‘Defenders of Devil’s Lake’?

According to an article in the Baraboo News Republic, “A Baraboo woman is leading an effort to oppose potential construction of a new lakefront building at Wisconsin’s most popular (Devil’s Lake) state park.” You can read the article here.

I have always said that I will support a new badly needed educational building when the DNR is able to prove they can afford to maintain the park (IE fix the popular and crumbling east/west bluff trails), manage crowds, protect the environment, the wildlife, and historical assets within the park as was the park’s mandate since 1911. This should all be clearly laid out in the updated master plan.

What’s more, the focus of this new building should be providing education services to the local community and the state, then providing retail services as a source of funding for the primary interpretive functions. That said, we also suggest that to properly serve the whole community and provide a well-rounded education about this part of the state, our neighbors in the Ho-Chunk nation should be involved. It goes without saying that they have a significant stake in what happens on the shores of Devil’s Lake.

Until we can properly maintain and staff the park (Not to mention define what a proper staff size should be and how we retain them to maintain some sort of legacy knowledge base.), a new building becomes a bit of a white elephant. The location (IMO) isn’t an issue until we solve these more basic questions. What are your thoughts?

For more information can also visit the Defenders of Devil’s Lake’s website here.