Ice shanty in the parking lot at Shawano Lake County Park, February 26, 2024. PC: Fox 11 Online
KEWAUNEE COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Safety deadlines are approaching for those looking to head out onto the ice.
According to the Department of Natural Resources, permanent ice shanties need to be removed from Wisconsin’s waterways beginning this Sunday.
The annual move comes as what many consider to be a slow season continues.
“This is Heidmann Lake. It’s southwest Kewaunee County. And the ice is still here obviously. And there are some fishermen out there right now,” said Jimmy Moore, DNR conservation warden.
Moore said the ice season in the area has been unpredictable.
“With the way the some of the lakes froze. And then, we had some weird thaws in there and some rain. And that really messed up some of the ice conditions for a lot of folks,” he said.
Moore says many people used portable shanties this year, but starting on Sunday, permanent shacks on water bodies south of Highway 64 need to be removed. For Wisconsin-Michigan boundary waters, the deadline is March 15. For inland waters north of Highway 64, the deadline is March 17.
“There’s an environmental concern. The last thing we want is folks to leave their ice shelters out too long, and then, it’ll be too dangerous to go out and retrieve them,” said Moore.
Shawano Lake County Park is about an hour to the northwest.
“Typically, you’d see 40-50 ice shacks still on the lake right now. And then, they’d settle them over here on the parking lot, and get them off the ice,” said Keith Marquardt, Shawano County Parks Director.
Marquardt said it’s the first time in 15 years there was no truck traffic on the 6,200-acre lake. On Monday morning, a lone shack sat in the parking lot, waiting to be taken away. Meanwhile, Marquardt says it could be an early spring.
“We’re getting a lot of ice push already, along our beach area, and along the boat landing here. So I would assume it’s going to be, the ice will be out the first part of March,” he said.
According to the DNR, the fine for leaving a permanent ice shanty on a lake after the deadline is about $250.
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