White Sand Lake Association Boat Landing
We are now accepting membership into the usage of the White Sand Lake Association Landing. If you are interested in joining, you must be a member of the Association and a riparian owner on White Sand Lake. You will be asked to sign a Participation Agreement and will be provided with Membership Instructions.
The Boat Landing Committee went to great care to ensure the White Sand Lake Association Landing was constructed with minimal environmental impact under the consultation of several experts and entities. We are requiring all those interested in participating in the Association Landing to agree to the usage rules in keeping with our long-time commitment of being good stewards of the environment. If you did not receive an email on how to join, please contact landing@whitesandlakeldf.com.
The Association expects all members of the Landing to thoroughly clean boats before launching to greatly reduce the risk of introducing an unwanted invasive species.
Background
In January of 2023, the Lac Du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians (the “Tribe”) issued a resolution closing the White Sand Lake Boat Landing. The landing had been the only public access boat landing on White Sand Lake for decades.
The White Sand Lake Association had a long tradition of administering the Clean Boats, Clean Waters program on White Sand Lake. With the closing of the only public access boat landing, this authorization to administer this important environmental safety protection was no longer allowed. The previous public access landing was opened for a brief period in 2023 through a permit process. During that time, the Clean Boats, Clean Waters program was not authorized to continue and by early August, Eurasian Water Milfoil was discovered for the first time on White Sand Lake near the landing.
The White Sand Lake Association quickly offered assistance to the Tribe to secure an Early Detection and Response grant from the DNR, however, this effort was rejected by the Tribe. By summer of 2024, we again worked with the Tribal Natural Resources to understand the process to pull the Eurasian Water Milfoil. Thirty-seven lake association members provided 140 hours of volunteer work on “Milfoil Mondays.” The White Sand Lake Association provided $6,000 of benthic mats to suppress the EWM growth. Recently, the Association was awarded a $34,000 grant from the Wisconsin DNR for the AIS Early Detection and Response program. We are awaiting a response from the Tribe.
Last year it was clear that the landing owned by the Tribe was not going to re-open. After consulting with the Wisconsin DNR, the Army Corps of Engineers, the EPA office in Washington D.C., a private shoreline engineering company and an attorney with expertise in shoreline law, the Association was able to move forward with plans to construct a boat landing on private land. After all necessary approvals, the Association’s landing was constructed with great care for our natural resources.
We are proud to announce that the lake is once again accessible consistent with the law.
Enjoy the lake and stay safe.
Landing Rules
The landing rules are meant to protect our lake. You can view the most updated rules by clicking this link.