Many of Wisconsin’s communities, such as Green Bay, Milwaukee, and Superior, developed adjacent to Wisconsin’s major coastal rivers and associated freshwater estuaries. These areas offered important navigation routes and valuable sources of water and food for indigenous people and early immigrants. People are still attracted to these water resources today. In 2000, the U.S. Census Bureau found that approximately 37% of Wisconsin’s population resides in coastal counties.
Freshwater estuaries are important components of their surrounding communities and provide economic benefits for Wisconsin’s citizens. Even though community members may not use the term “freshwater estuary” to describe them, communities identify with these areas in significant ways. Freshwater estuaries and their associated coastal wetlands are locally important for activities such as hunting, fishing, boating, and economic development. For example, a 2006 study of coastal marshes on Saginaw Bay in Michigan found that residents were willing to pay $3,596 per acre for voluntary protection of coastal wetlands over their lifetime. Another economic study estimated that freshwater wetlands have an estimated value of approximately $540 per acre for recreational fishing, $1,176 per acre for commercial fishing, $106 per acre for bird hunting, and $1,832 per acre for bird watching (based upon 2005 dollar values).
Sources of Additional Information:
Economic Values of Saginaw Bay Coastal Marshes with a Focus on Recreational Values, Southwick Associates Inc., 2006.
Wisconsin Coastal Fact Sheet, Population Change: 1990-2000, University of Wisconsin-Sea Grant, 2001.
Banner photos: kayaker - Jeff Strobel; Bark Bay, dragon's mouth orchid - Patrick Robinson.
Page photo: child with fish - Becky Sapper.
For more information about this site contact Patrick Robinson, Environmental Restoration Specialist, at patrick.robinson@ces.uwex.edu
Website developed and maintained by the Environmental Resources Center
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