Gov. Evers and Wisconsin Department of Tourism Secretary Anne Sayers announced a record-breaking year in state tourism last year.
The NFL Draft in Green Bay, record attendance at the EAA Air Adventure in Oshkosh and big crowds for Brewers, Bucks and Packers games certainly played a role in helping produce a new record impact for the fourth straight year.
As always, the wildly popular state parks, Wisconsin Dells, Door County and northern lakes and forests were also huge attractions. So too are fishing and hunting.
Wisconsin tourism’s economic impact was estimated at about $27 billion last year. In 2024, the latest figures available, outdoor recreation contributed more than $12 billion here. Green Bay bass, walleyes and muskies and Lake Michigan salmon and trout are a big part of that, and the bay and lakeshore are extremely popular with birders across the Midwest.
Brown County’s estimated tourism impact of $1.5 billion was up 6%, and was the fifth most in terms of dollars. Milwaukee County brought in $4.4 billion, Dane $2.7 billion, Sauk $2 billion and Waukesha $1.8 billion.
Among other counties in our region, Outagamie up 3.4%, to $789 million; Door was up 5.3%, to $693 million; Marinette up 5.6%, to $287 million; Manitowoc up 5.9%, to $240 million; Oconto up 3.8%, to $147 million; Shawano up 2.6%, to $119 million; Calumet up 4.6%, to $81 million; and Kewaunee up 6.2%, to 55 million.
The Department of Tourism estimates that there were 117.9 million visits in 2025, generating more than $1.7 billion that goes back to local communities and essential state services. It was estimated that more than 183,000 part-time and full-time jobs were supported by tourism.
Sayers said visitors sustain jobs and create livelihoods, and residents save money because of the tax dollars tourism brings in.
The 2025-27 Biennial Budget made the Wisconsin Office of Outdoor Recreation — created by Evers in the 2019-21 state budget — a permanent state office.
Most whitetail fawns in Northeastern Wisconsin are born the last week of May and first week of June, about 200 days after conception in early to mid-November.
Some fawns don’t make it past their first week. In farm country, their biggest killers are coyotes, vehicles and hay-cutting equipment. Up north, it’s black bears, wolves, coyotes and bobcats.
Since does leave their babies alone for much of the day, many fawns are discovered by people. Wildlife experts urge well-meaning people to resist the urge to “rescue” and leave them be.
Almost always, the mom is nearby and is waiting for you to move along. While the fawn may be motionless and seem vulnerable, this is its normal behavior. Fawns are safest when left alone because their colors and patterns help them remain undetected by predators.
Does visit their fawns to nurse very infrequently. If people repeatedly visit a resting fawn, it can prolong separation from the doe and delay needed feeding. Up north, fawns are frequently left in areas where people may easily find them because those are places predators are less likely to visit.
Don’t touch. Take a photo, then leave them alone.
If a fawn has already been moved, return it the capture site. The notion that a mother will reject the young after being touched by people is largely a myth. However, if a fawn is injured or found with its dead mother (or in cases of clear injury or illness for any wildlife), call the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary for advice at (920) 391-3685.
For more answers to your baby wildlife questions, visit https://www.greenbaywi.gov/1314/Animal-FAQs and https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/WildlifeHabitat/orphan.
Biologists estimate that a single bat can devour hundreds to thousands of night-flying insects in just an hour. Many of those are mosquitoes, but agricultural pests like corn earworm moths, potato beetles and cutworm moths are also consumed, helping farmers and gardeners.
Want to help one or more of Wisconsin’s eight bat species? Buy and install bat houses, or build your own. For tips, visit https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/WildlifeHabitat/BatHouse. For a list of answers to frequently asked questions about bats, check out https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/EndangeredResources/batFAQs.
Artists are invited to submit entries for the state’s wild turkey, pheasant and waterfowl stamp design contests by Aug. 1.
Hunters are required to purchase species-specific stamps to pursue any of these game birds in Wisconsin. Sales generate hundreds of thousands of dollars annually for habitat management, restoration, education and research. Learn more at https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/WildlifeHabitat/stamps.
As of June 5, Lake Michigan water levels were two inches higher than last month, and up seven from last year. Even though levels are down about 34 inches from early June, 2020, they’re still about 32 inches above the all-time low, set in 1964, and three inches above the 100-year average.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here