Forest County Potawatomi Bug Lake Project

Bug Lake is an 11-acre lake on the Forest CountyPotawatomi Community (FCPC) Reservation in ForestCounty, Wisconsin. The lake is stocked with brook trouton an annual basis to provide fi shing opportunities to theTribal community as well as a high quality source of food.The boat landing on the lake was an unimproved dirtlanding on a very steep slope that had been rutted up byvehicle traffi c and was also causing erosion of sedimentinto the lake.

FCPC was awarded funds through the Wisconsin TribalConservation Advisory Council (WTCAC) Small GrantsProgram to install a new boat landing to reduce theerosion of sediment into the lake. The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) provided technicalassistance by designing the project and providingtechnical oversight of construction.

The improvements consisted of excavation to reduce thegrade down to the lake, pouring of a 12-foot x 87-footconcrete slab, and installing four concrete boat planksthat extend out into the lake off the end of the concretepad.

Using the information gained from this project and at therequest of WTCAC, WI NRCS developed an EQIP scenariounder the Access Road practice titled “Paved Surface– Water Access Point” which allows Tribes to constructboat landings for subsistence food collection as long as aresource concern is present at an existing water accesspoint.