Public meeting set on plan to rename a DNR wildlife area
GREEN BAY - Anyone with an interest in the state-managed managed property
called Little Tail Unit - adjacent to the Little Tail Point peninsula, three
miles north of Suamico - is invited to a public meeting on a proposed name
change.
Little Tail Point is privately owned. The owners have asked the Department
of Natural Resources to change the name of Little Tail Unit to avoid
confusion between the public and private lands. DNR staff has proposed
renaming the state managed property "Bayside Road Unit."
The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 17, at the DNR service
center at 2984 Shawano Ave., Green Bay.
The name-change request came as part of public input during a master
planning process for Green Bay Planning Group properties, including the
Green Bay West Shore Wildlife Area - 11 separate, non-contiguous units
scattered along the west shore in Brown, Oconto and Marinette counties. The
Natural Resources Board, which sets policy for DNR, directed staff to
consider a name change.
The 293-acre Little Tail Unit is located three miles north of Suamico in
Brown County, east of Bayside Road and between Brown Road East to the north
and Norfield Road to the south. Primary recreational uses by the public are
hunting and trapping. Maps of the property can be accessed online at
http://dnr.wi.gov/files/PDF/pubs/lf/LF0075Map_K.pdf.
Immediately to the east lies Little Tail Point - a long, narrow peninsula
extending southeast into the bay. Little Tail Point is privately owned and
is used primarily for waterfowl hunting. Its owners have said the nearly
identical name creates a presumption by the public that the point itself is
public land, leading to routine trespass problems.
Some opposition to the name change surfaced during the master plan process
and so DNR staff is providing this additional opportunity for public input.
Questions about the meeting or the property can be directed to DNR wildlife
supervisor Jeff Pritzl at 920-662-5127.