Ron Larson. Photo: Wisconsin State Journal/John Maniaci

Wisconsin InfoLink is an almanac of Wisconsin facts and resources compiled by Ron Larson. Each week on the WisconsinWatch blog, Larson introduces us to some of these gems.

Summertime is in full swing. Many Wisconsin residents are busy with travel plans, recreational activities and hitting the state’s top tourist hot spots.

Popular Wisconsin destinations for camping, hiking, swimming and picnics are the state parks. Since 1900 when the first state park was established, Interstate Park, people have found the parks to be wonderful summer escapes.

To learn more about Wisconsin State Parks, Wisconsin InfoLink has provided a handy list of all of the parks, complete with contact info and links. A chart is also available providing basic information for each park, such as year established, county location, acreage and annual visitors. The links lead you to additional information on each park.

All of the Wisconsin State Park information is available at your fingertips. Now all need to do is to find your camping gear and pack the cooler.

Ron Larson, a blogger for WisconsinWatch.org and staffer at the Wisconsin Historical Society, spent most of his professional life organizing information and helping reporters find facts and data as the library director at the Wisconsin State Journal and The Capital Times.

Ron Larson. Photo: Wisconsin State Journal/John Maniaci

Wisconsin InfoLink is an almanac of Wisconsin facts and resources compiled by Ron Larson. Each week on the WisconsinWatch blog, Larson introduces us to some of these gems.

Downhill skiing, cross country skiing, ice skating, sledding, winter bird watching, hiking and ice fishing are some of the popular outdoor activities in Wisconsin — but few can match the thrill of snowmobiling.

A good place to start investigating snowmobiling is at the Wisconsin Department of Tourism’s web site, Travel Wisconsin. The site includes an article titled “Rev Things Up On These Wisconsin Trails,” which includes some interesting facts, such as the state of Wisconsin has more than 25,000 miles of groomed snowmobile trails – enough to sled from New York to California and back four times.

The article also mentions that the snowmobile was invented in Sayner, Wis., by Carl Eliason in 1924. That first snowmobile is on display at the Vilas County Historical Museum.

The Tourism website also has a section on the snow conditions for skiing and snowmobiling. The site provides a county-by-county report on the trail and snow conditions for snowmobilers.

Another state agency that has a wealth of information for snowmobilers is the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. The DNR’s site includes a list of snowmobile coordinators for each county, snowmobile laws, safety information and much more.

Although snowmobiling can be a fun and thrilling winter activity, it can also be a dangerous and deadly sport. Wisconsin InfoLink has compiled a list of snowmobile fatal accidents in Wisconsin since 1994.

Resource: Wisconsin InfoLink: Accidents > Snowmobile accidents.

The last snow season had 21 fatalities, the lowest number since the 2001-2002 season. As of mid-January of 2011, there has been only one death involving a snowmobile accident in Wisconsin.

The DNR has published a map showing where the snowmobile-related fatalities have occurred since 2002. A quick glance will show that the vast majority of fatalities have taken place in the northern counties, with Vilas (23), Onieda (21) and Oconto (13) having the most fatal accidents.

— Ron Larson

Ron Larson, a blogger for WisconsinWatch.org and staffer at the Wisconsin Historical Society, spent most of his professional life organizing information and helping reporters find facts and data as the library director at the Wisconsin State Journal and The Capital Times.

69 injured last year in Wisconsin accidents

By Allie Tempus and Nick Penzenstadler
Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism

MADISON – Edward Seiler doesn’t remember much about the crash in which he was ejected from a 16-foot fishing boat into chilly waters in May 2009.

The then-78-year-old hit the water, face down and unconscious. Another boat traveling between 15 and 20 mph had collided with the bow of Seiler’s anchored fishing boat on Lake Waubesa near Madison.

A 20-year-old passenger in the boat that hit Seiler dived in, helped hoist him out of the water and performed CPR until Seiler began breathing on his own, according to the report from the Dane County Sheriff’s Office.

Investigators say Seiler, who lives in the northern Dane County village of Dane, likely would have died from the collision had he not been wearing a life jacket.

“This was a freak accident, but I was thankful that I had mine on, you bet,” said Seiler, whose two fishing companions weren’t injured.

Seiler’s near-disaster was one of the state’s 104 boating accidents in 2009 that left 16 dead and 69 injured, according to Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources records. None of those who died was wearing a life jacket.

