Board considering changes to lake trout harvest rules

The Natural Resources Board will take up a pair of lake trout rules, vote on master plans for two state properties and hear a report on the 2016 Wisconsin gun deer season at its Dec. 14 meeting in Madison.

In the first lake trout item, the Department of Natural Resources seeks to add protections for the species in Lake Superior.

Harvest by various user groups has resulted in a decline of lake trout abundance in the Wisconsin waters of Lake Superior, according to the agency, and reductions by all parties are “required to ensure a sustainable fishery over the long term.”

The proposed rule would lower the daily bag limit to two fish (it is currently three) in waters east of Bark Point, an area known as management zone WI-2. In addition, if anglers during the 2016-’17 season catch 7,350 lake trout in WI-2, the bag limit will be dropped to zero. The DNR will monitor the harvest through creel surveys.

The rule includes proposals for changes to Lake Superior commercial fishing harvest quotas and rules, including prohibiting fishing in the Gull Island Refuge and opening it in the Hagen’s Beach area.

The board also will hear a lake trout rule designed to have the opposite effect on Lake Michigan. The DNR will present an emergency rule to increase the lake trout daily bag limit to an unspecified number (it is currently two), create a yearlong season and open the mid-lake refuge for a nine-month season.

At meetings last summer to discuss stocking reductions in Lake Michigan, anglers expressed support for increased lake trout harvest on Lake Michigan as a means of reducing pressure on the lake’s recordlow forage base.

The NRB is also scheduled to vote on master plans for Sauk Prairie State Recreation Area and Powell Marsh State Wildlife Area.

The Sauk Prairie plan has been in the works for more than three years. The 3,385-acre property, which lies south of Devil’s Lake State Park between Sauk City and Baraboo, comprises roughly onehalf of the former Badger Army Ammunition Plant.

It came to state ownership through the National Park Service’s Federal Lands to Parks program following the formal decommissioning of the property.

The DNR would like to restore large blocks of prairie and oak savanna on the property. Recreational uses planned include hunting, hiking, horseback riding and mountain biking, as well as “structured opportunities” for motorized use, dog training and rocketry.

Powell Marsh is a 4,850-acre property near Manitowish Waters in Vilas County. The DNR’s plan maintains the amount and types of habitat on the wildlife area, but adds hiking and disabled-accessible trails, watercraft access and educational features.

In addition, the board will hear a summary of the 2016 gun deer season that ran Nov. 19-27.

The NRB is the sevenmember citizen body that oversees the DNR. Its members are volunteers who are appointed by the governor.

Board meetings are open to the public as well as broadcast live on the internet.

Members of the public must preregister with Laurie Ross, board liaison, to testify at a board meeting. The deadline to register to testify or submit written comments for the meeting is 11 a.m. Friday. Registration information is listed at