Wolf River Basin Info

The Wolf River Basin drains 3,690 square miles and includes all of Waupaca County and parts of Forest, Langlade, Marathon, Menominee, Oneida, Outagamie, Portage, Shawano, Waushara and Winnebago Counties.  The Wolf River runs from southern Oneida and Forest Counties south to where it joins the Upper Fox River just above the Lake Winnebago Pools System.  The Wolf River Basin is comprised of 20 smaller watersheds.  Four of these watersheds are currently part of the Priority Watershed Program:   the Arrowhead River, Rat River and Daggets Creek watershed, Pine-Willow rivers watershed, Waupacaa-Tomorrow River watershed, and the Lower Little Wolf River watershed.

Predominant land uses in the Wolf River Basin are agricultural -- dairy, cash-cropping -- and forestry.   More than 50,000 acres in natural areas, state parks, fisheries access areas and wildlife management areas are owned and  managed by the state.  Urban development is limited primarily to the Clintonville, New London, Shawano and Wauapaca areas.

Much of the basin's economy is based on tourism.  The basin's outstanding water resources provide numerous recreational opportunities and are a major component of the the tourism industry.

[Excerpts from the Wolf River Basin Water Quality Management Plan, April 1996]