Data from 10 years’ worth of reports compiled by the DNR and reviewed by the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism show:

— In the past decade, 189 people have died while boating in Wisconsin, an average of 19 fatalities a year. As of mid-July, nine had died in boating mishaps.

— The number of reportable accidents — those causing injuries requiring serious medical attention or more than $2,000 in damage — hit a 10-year low in 2009.

— More people took the DNR’s boating safety course last year than any time in the course’s history, due mainly to a new requirement that young boaters be certified and the growing popularity of an online option.

— Alcohol use continued to be among the top contributing factors to boat accidents. Of the 16 people who died in 2009, at least six had blood-alcohol concentrations above the legal driving limit of .08 percent.

Despite the continued concern over preventable boating accidents and fatalities, Wisconsin lawmakers tried but failed in the last session to pass new laws mandating life jackets for children and cracking down on intoxicated boating.

Two boaters in life jackets are aided by passing boaters July 10 near Racine on Lake Michigan, where a sheriff’s official said the small motorized craft was capsized by the wake from larger boats near the city’s main harbor. Mark Hertzberg/Racine Journal Times

Wisconsin — along with Virginia — remains one of two states that doesn’t require children to wear life jackets while boating, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. The state does require life jackets for all drivers and passengers on personal watercraft, such as Jet Skis, which made up about 12 percent of reported boating mishaps in 2009.

While children 12 and under must wear life jackets on boats on Lake Michigan, the Mississippi River and other federal waters, Wisconsin law dictates only that there must be enough life jackets for each person on board.

In April 2009, state Sen. Jim Sullivan, D-Wauwatosa, introduced a bill for the second time that would require children 12 and under to wear a life jacket while boating on Wisconsin waters.

In 2009 and 2010, identical bills worked their way through the Assembly and the Senate. The Senate bill passed with two amendments that required a warning for a first-time offense and decreased the target age to children 10 and under. The Assembly bill passed with no amendments. In April, the measure failed to pass because of a lack of concurrence between the bills.

“This is something that is No. 1, consistent with the federal law, consistent with the state law in 48 other states, and yet Wisconsin doesn’t take this step,” said Sullivan, the son of a Milwaukee-area Coast Guard commanding officer.

Sullivan said he plans to introduce the bill next session with the original 12-and-under requirement.

It isn’t just children who are at risk. For example, DNR data show that out of 25 boating fatalities from 2009 through mid-July, only one victim was 12 or under. The average age of those victims was 42.

Still, a life jacket requirement for children could encourage parents and other adults to model the same good behavior, Sullivan said. He added that life jacket legislation targeting adults likely would fail in a battle between personal liberty and personal safety.

The senator said much of the pushback against life jacket legislation came from resort owners who fear the requirement could hurt business.

“They’re a little resistant to people getting a ticket; they’re resistant to additional regulation or rules,” Sullivan said.

Many adults skip jackets

DNR conservation warden Nate Kroeplin approaches Gilligan’s Island in the Yahara River, which connects Lake Monona to Lake Waubesa. A popular sandbar stop for boaters, the spot is a top site in the Dane County area for drunken boating arrests, Kroeplin said. Nick Penzenstadler/WCIJ

Kroeplin said the regulations can be loosely interpreted, with some boaters storing their required life jackets in locked compartments, buried under other equipment, sometimes still in the plastic bag.

“You ask (boaters) to see their life jackets, and they’ve got to go through their key chain and find the right key,” Kroeplin said. “What the law says is for wearable life jackets, they have to be readily accessible, which means you should be able to get at them pretty quickly.”

Out on Lake Waubesa in southern Dane County, the same body of water in which Seiler nearly drowned, Lucky Holzwarth, of Stoughton, went fishing in June without a life jacket.

After frequenting area waters for 30 years, Holzwarth said he wears a life jacket only when the water is especially rough. When young kids are aboard, however, Holzwarth takes a different approach.

“(Children) wear them, absolutely,” Holzwarth said. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s required.”

Joe Dennis, of McFarland, said he feels the same way.

Though Dennis chose not to wear a life jacket himself while out fishing on Madison’s Lake Monona in June, his 9-year-old son and the two other children on board were outfitted with them.

