SPRING VALLEY, Wis. — Ken Snow might have stepped down as a long-time conservation director for the Wisconsin B.A.S.S. Nation, but what he learned in that position will soon pay long-term benefits for the state’s anglers.
As a direct result, construction began in November 2014 on the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi River for an access site on Pool 4. It should be completed by June 2015.
“Back when I was the CD, Noreen Clough [former B.A.S.S. national conservation director] would have regular conference calls with all of the CDs, and one of our standing topics was what can we do to increase access to our public waters,” Snow said. “That inspired me to get involved and run for the Pierce County Board of Supervisors.”
The member of the St. Croix Bass Anglers now is serving his third two-year term and is chairman of the Pierce County Parks Committee.
“Our county borders the Mississippi River, and we have very little public access,” he explained. “So, I got our parks committee interested in pursuing a new launch.
“Well, it took a few years to work through all of the planning, but we finally got it done. Thanks to a power plant a few miles upstream, this facility will be open on a year-around basis.”
Budgeted at $400,000, the new facility will feature a 30-foot ramp with two lanes, two handicap-accessible docks and restrooms, as well as a parking lot that accommodates 50 tow vehicles and trailers, with overflow available for 50 to 70 more.
Grants from Sport Fish Restoration and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are helping finance the project, “but we had to have money up front,” Snow explained. He found the latter in the county’s park development fund.
For CDs, former CDs and other B.A.S.S. members who want to improve public access, Snow has this advice: “It’s easier than you think.”
The natural instinct is to want to start big, but he recommends the opposite.
“Start with a local county board or municipality,” he said. “That way you can get in front of and talk to local people. And that’s where you want to do your projects. Up here, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources had nothing to do with this.
“Yes, it has taken four years, but that was because of all the planning required. If you get in line, it will happen.”