Dear Farmer Smith,

How come it’s so hard to find a large lake that I can run my boat on that’s not way up north?

Thanks in advance, Will Waterski

Dear Will,

It’s been good while since I sat in that little one room schoolhouse that I went to, but let me pull out some basic arithmetic on you.  80% of Wisconsin’s lakes are in the northern part of the state; and, of Wisconsin’s 15,000 lakes, 13,000 are less than fifty surface acres, therefore no-wake lakes.  If I divide the numerator of boatable lakes by the denominator of southern Wisconsin lakes that leaves you with only about 400 lakes that are “not way up north”.

But, you’d better act fast, there’re well over three million people in Chicago and Milwaukee alone, and more than a couple of’em are also looking for lake property

See you on the lake, Farmer Smith

There have long been unsubstantiated rumors of cougar sightings in Wisconsin, ’bar talk’ as the grapevine is know in these parts, but now it is a proven fact.  Sadly, our only cougar crossed the border into Illinois where he met his demise.  Too bad he didn’t take a left at McHenry and head up north.

Here’s a link to the article: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-il-cougarautopsy,0,4441738.story

Here’s an interesting take on the ‘cougar-cide’: http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=746216

And, for some real good info about cougars in Wisconsin browse around the excellent WI DNR site: http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/er/mammals/cougar/index.htm

If and when you get up this way we can’t promise you’ll witness your own cougar sighting, but we’ll give you a good shot at seeing eagles, deer, porcupines, otters, muskrat . . .

If you’ve ever experienced a classic Wisconsin wedding you’ve either witnessed or participated in a polka known as the ‘Chicken Dance’.  While this dance is often seen in other parts of the country, the Chicken Dance is a mandatory ritual of getting hitched in Wisconsin.

If you ever get invited to a wedding in Wisconsin here’s how it goes: Read the rest of this entry »

March 4, 2008 by Mike Walsten, www.agweb.com

Land values roared 22% to 30% across South Dakota in 2007, according to the most recent quarterly survey of agricultural bankers in the state. That eye-blinking surge leads the pack of breath-taking gains reported across the upper Midwest for 2007 by the Federal Reserve Banks of Minneapolis and Chicago. The Fed banks survey ag bankers each quarter, asking them a host of questions concerning ag loans, credit conditions and land values. The most recent survey covers the period ending December 31, 2007.

Values surged 16% across northern Illinois, northern Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin, the region served by the Chicago Fed bank. Lenders responding to the survey noted values rose by 6% in the fourth quarter alone. Leading the Chicago district was Iowa, with bankers there saying values jumped 18% in 2007 and 6% during the fourth quarter. Indiana bankers said values rose 16% while Illinois and Michigan bankers reported a 15% gain in 2007. Wisconsin posted the smallest increase at 11%.

Values exploded 16% to 20% across Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and northwesten Wisconsin, the region served by the Minneapolis Fed bank. The bank says values rose the greatest in South Dakota (up 22% for dryland and 30% for ranchland) and the slowest in Montana, up 5% and 3% respectively.

Read article in it’s original format here:

http://www.agweb.com/Blogs/BlogPost.aspx?PID=89b7b4f0-ae27-4b83-b21c-4e3e44790aec

Just for fun, here are some interesting recreation facts about Wisconsin’s lakes and rivers.