Dennis said he didn’t know the law doesn’t require life jackets for children on Wisconsin waters.

“That’s insane. That’s nuts,” he said.

Asked why he doesn’t wear one, Dennis said, “It’s a convenience thing, I guess. I don’t have a nice life vest that’s convenient. It’s probably not a wise decision.”

Of the 189 reported boating fatalities in Wisconsin between 2000 and 2009, 46 were known to have been wearing a life jacket. Of the nine people who have died as of mid-July in boating accidents, two were wearing life jackets. Sullivan and DNR officials agree most of the fatalities could have been avoided had the victims been wearing life jackets.

On July 10, three people were plucked from Lake Michigan after accidents involving two small boats near Racine. All three victims were fortunate to be wearing life jackets, said Sgt. Bill Halliday of the Racine County Sheriff’s Department.

In one incident, a 12-foot motorized boat carrying one man capsized around 1 p.m. after the hull developed a crack. Nearly three hours later, a 14-foot motorized boat with a married couple on board capsized outside of Racine’s main harbor. No one was hurt.

In both cases, the boaters were helped out of the water by others before a patrol boat arrived. Halliday said it’s common for adults on larger bodies of water like Lake Michigan to wear life jackets.

“They were in very small boats, and it’s a little tough with these boats on this lake because things happen quick,” Halliday said, adding, “No matter what boat you’re on, always wear a (life jacket).”

Small boats, booze cause trouble

As was the case in 2008, mishaps involving small vessels made up a large proportion of the boating accidents in 2009. About nine out of 10 of the boats were smaller than 26 feet long.

DATA: Search our interactive database on boating fatalities in Wisconsin

Fatalities, largely from drowning, occurred among those traveling in the smallest boats, with 13 of the 16 who died in canoes, kayaks, rowboats or small fishing boats.

Alcohol use was reported as the fifth highest contributing factor in 2009, falling short of a DNR goal to knock alcohol off the top-10 list. The agency had hoped that increased enforcement and more boater education would eliminate alcohol as one of top-ranking factors. Operator inattention was the No. 1 cause of accidents.

Alcohol is still a constant presence on the waterways, Kroeplin said. Wardens across the state wrote 383 tickets for drunken boating in 2009, a slight decrease from 397 in 2008, according to the DNR.

Some Wisconsin lakes receive much less attention than those in Dane, said Kroeplin, whose father served as the only DNR warden in the Minocqua-Woodruff area including nearly 300 lakes. Wardens also handle fish and game violations in addition to safety patrols.

“There’s some counties in the state that might only have one or two wardens and no recreational boat patrol at all,” Kroeplin said, adding, “There’s just no way to patrol all the lakes, all the time.”

In Dane County, Kroeplin’s sharp eye for drunken boaters usually ends with a $452.50 citation.

“You can usually about double what they tell you they’ve had (to drink),” Kroeplin said. “I do remember one guy being totally honest, and when I asked how much, he said ‘Probably a twelver.’ He was blasted.”

The warden said boaters often underestimate the dehydration effects of hot weather and sunshine when they drink alcohol.

“If a person can have eight drinks at home before they’re under the influence, out here it might be four or five,” Kroeplin said.

LISTEN: Kroeplin on boating and tolerance

Drunken boating doesn’t hurt driving record

And boaters have less fear of enforcement because of a long-standing practice that separates violations on recreational vehicles from those received while driving a car or truck, Kroeplin said.

Wisconsin, like 36 other states, doesn’t tie boating under the influence to the offender’s driver’s license, according to the Coast Guard.

Legislation introduced this year by Rep. Louis Molepske, D-Stevens Point, would change that by requiring that drunken operation of recreational vehicles, including boats, be reflected on a driver’s record. After passing the Assembly Committee on Public Safety in April, the bill failed to come to a vote in the Joint Finance Committee as time ran out in the session.

“One of the first questions I get is, ‘How’s this going to affect my driving record?’ You tell them, ‘Well, guess what, it doesn’t,’ ” Kroeplin said. “If it went on their driving record, it would affect points, insurance (and) driving status.”

Roy Zellmer, the DNR’s boating law administrator, explained that a person could be arrested in March for drunken operation of a snowmobile, ticketed again in April for drunken driving on an all-terrain vehicle and again in May for drunken boating, pay three fines but have no points on his driver’s license.

