Wiscampsin Weekly
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This amazing bird is dwindling

This amazing bird is dwindling

Plus: Light houses, walleyes, and mountain biking

Forrest Koslowski
June 04, 2026

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This week’s weekly:

🚵 New mountain bike trail rolls into Peninsula State Park

🎣 Speeding up help for struggling walleye lakes

⚓ Apostle Islands bids farewell to a light tower

🐦 STORY OF THE WEEK: Sharp-tailed grouse in trouble

🚵 New mountain bike trail rolls into Peninsula State Park LINK

Riders of all ages and abilities rolled into Peninsula State Park on Saturday for the grand opening of a brand-new mountain bike trail, capped by a noon ribbon-cutting at the Highland Trailhead.
The "Ride the Park" celebration, hosted by Friends of Peninsula State Park, kicked off with a morning group ride and rolled on with a scenic Sunset Path cruise, a tougher route for advanced riders, plus food, drinks, and a raffle.
The new trail adds to the draw at one of Wisconsin's most-visited state parks, giving Door County locals more to ride close to home — and out-of-towners one more reason to make the trip. Toss the bikes in the truck, hey.

🎣 Speeding up help for struggling walleye lakes LINK

The DNR got the green light to craft special bag and size limits for walleye on lakes where their numbers are sliding, after the Natural Resources Board approved the rule's scope last week.
On struggling lakes, the plan calls for a one-fish daily limit and an 18-inch minimum — but anglers couldn't keep fish between 22 and 28 inches, the prime spawners most likely to rebuild the population.
Walleye — ogaa to the Ojibwe — are the state's favorite catch and central to tribal traditions. With the usual two-year rulemaking too slow to keep pace, the new approach lets biologists act fast when surveys turn up too few young fish.

⚓ Apostle Islands bids farewell to a light tower LINK

This summer, the National Park Service will dismantle the historic Chequamegon Point Light Tower on Long Island in the Apostle Islands. After more than a century of Lake Superior erosion, the 42-foot tower can no longer be saved.
First lit in 1897, its lens shone 16 miles across the water, and a keeper once walked out in the fog to hand-wind a 1,200-pound bronze bell. A 1987 attempt to move the tower by helicopter only dragged it 100 feet.
With its footings now undermined, state and federal officials agreed the tower had to come down before it tumbled into the lake. As longtime Bayfield fisherman Julian Nelson put it, "the lake is the boss."

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🐦 STORY OF THE WEEK: Sharp-tailed grouse in trouble LINK

If you were planning on bagging a sharp-tailed grouse in Wisconsin this autumn, we’ve got some bittersweet news for your hunting plans.

Remember how pumped everyone was when the DNR finally opened up a super-limited lottery season in 2025 after six long years of zero hunting?

Yeah, well…it turns out our favorite grassland dancers are hitting a bit of a rough patch. Since last year, their numbers have decreased by an appalling 22%.

Biologists monitor these conservation-sensitive birds by tracking their spring "dancing ground" surveys, and the latest data suggests the population needs another breather.

To figure out if a hunt is safe, wildlife officials literally go out and count how many birds show up to their spring mating rituals in the northwest pine barrens. Unfortunately, the dance floor was looking pretty empty this year, indicating that the population is sliding backward due to habitat loss.

Because of these dwindling numbers, the DNR is heavily leaning toward shutting down the 2026 season entirely to protect the species' fragile long-term recovery.

While placeholder dates are technically still sitting on the calendar, officials want to make sure these unique birds don't vanish from our oak savannas completely. It's a real bummer for upland hunters who love the tradition, but it's all part of the long game.

For now, the DNR is keeping the final verdict under wraps until later this summer, but the writing is pretty much on the wall.

Now get out 'der.

WISCAMPSIN WEEKLY POLL

Last Week's Trivia Check

We asked for the term for a tick waiting on a blade of grass to snag a host. We officially found the ultimate stumper! Only 13% of you knew the true term, while a leading 38% of you went with the very logical guess of "Latching."

The Correct Answer: Questing.

The Takeaway: Ticks cannot jump or fly! Instead, they climb to the top of tall grass or brush, hold on with their back legs, and stretch their front legs out. This behavior is called "questing." Those front legs actually contain special sensors that let the tick detect your body heat and carbon dioxide right before you brush past them!

This Week's Trivia

It is the ultimate summer camping nightmare. Let's say your trusty dog goes wandering into the brush at twilight and comes trotting back to the campfire smelling like a mix of burnt rubber and garlic. The old wives' tale says to immediately bathe them in tomato juice—but experts agree that only masks the smell temporarily.

To permanently neutralize and destroy the chemical compounds in skunk spray, which common household mixture is universally recommended by wildlife experts and veterinarians?

Give it a gut check and click a response below:

A review from the trail… Always watch out for those deer!

Well, how'd we do this week?

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