Reduction in and/or Denial of Lake Access Issues

There is a concerted effort to limit public access to the lakes that they own. In addition, the DNR is no longer enforcing the code that says that lake property owners may not have more than 2 boats docked per 100 feet of frontage.

Last night the Big Cedar Lake Protection and Rehabilitation District vote 3-2 to close the boat launches once all parking spaces were filled.   This is the recording.

The vote is at 14 minutes

They said their ordinance is based upon an ordinance from Pine Lake in Chenequa.

It was also brought up that similar access lawsuit from the Lake Geneva area went to the supreme court where the closing of the boat launches was deemed unconsitutional.  

The fishing public needs to know about these kinds of rules and this is probably a good place to start that discussion.

Stopped by a small lake today that has a DNR and county launch on it. The lake is under 100 acres and has 8 boat trailer parking places and parking for 10 additional cars, or trucks. So why does the DNR dictate one trailer parking space per twenty-five acres of water on BC?

It seems to me that the DNR needs to come up with a plan to audit the number of lake residents boats. In an earlier post I suggested that they give the property owners stickers for their boats based on the lake frontage that they own.

As long as the lake association controls the parking, that will never be increased, but reducing traffic on the lake will make it much better for those that are awarded a parking place.

Three new lake patrol officers have been hired, so the shutdown of the launch when the lot is full is almost here.

I was just thinking, what about the people who live on the island?   If they come out and want to launch to get out to their house on the island. Will they get right of passage from the commissioner? I think there are three islands with houses on them.

Totally agree with you Tuffy2 , myself have known for quite a few years now that you don't go to big cedar on a weekend unless you plan on fishing late in the afternoon when most of the ski and party boats are leaving because of the no wake rule. During the week it's usually not bad at all. But since I rather fish late afternoon to evening hours on most of the lakes I fish , I don't have that many issues . 

I drove by the parking lot/launch today. Three vehicles in the lot. Fish during the week and give the lake to the crazies on the weekend. Actually if you think about it, if fishermen don’t take up any of parking places on the weekend, the crazies will fill those thirty-four spots.

The ordinance and enforcment of it has been posted to the Big Cedar Lake PRD Facebook page. There is room for commentary and you can review the district using facebook. I don't really think they will care, but it's legal and it lets them know how you feel.

But don't litter. It is important that any resistance stays legal. I am also strongly against putting the phone numbers of the commissioners on a public site like this. People can find them online if they need to.  

The passion for lake access is real. It needs to be channeled into positive actions, not negative actions. The person who collected her papers instead of disregarding an officer did the right thing. Save your money, don't get put into a situation where you get a ticket or lose legal standing. Money that would have been spent on tickets could go toward retaining a lawyer.

As much as it goes against everything I was taught as a child, in this case just throw them on the ground. They will probably hire someone for $10 a hour to pick them up. LOL

Apparently it is not legal to put pamphlets on cars windshields at the boat launch, or anywhere else in Wisconsin.

Good information to know. I only wish it was illegal for someone to drive around in a van and throw yellow pages phone books in my ditch 3 times per year!!

A good approach would be to join the Big Cedar Lake Public Boaters Facebook Page.

On there you can coordinate your efforts on the real plan in place to reverse this.

The lake patrol guys are just doing their jobs, didn't make the rule, and might not even agree with the rule, so whatever you do, don't make their job tougher.

There are proper legal channels that are being explored. The three commissioners opened a big can of worms for themselves and there are some very motivated, and politically connected young folks who have the energy to take them on. Give them your energy and support.

And the commissioners might win. But it won't be because one man's legal opinion thought this was OK.

I’m sure that there are many very nice people that have property on BC, however, this is a classic case of how a few people can cast a bad image on all the residents.

I have not fished this lake for years due to the water activities. I really never felt safe there. I agree with Chemist, that the money would be much better spent by policing the water for safety reasons.

In addition to safety issues, I know that the quality of the fishing has really suffered. There used to be beautiful defined weed lines to fish, now you have floating string weeds from the weed cutters all over the lake. The bays where we used to fish the piers are now barren from any weed growth, which has them barren of any fish. My guess is that the property owners either kill off the weeds by poisoning them intentionally, or by run-off from their lawn weed killer.

I would not want to live in close proximity to BC due to the large property taxes. I live in a beautiful area with great views, quiet, and I have five or six lakes that I can have my boat in within less than thirty minutes. During the week there are day’s that I’m the only boat out there.

 They can keep THEIR lake. I think that it would be good for all fishermen to stay off BC on weekends and holidays to leave those parking places for big waterski boats and other fast, noisy, obnoxious people. Give the few of them elites a taste of what they fear the most.