by the state Natural Resources Board today.
The plan revision also includes an increase of 790 acres in the project boundary, mostly in the area around Black Hawk Ridge with the goal of improving access to the ridgetop day use area.
Master plans for Department of Natural Resource properties establish the level and type of public uses permitted, authorize resource management and the facility development and act as a blueprint for managing properties.
The original plan for the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway was approved by the Natural Resources Board in 1988. The riverway, located in Dane, Sauk, Iowa, Richland, Grant and Crawford counties, includes the lower Wisconsin River from the Prairie du Sac dam to the Mississippi River and approximately 45,000 acres of uplands, wetlands and bluffs.
The draft master plan also includes Tower Hill State Park, which is a 76.5-acre property located in Iowa County near Spring Green, but the plan makes no changes to the project boundary or the acquisition goal for the park.
The department held four public meetings along the Riverway at various phases in the planning process. A combined total of 234 people attended the four meetings and hundreds of comments were submitted in a variety of formats.
The revised master plan is available by searching the DNR website for keywords “master planning<http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/lands/masterplanning/>” and then clicking on the link for the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway<http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/Lands/MasterPlanning/LowerWisconsin/>.