Sawyer County committee approves notification for 2027–2036 Land and Water Resource Management Plan, schedules public hearing

The Sawyer County Land, Water, and Forest Resources Committee approved a notification form Tuesday to send the draft 2027–2036 Land and Water Resource Management Plan to DACAP and scheduled a public hearing for next month.

Committee members were presented with the draft plan, a summary PowerPoint and a questionnaire intended to gather public feedback before the formal public hearing. Natalie Erler and Tim Seidel of the county conservation staff walked the committee through the plan’s goals, accomplishments from the prior five years and implementation priorities.

Staff told the committee the plan is required under Wisconsin’s Chapter 92 state statute and must be approved by DACAP to make the county eligible for cost-share grant funding and to support positions funded through that program. The presentation listed six primary goals, including reducing agricultural nonpoint source pollution, protecting and restoring shoreline structure and function, and controlling invasive species, and several secondary goals such as reducing soil erosion from private forest road building and improving outreach to private forestry landowners.

The draft highlighted recent accomplishments: one agricultural cost-share project and 11 stream-bank or shoreline protection projects over the last five years, totaling 1,867 linear feet of shoreline protection. Total project costs over the past five years were listed at $176,123, with $89,540 covered by cost-share funds. Staff said demand for shoreline projects exceeds available funding and that climate-related declines in winter ice have delayed some winter haul-in projects, resulting in project carryovers and extensions.

Resident Linda Zilmer urged the committee to ensure the plan’s outreach and accessibility to the public and to incorporate work on groundwater and stormwater where applicable. Committee members discussed whether to include a planned groundwater study into the plan; staff said the geological survey is budgeted for 2026 and any survey results would be incorporated in a future (five-year) update once data are available.

Conservation staff also described implementation items that will accompany the plan, including continued emphasis on nutrient management plans for farms, shoreline grading permits for disturbed slopes in excess of 10,000 square feet, and a proposed native-plant sale to complement the county’s 30-year tree sale.

After questions and brief discussion, a committee member moved and a second was given to approve the notification form and set the public hearing. The motion passed by voice vote. The plan will be submitted as a draft to DACAP for comment and, if recommended, later presented to the Land and Water Conservation Board and the county for final acceptance.

The committee noted that the draft is condensed to a four-page notification submittal and that the public may still provide additional comments at the scheduled hearing.

Any substantive updates received following the public hearing will be reviewed by staff and returned to DACAP as part of finalization.