One of the most important assets of Polk County is its water resources. These resources provide us with safe drinking water, recreation, habitat for our wildlife and intrinsic beauty.

As pressure to develop mounts with more people migrating to our area, we must take an active role in protecting our resources. One way a homeowner can do this is to utilize his/her property wisely. If you own shore property, the state mandates that you keep a 35 foot strip of vegetation intact for the use of wildlife and to reduce the pollutants that run off your property into our water resources (including wetlands). Which brings me to my point- if you own shoreline property, there is a responsibility to maintain that wildlife habitat and reduce pollutants. Cost sharing is available to restore and maintain shoreline property. there has been a positive response to this with more than 20 restorations completed already. It's important to remember that 80% of all endangered species spend at least part of their life near the shore in the littoral or shoreland zone.

In order to maintain a level of high water quality we must take initiative to protect and restore it.

For More Information Contact:
Land and Water Resources Dept.
P.O. Box 460
Balsam Lake, WI 54810
Phone: 715-485-8699
Fax: 715-485-8601