“People just look at it as a ticket, they pay their fine and continue to have that same conduct,” he said.

Due to the complex nature of reforming and combining the regulations for ATVs, snowmobiles and boats, Molepske’s bill took more than six months to draft. He called it the most sweeping recreational vehicle bill to be introduced in Wisconsin in decades.

With no opposition from legislators and the support of ATV and snowmobile groups, Molepske said he plans to reintroduce the bill in the upcoming session.

“There is an appetite for this type of a bill,” Molepske said. “You shouldn’t have a safe haven to use your recreational vehicle on the weekend when you can’t drive because of your existing conviction on a car.”

Boater education improving

In addition to alcohol use, the state has begun to address two other major factors in boating accidents: Driver inexperience and inattentiveness.

Last year was the second full year the DNR enforced a mandatory boater safety law. It requires anyone born after Jan. 1, 1989 to pass a course before operating a motorboat. Over time, the law will require that every operator be certified.

Last year, 9,759 people took the course, more than any other time on record. That was due largely to 5,287 people who chose to take the class online and the fact that boater safety is now required for some operators.

Until recently, boaters had only the option of taking eight-hour classes taught by DNR volunteers in a classrooms around the state. Now there are two online class options, including one that takes just three hours.

In the classroom, Kroeplin often asks these provocative questions: “How many of you think you’re good swimmers?” followed by, “How many of you think you’re a good swimmer if you’re unconscious?”

LISTEN: Kroeplin gets students’ attention

It’s a lesson Edward Seiler learned through personal experience.

“People always say, ‘I have (life jackets) right under my seat,’ ” Seiler said. “You shouldn’t have them under your seat. By the time you get them, you might be in the water without them.”

The driver of the boat that hit Seiler got a $160.80 citation. He told officers he didn’t see the other boat until it was too late.

The nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism (www.WisconsinWatch.org) collaborates with its partners — Wisconsin Public Television, Wisconsin Public Radio and the UW-Madison School of Journalism & Mass Communication — and other news media. Allie Tempus can be reached at atempus@wisconsinwatch.org; Nick Penzenstadler can be reached at npenzenstadler@wisconsinwatch.org.

Wisconsin InfoLink is an almanac of Wisconsin facts and resources compiled by Ron Larson. Each week on the WisconsinWatch blog, Larson introduces us to one of these gems.

School is out for almost everyone, and the summer vacation season has started. If you haven’t yet figured out where to go or what to do during your free time, let Wisconsin InfoLink be your guide.

A good place to start is under the Recreation category.

Featured link: Wisconsin InfoLink – Recreation.

Three listings you might want to explore are Top Wisconsin Destinations, Wisconsin Historic Sites and Wisconsin Parks. Here you will find places to go and things to do that could take you through the entire summer.

Top Wisconsin Destinations lists the wide variety of events and places that make Wisconsin a fun state to explore. Ranging from American Players Theatre to the Wisconsin Dells, the Top Wisconsin Destinations site is a great place to get day-trip or weeklong vacation ideas.

Wisconsin Historic Sites is a listing with links to the ten historical sites maintained by the Wisconsin Historical Society. Check out the various links to Old World Wisconsin, Circus World and the others to see what events are being planned throughout the summer.

Wisconsin has an abundance of state parks, too. InfoLink’s list includes links to most of the parks, allowing you to see what amenities the park has to offer, such as at Rocky Arbor or Wyalusing. If you plant to camp, choose the park you like and click on the “reserve a campsite” link.

With a little help from Wisconsin InfoLink, your summer plans are set. But before you head out on the road, check out InfoLink’s Before You Leave Home tab. Wisconsin Gas Prices will help you find cheaper gas, while the Department of Transportation’s Wisconsin driving conditions and road construction site may help you avoid some delays.

Have fun!

— Ron Larson

Ron Larson, a blogger for WisconsinWatch.org and staffer at the Wisconsin Historical Society, spent most of his professional life organizing information and helping reporters find facts and data as the library director at the Wisconsin State Journal and The Capital Times.

One night last September, Dantwon Gray went fishing with a friend in a rowboat on Friess Lake in Richfield, 25 miles northwest of Milwaukee. When he got a bite, the 26-year-old Milwaukee man stood up, causing the rented boat to capsize.

Bystanders pulled his companion to safety, but Gray drowned. His body was recovered the next day. Gray, who didn’t know how to swim, wasn’t wearing a life jacket, and alcohol wasn’t a factor, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office concluded.

The tragedy that claimed Gray’s life was typical among the boating accidents that killed 20 people in Wisconsin in 2008, according to accident reports analyzed by the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism.

Eight of the 20 people who died last year were in non-motorized boats, most of which capsized. Of the 17 who drowned, 15 weren’t wearing life jackets. And the percentage of boating accidents in which alcohol was involved declined sharply last year, accounting for just one in five accidents. Experts credit stricter law enforcement and a growing public awareness of the dangers of drunken boating.

The Center analyzed accidents reported to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Coast Guard. The Center found:

– Over the past 10 years, 193 people died in 1,311 boating accidents in Wisconsin. In the 110 accidents involving non-motorized boats, 56 people lost their lives.

– July is the most dangerous month of the year, with more than a third of all accidents occurring in that month during the past decade.

– In 2008, there were 110 reported boating accidents, well below the state’s annual average of 131 accidents over the past 10 years. That continued a fairly steady downward trend in accidents since 1999.

– The proportion of accidents involving alcohol dropped sharply last year to the lowest in at least a decade. In four of the past 10 years, alcohol was a factor in at least 85 percent of the boating accidents, compared to 21 percent last year.

– Accidents involving non-motorized boats continue to be a lethal contributor to annual boating fatalities. Only 16 of the 110 accidents last year involved non-motorized watercraft, but half of them resulted in fatalities. Since 1999, 51 percent of all reported non-motorized boating accidents resulted in deaths, compared to just 11 percent of accidents involving motorized watercraft, including jet skis.

A bill before the Legislature would attempt to add another layer of safety. It would require Wisconsin to join 48 other states in requiring that children under age 13 wear life jackets while boating.

In Wisconsin, children under 13 accounted for eight of the 193 boating deaths in the past 10 years, the Center found. Four of the five children who drowned during that time weren’t wearing life jackets. Two others died of trauma, and the cause of death for one child was listed as unknown.

None of the fatalities last year involved children under 13. Among those who died in 2008 was a 17-year-old and his father, neither of them wearing life jackets. They drowned after their motorboat was swamped by the cascade from a dam on the Wisconsin River in Marathon County. Nearly 90 percent of drowning victims in boating accidents statewide and nationally weren’t wearing life jackets.

Wisconsin law requires boat operators to have a life jacket for each person on board, but doesn’t mandate that they be used. Wisconsin and Virginia are the remaining two states that don’t require life jacket use for children.

Senate Bill 162, introduced in April by Sen. Jim Sullivan, D-Wauwatosa, would require life jacket use for children when traveling in a boat less than 26 feet long.

The son of a U.S. Coast Guard officer who patrolled Lake Michigan, Sullivan grew up learning about the importance of personal flotation devices.

“When you look at the harm that befalls children in boating accidents, most of it does come down to the wearing of a life preserver,” Sullivan said. “When you’re out there on the water on a boat, it’s not a matter of your judgment, it’s not a matter of how good a swimmer you are. Things go bad, and they go bad immediately.”

Unstable watercraft contribute to danger

Among the eight deaths that occurred in non-motorized boating accidents last year, six, including the Sept. 25 accident that claimed Gray’s life, involved canoes or rowboats that capsized. Two victims were presumed to have fallen overboard.

Dane County Sheriff’s Deputy Matthew Gueldner, who patrols Madison-area lakes and rivers, said boaters often underestimate the hazards of non-motorized boats.

“If you tip them over, they’re very difficult to right,” Gueldner said. “They’re very difficult to get back into. People on non-motorized boats need to be extra careful before they head out.”

Wisconsin has 613,000 registered motorized boats, fifth highest in the nation, and tens of thousands more canoes, kayaks, sailboats and rowboats that keep the state’s outdoor tourism industry afloat. The state is home to some 15,000 lakes, major rivers including the Mississippi and Wisconsin and hundreds of miles of Great Lakes shoreline on lakes Michigan and Superior.

In 2007, Wisconsin was the seventh safest state for boating in accidents per 100,000 registered boats, the Center found. Minnesota was the third safest, preceded by Vermont and Indiana. Nevada was the least safe, with Arizona and Alaska rounding out the bottom three. The analysis doesn’t account for the difference in time that boats were actually in use, as some waterways in colder states aren’t accessible for boating during winter months. No data were provided for California.

Despite a favorable safety record, Wisconsin boaters still face a variety of hazards. On June 28, a storm caused a 19-foot motorized bass boat to take on water on Madison’s Lake Mendota, dumping seven passengers into the the lake. Three were rescued while four others swam 100 yards to shore. Dane County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Elise Schaefer said alcohol did not appear to be a factor in the incident. Information on life jacket use wasn’t available, she said.

Life jackets save lives

Of the 20 people who died in Wisconsin in 2008, three boating deaths were attributed to trauma. The other 17 victims drowned. Fifteen of them weren’t wearing life jackets — a safety device costing around $30. The Center found that statewide and nationally, nearly 90 percent of boat-related drowning victims weren’t using a flotation device.

“If any of the other drowning victims had been wearing a life jacket, it is likely their deaths may have been prevented,” the Department of Natural Resources said in its 2008 Wisconsin Boating Program Report.

Steve Zowin, co-owner of Lake Delton Water Sports in Lake Delton, has been renting canoes and kayaks for more than 30 years. Although he’s not required by state law to do so, he instructs customers on how to boat safely and urges all of them to wear life jackets — advice that few act on, he said. Zowin recalls an accident one April more than 30 years ago in which a canoeist drowned in the cold water of the nearby Upper Dells. He believes a life jacket would have saved that man’s life.

“We make sure they have (life jackets) when they rent something,” Zowin said, but “most people do not wear them.”

Dantwon Gray wasn’t wearing a life jacket the night he rented a boat on Friess Lake. His father, Darin Gray, wants people to learn from his son’s tragedy by wearing life jackets when they go boating.

Dantwon didn’t know how to swim, just like more than half of the people who drowned while boating in Wisconsin during the past decade.  In honor of his son, Darin Gray’s employer, Pro Health Care Medical Associates, sponsored a scholarship  to fund swimming lessons at a Menomonee Falls YMCA.

Dantwon “was a very outgoing person,” said Darin Gray of his son. “He was real good with people. He loved to fish, so he went out the right way.”

Mandatory training still new to Wisconsin

A year ago, Wisconsin implemented a law requiring motorized boat operators born after Jan. 1, 1989 who are at least 16 years old to complete a boater safety training course. The law requires operators younger than 16 to either be safety certified or supervised by an adult. Officials say it’s still too early to know for sure whether the required training, offered both in classes and online, has been effective in saving lives.

Jack Von Rutenberg of Waunakee, a lifelong boater, is a strong believer in boater safety education. He took his first course as a child and has repeated it with his wife, son, stepson — and now his 11-year-old daughter, aptly named Marina. Last month, father and daughter joined about three dozen other students in a three-session boating course in Verona taught by Deputy Gueldner.

“When you’re out there, you have to know (what to do) right away,” said Von Rutenberg, who runs a restaurant on Lake Mendota.

He credits the state’s “phenomenally low” accident rate to classes like the one he took at the Verona Public Library. But such training is only required of operators of motorboats, not the lighter watercraft involved in many of Wisconsin’s boating deaths.

A top safety expert at the state Department of Natural Resources believes boater education, along with tighter enforcement of drunken-boating laws and growing public awareness of the dangers of drinking while driving a boat, have all contributed to safer boating in Wisconsin.

“As a society, we’ve become more aware of alcohol and the impacts,” said  Todd Schaller, DNR’s director of recreational safety. “We do more enforcement with alcohol than we did 10 or 15 years ago. People are more conscious of it, and they’re more conscious of that enforcement.”

A searchable database of Wisconsin boating accidents since 1999 is available at www.WisconsinWatch.org.

This story was reported and written by Jacob Kushner and Kryssy Pease of the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism. Pease analyzed the data, obtained from the Wisconsin DNR and the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting.

The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism is a nonprofit organization producing investigative journalism in the public interest with its partners — the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism & Mass Communication, Wisconsin Public Radio and Wisconsin Public Television. See us at www.WisconsinWatch.org.

This content is provided free to news media of Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism credit tag line must accompany all uses of the story. Click here to access media downloads.